1 Mors Rattus Returns
2 Actually, I Quite Like It, Honestly
3 I Did Prefer El Vago Tho
4 Inexplicable Name Changes
5 The Importance Of Scotland
6 The French Are Still Assholes
7 These Guys Own, Actually, Like, A Lot
8 A Land Without A Future?
9 Ex-Vikings
10 The Asshole Country
11 Seas, They're Seven
12 Vaticine Apparently Means Prophet
13 HELLFIRE
14 Yo Ho Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me
15 They're Magical Hi-Tech Ancient Ruins BUT NOT ALIENS
16 We are literally 16 pages from the halfway mark and just now hitting chargen
17 We are now halfway through this book.
18 Story Time.
19 Risk It All
20 More Than One Thing Happening At Once!!
21 Bad Guys Are Crazy Strong
22 I Cast A Spell On You
23 Wait, There's Only 20 Of Them?
24 Grandmother's Gifts
25 Thinking With Portails
26 Bad Bargain
27 Pulling Strings
28 SWORDS
29 BOTES
30 BORTS
31 The Chicken Illuminati
32 An Explorer's Life For Me
33 The Book Actually Has All Those Diacritic Marks But I'm Lazy
34 NOM NOM NOM
35 Pirate Nations: Crossing The Seas
36 Pirate Nations: GYROS
37 Pirate Nations: Too Many Kings
38 Mlypnos
39 Pirate Nations: Prison, Pork and Power
40 Pirate Nations: Chapter 2
41 Pirate Nations: Island S
42 Pirate Nations: Southlands
43 Pirate Nations: And Then There's This Asshole
44 Pirate Nations: MONSTERS MONSTERS MONSTERS
45 Pirate Nations: We speak for the sea.
46 Pirate Nations: Whaling On The Moon
47 Pirate Nations: Pirate Don Quixote
48 Pirate Nations: Steve February
49 Pirate Nations: Fifteen Men As A Dead Man's Chest
50 Pirate Nations: Rum, Tobacco and Slaves
51 Pirate Nations: Rum, Tobacco and Slaves
52 Pirate Nations: Bad Decision Time
53 Pirate Nations: Be Glad I'm Skipping The Galt Speech
54 Pirate Nations: Haven't You Heard, Mr. Adams? Clink, Clink.
55 Pirate Nations: It's Not Morals, It's Money That Pays
56 Pirate Nations: Asshole Town
57 Pirate Nations: Piratical Heroes
58 Pirate Nations: Doubly Damned
59 Pirate Nations: Take Me For A Ride
60 Pirate Nations: My Magic Is Within
61 Pirate Nations: Check My Sweet Tats
62 Pirate Nations: Pirate Blades
63 Pirate Nations: For the Family
64 Pirate Nations: I Am Skipping The How To Speak Pirate Section. It Exists.
65 Lands of Gold and Fire - John Wick Is Not A Writer For This Book
66 Lands of Gold and Fire - The Great Rivers
67 Lands of Gold and Fire - Giant Asshole Baboons
68 Lands of Gold and Fire - SNAKES
69 Lands of Gold and Fire - Yeah These Guys Are Apparently Not Mali
70 Lands of Gold and Fire - Mansa, Mansa
71 Lands of Gold and Fire - The Swashbuckling UN
72 Lands of Gold and Fire - Book City
73 Lands of Gold and Fire - Children of Gods
74 Lands of Gold and Fire - Where the Darkness Is
75 Lands of Gold and Fire - Mbey Before Dark
76 Lands of Gold and Fire - Gods and Spirits
77 Lands of Gold and Fire - Dead Sons
78 Lands of Gold and Fire - The Last Simb?
79 Lands of Gold and Fire - Not Morocco, I Think?
80 Lands of Gold and Fire - In Which The Barbary Pirates Are Cited As An Inspiration
81 Lands of Gold and Fire - A Volcano Whose Eruption Is Barely Mentioned As A Possibility
82 Lands of Gold and Fire - The First of Firsts
83 Lands of Gold and Fire - These Guys Are Not Ethiopia BTW
84 Lands of Gold and Fire - Many Crafts
85 Lands of Gold and Fire - The Other Orthodox Church
86 Lands of Gold and Fire - Secret Police
87 Lands of Gold & Fire - Evil Wizards
88 Lands of Gold & Fire - The Black Land
89 Lands of Gold & Fire - Yeah I Have No Idea What's Up With Siptah
90 Lands of Gold & Fire - Religious Divides
91 Lands of Gold & Fire - Magic Words
92 Lands of Gold and Fire - Yes The Book Explains Siptah
93 Lands of Gold and Fire - How 2 Ifrian
94 Lands of Gold and Fire - Secret Economics Heroism
95 Lands of Gold and Fire - Raaaaa Heliopooooolis
96 Lands of Gold and Fire - Dark Powers
97 Lands of Gold and Fire - Less Dark Powers
98 Lands of Gold and Fire - Magic Swords
99 Lands of Gold and Fire - What If Corruption Had Even More Random Elements
100 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1
101 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Magic Elf Invasions
102 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Goodly Folke, With An E For Fancy
103 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Magic City
104 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - What If More Sidhe
105 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Scotland the Brave
106 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Iron Debt
107 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Superjump
108 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Seal Girlfriend
109 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Closer, My God, To Thee
110 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Worst Dude
111 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Kuso Grande
112 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Inside The Spanish Vatican
113 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Ethinic Minorities Exist Now
114 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Alcazar Is A Great Word
115 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Freedom
116 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - I Can't Believe It's Not Sorcery
117 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Dance
118 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Maestre
119 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - HELL FRANCE
120 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Middle Management
121 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Hail The Musketeers
122 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - What If Los Vagabundos...But FRENCH?
123 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not Paris, Home Of The Deal
124 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Doc Valdoc
125 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Cliff Moat
126 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Magic Forest In The Middle Of HELL FRANCE
127 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Welcome To The Blood Dimension
128 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Fencing In France
129 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - O Fortuna
130 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Guilder Rules
131 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not The Most Evil Capitalists In The Game, Because ATC
132 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - I Just Love The Word Usury
133 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Vendel: The Place, Not The League
134 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Vendel: GRUMFATHER
135 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not To Be Confused With The OTHER Jotun
136 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Words of Power
137 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Masters of the Blade
138 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - GHOST GIANTS IN THE SKY
139 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - He's The Huntsmaaaan
140 Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Finishing Up
141 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2
142 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - In Which Everyone Has Bad Ideas
143 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Oh Right Jews Exist Now
144 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Welcome to Libertownpia
145 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Magic Forests
146 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Vampire Island Vacation Homes
147 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Hexen
148 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Three Swords
149 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - wyfwulf
150 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Serious Time: CW for Emotional and Physical Abuse of the Disabled
151 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Serious Time: Continued CW for Domestic Abuse, But Less So - The Details Are Mostly Done
152 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - SERIOUS TIME IS OVER, NOW IS THE TIME OF LAWYERS
153 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Joy of Z
154 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - What If Lithuania, But Demons
155 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The City In Demon Forest
156 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Your Demon And You
157 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - You Probably Don't Want To Do This Until The End Of The Game
158 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - mo monsters mo problems
159 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Suicide
160 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Bad Idea Story
161 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Prince of Betrayal
162 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Mother Russia
163 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Old City
164 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Veche Is Not In Veche
165 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Don't ask me how the apostrophe is pronounced.
166 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Grandmother Winter's Lessons
167 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Sky Father
168 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Ussuran Dueling
169 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Angry Ghosts
170 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - HELL ITALY
171 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Crimedoers
172 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Island Nations
173 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - MY NAME IS VILLAINOVA I AM EVIL
174 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Italian Bread Basket
175 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Witchy
176 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - How To Fuck Up
177 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - More Reasons To Never Visit Hell Italy
178 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - What If A Goat, But Sexy
179 Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Mechanics, The Smallest Part Of The Book
180 The Crescent Empire
181 The Crescent Empire - Ancient History
182 The Crescent Empire - Problems
183 The Crescent Empire - The Good Life
184 The Crescent Empire - Hello Poetry
185 The Crescent Empire - One Of The Best Takes On Fantasy Faux Islam Ever
186 The Crescent Empire - The Fire Within
187 The Crescent Empire - The Orthodoxy
188 The Crescent Empire - I Love These Guys
189 The Crescent Empire - To Provide For The Common Defense
190 The Crescent Empire - THE CODE OF SHAMASH-TAL
191 The Crescent Empire - How 2 Jinn
192 The Crescent Empire - What If Baghdad But Also Turkey
193 The Crescent Empire - YOL
194 The Crescent Empire - Vacation Town
195 The Crescent Empire - What If Jesus Batman
196 The Crescent Empire - The Lorax
197 The Crescent Empire - Death Mountain
198 The Crescent Empire - Not Persiaran Has Problems
199 The Crescent Empire - How to Persic
200 The Crescent Empire - Insurgency
201 The Crescent Empire - A Cave Where Devils Live
202 The Crescent Empire - In Theory, Not Canaan
203 The Crescent Empire - The Will of the Council
204 The Crescent Empire - Not Hebrew
205 The Crescent Empire - The very slight shifts to actual Israeli place names are a little weird.
206 The Crescent Empire - Life In Hell
207 The Crescent Empire - Peter And The Wolf
208 The Crescent Empire - How 2 Crescent
209 The Crescent Empire - EAGLE VISION
210 The Crescent Empire - Art Is Magic
211 The Crescent Empire - Devotion Is Magic
212 The Crescent Empire - Wings Are Magic
213 The Crescent Empire - Trust Is Magic
214 The Crescent Empire - Lasers Are Magic
215 The Crescent Empire - War! What Is It Good For
216 The Crescent Empire - Your Poetry Is Weak
217 The Crescent Empire - Sword Fights Also Happen
218 The Crescent Empire - Survival in the Worst Desert Ever
219 The New World
220 The New World - Lost God-Kings of Time And Space
221 The New World - Today In The Land Of Unmappable Jungles
222 The New World - Praise Gods
223 The New World - Cosmology
224 The New World - THE CONDUIT
225 The New World - THE CONDUIT
226 The New World - Conquest
227 The New World - Bad Decisions
228 The New World - Armed Force
229 The New World - Gods Talk
230 The New World - Play Sports
231 The New World - God Times
232 The New World - God Bed
233 The New World - Life of the Not Maya
234 The New World - City Fathers
235 The New World - Rite and Rong
236 The New World - The Power of Writing
237 The New World - Death Gods
238 The New World - A City Sampler
239 The New World - City People
240 The New World - Slave Queen
241 The New World - The Land of Death
242 The New World - These Guys, BTW, Are 'What If The Inca Rejected Their Sun God For A Death God'
243 The New World - O Mighty Queen
244 The New World - The Quiet Life
245 The New World - Art of Death
246 The New World - Dead Magic
247 The New World - Bless You
248 The New World - New Land
249 The New World - New Mechanics
250 The New World - The Vision Serpent
251 The New World - Death Magic
252 The New World - MORTAL COMBAT
253 The New World - A Question That Really Didn't Need To Be Answered
254 The New World - The Great Jaguar
255 The New World - Evil Gods
256 The New World - Hazard A Guess

Mors Rattus Returns

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a game called 7th Sea was produced. I wrote it up for the first iteration of this thread, in 2011. In 2015, AEG announced that they'd made a deal with John Wick Presents, transferring all publication rights to John Wick. In 2016, John Wick crowdfunded 7th Sea Secnd Edition to the tun of $1,316,813. The rules were delivered later that year, and since then, there have been a number of supplements, exanding the setting with more detail on places like the Not Caribbean, Not Middle East, Not South America and, more recently, Not Africa, with promises of delibery of an entire Not Asia-centered core book and supplements for later this year or next. It is time for me to return and see what's changed, and what's better, and what's not.

7th Sea 2nd Edition: Mors Rattus Returns



All of the covers, incidentally, resemble movie posters. It's kinda neat!

The opening prose story has also improved in quality, but that's hardly a high bar. Chapter 1 jumps us straight into the conflicts of the setting, most notably the swashbuckling, the power of magic that lies in noble blood, and the freedom of piracy and adventure, alongside intrigue and nationalism, romance, and...the Syrneth. This is a big change - we're addressing the Syrne right upfront. They were an ancient, ruined civilization with ancient secrets that are now all the rage to try and discover. They are not space aliens, as far as I've been able to tell. The entire space alien metaplot has been scrubbed from the book - as has much of the metaplot in general, honestly, in favor of the Eternal Now. The Vaticine Church and Objectionists are still around, as is the Inquisition, which has recently seized power still.

When we get the list of nations in Theah, you're going to note some changes. We still have Avalon (Not England), Castille (Not Spain), Eisen (Not Germany), Montaigne (Not France), Ussura (Not Russia), Vodacce (Not Italy) and the Vestenmennavenjar (new spelling, but sitll Not Scandinavia and Not Holland). The Highland Marches (Not Scotland) and Inismore (Not Irelend) are now being recognized as full nations, and we've added the Sarmatian Commonwealth (Not Eastern Europe). Secret societies still exist, but the intro chapter doesn't list them. We have new continents mentioned - Ifri, the Lands of Gold and Fire (Not Africa) and the New World (Not South America), along with a mention that there are a number of settled coloniues north of the New World, and of course the Crescent Empire still exists in the east. These will all, we are told, get their own sourcebooks. (And did, except for what is presumably Not North America, so far.)

That's the entirety of Chapter One - it's basically just an introduction to the setting. The adding of the Sarmatians does patch a hole that has been there for a long time, though, in that 7th Sea 1 had...no Eastern Europe at all.

Next time: Chapter 2 - Theah.


Actually, I Quite Like It, Honestly

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Actually, I Quite Like It, Honestly

The setting chapter opens with something I quite appreciate - a section on diversity. While it seems to believe that 17th century Europe wasn't especially diverse - not true, by the way, diversity has been a constant in most of history - it does note that even more than in real history, Theah has a wide range of ethnic diversity. See, the Vaticine Church has always held that all men and women are born equal, regardless of appearance, and have pushed this concept with rather more force than in Real Europe. As a result, cultural migration happened far more often than in regular Europe, and while there are still national stereotypes for what each nation looks like, people who don't fit them aren't seen as exceptions. While the first thing that will come to mind when you say 'Inish' is a pale, blue-eyed redhead, but no one is going to bat an eye if you're black, with brown eyes and black hair. There isn't racism based on appearance - a fact that is a departure from actual 1600s Europe, as the Transatlantic slave trade was getting started and as a result, modern racism was in its infancy. In Theah, racism is usually based instead on where you're born. If you were born in Inismore, you are a dirty Inishman regardless of skin tone, and every kind of ethnicity can be easily found in any nation, fully accepted as a person from that nation - with all the good and bad that brings. National identity has really started to bloom in modern Theah, only about a century old, and it's begun to spread, y'see.

Our first nation writeup is Avalon, aka Not England. Theans tend to use Avalon to refer to the United Kingdom, which is all three of the Glamour Isles, but the name properly refers to only Not England - add in United Kingdom, and it also refers to Inismore and the Highlands. Avalon is a place of faerie glamour and superstition, and with good reason. The isle Avalon itself is a hilly place with many forests and moors, but not much in the way of mountains. They're warm and rainy, and so they have very good cropland. Morning and evening are almost always full of thick fog. Avalon's ruler is Queen Elaine, Keeper of the Sacred Graal, and both Inismore and the Highland Marches have sworn fealty to her. The island is also home to the Sidhe, an ancient race that, long ago, made a great sacrifice to grant the power of Glamour to the people of the isles. Glamour is the power to summon legend, and it is shared by both human and Sidhe, but can only be accessed by those that swear a sacred vow to protect Avalon from its enemies, within and without. (Which is new; before, Glamour was still Sidhe-granted but not explicitly tied to any particular thing. You just had it or didn't.)

While the three kingdoms are technically united, there's tensions. Avalon's royals have historically exploited the other two, subjugating their people. However, Elaine emerged from the civil wars of Avalon, bearing the Graal without explanation. Some still doubt its origins, her right to rule and her worthiness of the crown. Inismore's king, Jack O'Bannon, might be an immortal demigod, or possibly just insane, but either way he's sworn to serve Elaine so long as she remains true to the isles. James MacDuff, King of the Higlands, has also sworn fealty, but many wonder why, and if it is his own desire or if he actually believes it's for the good of the Highlanders.

Avalon, more than any other nation, has nobles close to the common folk. Elaine regularly travels the land, and it is said that her touch can cure any ill. The Avalon people adore her, and indeed can be expected to loyally serve any noble that is good and honorable. A cruel noble, on the other hand, will be hated just as deeply and have to deal with constantly rebellious peasantry. Like most of Theah, society is largely divided between peasant, clergy and noble - but Avalon's added two classes to that list recently, the merchant and the sailor. The merchant guilds of Avalon have grown very wealthy in the last 200 years or so, and they've struck deals with nobles that have a lot of land but not a lot of money. The nobles sold their lands and titles for cash, and that's made merchants a growing and potent middle class. Sailors are even more recent, as Elaine needed a navy even if it broke protocol, and so she announced that anyone sailing under Avalon's banner was a "noble sailor" - equivalent to a knight in rank, and with the right to a percentage of any plunder seized while under the flag, no matter how it was taken. Thus, Avalon's navy has swollen massively.

The shift to make the mercantile class a major thing is new, but the sailor thing isn't, except in the sense that it's being more formally called out. Overall, the entire feel of Avalon as a place of fairy tales and Elaine's court as a mirror of Arthur's are kept, though the specific Arthurian stuff is not being played up in this book. We also note that the native tongue of Avalon was Cymru - Not Welsh - but that almost no one spoke it for years due to the Montaigne occupation. Cymru is regaining popularity, and people with more Not French names (David, William) are changing them back to Cymru equivalents (Dyffd, Gwillim), with more and more kids being named after Avalon cultural heroes of the past. Oh, and Avalon sailors have invented pockets, which are becoming quite popular, as is long hair and, for men, trimmed facial hair. Wigs and makeup are seen as effete. Married women hide their hair under a hat, and maidens wear it braided.

As in 1st ed, Avalon manages its own currency, the pound sterling (and its subdivider, the shilling). These are coins, though bank notes are growing in use for large amounts. Elaine has also allowed use of the Vesten Guilder (despite her advisors' objections) in order to maintain good relations with the neighboring islands, and the Guilder is now nearly as commonly used as the pound. Avalons tend to be extremely hospitable and extremely superstitious, not least because of the Sidhe. When you have literal terrifying faeries wandering around, science has trouble making inroads, and when a Sidhe lord might wander by in disguise for no real reason, you tend to be nice to strangers. The old faith of Avalon was suppressed by the Vaticines, but it has survived, in a sense, in the form of ballads and folk tales, which are enormously popular. No one worships the old gods any more, but their names live on as heroes and kings and monsters, and the old rites live on as folk dances - less meaningful but still present. The songs tend to be fairly formulaic, such that anyone who knows Avalon story patterns can usually join the chorus even if they've never heard the song before, and they're all basically dancing or drinking tunes. The tales tend be rather bawdy, with lots of sex and lots of being a fuckup. The stories are, on the surface, morality plays - but it's always with a sort of undercurrent of comedy and mockery of the morals that the songs openly preach, which makes Avalon folk music pretty unique.

The Old Ways are returning under Elaine's rule - a definite shift from 2nd Ed, where Elaine was instead presiding over what was effectively Not Anglicanism. Instead, Elaine is happy to try and bring back the old faith and invite the Sidhe more fully into their lives. Her religious reforms are controversial, though, with the Traditionalists wanting to more fully purge the Vaticine Church from the island, and the Vaticines seeking to remove the influence of the resurgent Old Ways. Many Vaticines have left Avalon entirely, but not all. The Church still runs a number ouf universities, as Elaine offered the scholars her protection against the Inquisition...and as a result, quite a few of them have converted to the Church of Avalon over the Vaticine.

Elaine is practically an absolute monarch. She has a Parliament, but they can gather only with her permission, and they represent the various parts of the island. She can't go to war without their permission, and requires their permission to pass certain laws. When she wants it, she summons them, presents her case and has them vote. While these formal gatherings only happen on her say-so, the members often gather informally. As long as they don't gather in enough numbers to make a vote, Elaine allows use of this loophole and officially ignores it. She knows the nobles of Avalon are powerful and doesn't want to anger them. Similarly, Parliament has, overall, enough respect for her and the Graal to maintain official respect for the rules.

Elaine has spent much oif her time rebuilding the Avalon military, which had been utterly exhausted by its civil wars. However, rather than use conscription, her focus was on building a navy by offering her court the chance to profit off it. It worked amazingly, and the navy was built in record time. After that, she sent out messages to Eisen warlords and Numan warriors, and while most were too proud to head out and teach her soldiers, several did leave their homes to join Avalon. (Numa, for the record, is a mix of Not Rome and Not Greece in this edition, with Vodacce having absorbed some of it and the rest being Not Greece.) The Numans, who tend to be darker skinned, brought a lot of new ideas to Avalon, which adapted to them well after a few rough years. The Eisen and Numa soldiers were also called on to help dismantle all standing armies on the island, removing the ability for a military coup. Only Elaine is permitted an army now, with nobles only allowed garrisons of 10-20 soldiers for home protection. The nobles are not happy with this, but accepted it when Elaine told them that Avalon couldn't afford both a huge army and a huge navy, as they like having money.

Queen Elaine on Other Nations posted:

Castille: Thank Theus the Vaticine Church is still recovering from the Montaigne invasion, otherwise they would be seeking our heart on a silver platter. We know they plot against us, but are unable to enact their machinations. Let them continue their plotting. The more they split their attentions, the less they focus on us.
Eisen: The wasteland that was once the proud kingdom of Eisen has provided us with a militia to defend our borders. We agree with half of their philosophies, but disagree with none of them. Someone must help them regain their power, but, unfortunately, it cannot be us.
Montaigne: For a period longer than we wish to discuss, the Montaignes ruled our land. Never again. We know them well, and their blood-magic tricks are of no use here any longer. But as long as they keep their attention turned south, we will maintain our cordial relationship with our flamboyant cousins.
The Pirate Nations: The Brotherhood of the Coast is just an excuse for criminals to run rampant on our seas. Yet, La Bucca has proven a promising place to recruit effective Sea Dogs.
Sarmatian Commonwealth: They are too far from us to be considered enemies, but that distance also means they are too distant to be considered friends. Their monarchy is as ours: focused on the will and good of the people. If only they were closer, we might have a stronger kinship.
Ussura: Distant and silent, Ussura is a mystery to us. We have heard and seen little of them, but understand there is deep magic in their blood, magic tied to their land. One of our explorers has told us that their magic is very much like Glamour, and the woman they worship has many characteristics similar to the Sidhe. Perhaps we are cousins after all?
Vestenmennavenjar: It may seem the people of the cold lands of the north have transformed, but they have not. They are still raiders...they have found a new method of robbing our coffers of coin. Instead of coming to our shores with fire and sword, they do so with a smile and contracts. But they are still what they have always been.
Vodacce: Treachery is the word of the day as far as the Vodacce are concerned. Speaking with any Vodacce prince is like walking through a display of glass vases, all filled to the brim, sitting on thin pillars with a floor covered with eggs. They have been trained since birth to pierce any veil, and they wait with their sorcerous eyes to see any secrets, no matter how cleverly hidden. They are talented villains, but villains all the same.

Overall, Avalon is pretty similar to its 1st Edition incarnation thus far. Elaine's absolute power and general distaste for giving up much of it paints her in a somewhat less flattering light, but she's still intended as a very sympathetic figure, and the main shift has been to make a re-embracing of the Not Welsh heritage of Avalon a thing, rather than just going full on Arthur But With Anglicanism.

Next time: Castille.

I Did Prefer El Vago Tho

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: I Did Prefer El Vago Tho

Castille is one of the oldest nations in Theah. It has been an ally to the Crescents, an enemy to Avalon and Montaigne, and, most recently, home of the heart of the Vaticine. Despite its hundreds of years of war and invasion, its heart has remained largely unchanged, passionate and strong. Around four years ago, it was invaded by Montaigne and caught entirely off guard. The invasion was repelled, but at great cost. Farmland was ruined, half a generation slain or crippled. Castille is weak now, almost fallen. Its land remains valuable - it's sitting on top of rich mineral deposits, great farmland and fish-heavy ocean, and until recently, its people never knew want. It has warm winters and long summers, and the knowledge and science brought by the Church had turned it into an economic powerhouse - until the invasion. The nation is ruled over by the Sandoval family, and its land is largely divided into counties run by the Grandes de Castille, as the noble upper class is known. Each Grande rules a land grant, called a concesion, where they are empowered to collect tax and administer justice, and must house part of the king's army. The last king died recently, leaving his throne to his twelve-year-old son. The boy is known as "Good King Sandoval" due to a line by a famous court poet, and the fact that he's held the nation together for four years is honestly more than anyone ever expected from him. This is all pretty much identical to 1e.

While the king is the nominal ruler, it's no secret that he is heavily influenced by his Church advisors. There have so far been three attempted assassinations, but each was foiled, often due to the efforts of the mysterious vigilante El Vagabundo. (I miss El Vago, but I assume the name change was for cromulent Spanish.) So far, El Vagabundo has proven more than a match for plotters against King Sandoval, but that could change. See, the constant presence of Church advisors has kept Sandoval from talking much with the Grandes directly, and the bureaucracy is breaking down. Corruption and graft are rampant, and the economic losses to it are causing basic systems to fail, with the king apparently powerless to prevent any of it.

Still, Castille has always been a practical nation, and they are some of the most advanced on the entire continent. They are the only Thean nation to have aqueducts in all their cities, as well as free public education for all, and their crops remain vibrant. Even the smallest village has a church stocked with medical supplies, a small library and a trained scientist or doctor to help run it. Castillians are, on average, the best educated people in all of Theah. (Note: Theah is Not Europe, the continent, as opposed to actual planet.) Castillians also tend to be passionate people who love food, music and dance. They have a nearly religious veneration for motherhood, and mothers are the core of the Castillian family. Their dances are passionate and, some say, lascivious, their music fast. The Church's influence has also made their music extremely precise, as best encapsulated in the guitar. Again, most of these is as per 1e, albeit more explicit in the idea that the Church has made Castille one of the most advanced places around. (Well, and probably their history with the Crescents, who are also quite advanced.)

The War of the Cross left Castille weak, allowing the Montaigne invasion to surprise them and destroy so much of their infrastructure. The economy is crumbling and the nobles have often become dispossessed. The other nations are now watching and waiting for a chance to strike, to take the wealth and resources of Castille that they've always envied. Good King Sandoval is doing his best, but it's only a matter of time now. Within Castille, the King and the Church are considered to be equal - though some nobles refuse to acknowledge a boy king these days. Under them are the landed Grandes, followed by the landless ones. Grandes are divided into three classes. The highest are those who have a direct familial tie to the King. Below them are those with land and title. The lowest tier are the hidalgos, those with title but no land. There's a lot of hidalgos these days due to the War of the Cross, twenty years back, which they still haven't recovered from, and the Montaigne surprise invasion. Much of the lost land has been taken by the Church. As a result, most Castillians do not consider any social status below the highest rank to be of much note. It's hard to have noble mystique when your nobles are selling their swords for food money.

Before the wars and the corruption set in, life for a Castillian peasant was quite pleasant. They had schools, hospitals and other government services provided to them essentially for free. That is no longer the case in most places. They do still center their lives around family, however. Castillians have no concept of "extended" family. Family is family. Cousin, uncle, second cousin three times removed - they're all family. Families usually trace their bloodline back to a single founder, almost always a woman, and keep the founding matriarch's picture in their homes. Often, they also wear necklaces bearing her image, if they can afford to. As long as the matriarch's blood is shared, that's family, and no matter what sins your family commits, they are family. Only the worst can get you cast out - murder of a family member, say. There is no family justice higher than ostracism.

Castillians favor dark clothing as a base, but with highlights in the colors of fire - red, yellow, orange. Style and pattern vary by location, and most Castillians are extremely proud of their local fashion, with even the poor stitching dyed cloth to their outfits when they can. It's not about status or flair - it's about being Castillian. Traditional men's garb is the sombrero, a short vest, tight pants and a cummerbund, and often leggings, adding gloves, cuffs and collars for social events. Unmarried women are easy to spot - they wear white or cream and colorful kerchiefs. Women's designs often grow more brilliant and multicolored as they age and settle down, and married women tend to wear reds, blues and dark greens, accented with black. Beaded skirts are popular, too, as are elaborately tied braids.

Until the invasion, Castillian nobles and peasants lived very differently. Peasants tended to be very outgoing and cheerful, and would usually work only four to five hours at a time, with long breaks between shifts for siesta - rest and sport. Other Theans called this sloth, but that's hard to credit, given that many siestas were full of street dances, horse parades, musical performance and contests of skill and daring. The nobles were, in theory, above such activities. They tended to be extremely regimented in etiquette and very proper, with excellent education and a taste for fine arts and music, avoiding peasant celebrations. These days, however, the sheer number of displaced Grandes have been forced to adapt, and many find the exuberance of the lower classes appealing. There has been more class mixing now than ever before. The Church has remained silent on this, largely because they're unsure if it's good, bad or other. They instinctually feel it's wrong, but it seems to be keeping spirits high post-invasion, which is practically a blessing.

Ever since the Vaticine Church moved its main seat to Castille 400 years ago, the nation has been the most pious in Theah. It has given Castille a lot of influence politically - there are Castillian diplomats pretty much everywhere in the world - but also a lot of responsibility for living up to the image of the Prophets. It's not been easy, especially with the Church's shift on topics like mercy and forgiveness after the Third Prophet - which have reached a head in the past ten years, as the Inquisition has hit a fever pitch and High Inquisitor Verdugo took power.

Castille's government is fractured at best and very chaotic. The death of King Salvador Aldana left the throne in the hands of a child, now only sixteen. He hasn't even been granted the title of Rex Castilium by El Concilio de la Razon, his advisors - the first time that's happened since the 1380s when the royal family was slain by plague. The Cardinals watch his decrees and reworded them, and he's had a constitutional monarchy forced on him that has allowed the Church to essentially take over the country. It doesn't help that the Castillian bureaucracy was a complex and mired process in the best of times. The army has a lack of solid leadership in one sense - the king is providing no clear orders - and too many leaders in another, as the commanders all vie for ideas with no one to decide between them. The war against Montaigne was won only because the Emperor has a short attention span and Castille got lucky. There are far too many 'leaders' in Castille now, and the corruption runs deep. The King is sequestered away in Vaticine City, and while the economy should be booming thanks to the massive resources of the nation and the Church's methodical administrators, the corruption among the tax collectors keeps the wealth flowing into private pockets. The tax collectors, you see, are operating on their own. Called recaudadores, they collect a minimum tax from all Grandes and then report it to the King or Church if this is not provided in some form - wealth, land, a royal marriage. If this fails, they are allowed to bring in the army to help seize the tax. It doesn't help that a third of the nation's farmland is ruined thanks to the Montaigne. The Church's planning prevented a crisis, but the sheer number of disenfranchised Grandes and worthless holdings was beyond even their planning. Reparations are desired, but unlikely to appear.

Castille's army is in no better shape. Their numbers surged during the war, but the fighting was intense. They now struggle to hold their land along the borders with sufficient men, and most of the Castillian Armada has been lost entirely. While the Castillians famously fight with all their hearts, they are slowly losing hope. They do, at least, have powerful military technology. Their fortresses, protected by wheeled cannon and tracked cannon rings allowing for quick repositioning of guns, stood well against the Montaigne and are much faster than most artillery. They also have been at the forefront of chemistry, allowing their gunpowder to pack more punch into fewer grains, and they also invented the packed powder charge, so they have no need for powder horns and can load and fire far faster than most other armies. They're now experimenting with measured charges for artillery.

Current Relations posted:

Avalon: Due to the "heathen" activities of the present Queen of Avalon, Elaine, there is a great deal of animosity between Castille and the island kingdom. But even the spiteful Concilio de la Razon is not willing to act against her at this time, content instead to support her enemies and wait for her to fall from grace.
Eisen: The armored lunatics of Eisen have proven themselves a threat in the past, but one look at their ruined lands and teetering rulership is enough to dispel the possibility for another invasion from the north.
Montaigne: The Montaigne currently bear the brunt of Castille's scorn for foreigners of all sorts. Prior to their invasion, no military troops except those directly controlled by the Castillians themselves had set foot upon Castillian soil for six hundred years - a very long time for hatreds to brew, as many Montaigne soldiers who served on the frontlines of the war would attest.
Pirate Nations: With the destruction of the Castillian Armada and little hope in sight for the Nation to put another fleet to sea, the Brotherhood of the Coast and the Buccaneers may provide some limited defense against the Sun King's ships.
Sarmatian Commonwealth: Many within Castille look at the recent development of Golden Liberty as a progressive step forward. Some have even mentioned Castille should follow in the Commonwealth's footsteps. But the prevailing powers in Castille rejected such a ridiculous idea. The Commonwealth is backwards - like most Eastern Thean Nations - and has no idea of progress. They are trying to recapture the glory days of the Numanari Republic...days which are clearly nothing more than myth. And there is no point in chasing myth.
Ussura: Castillians travel far less than most, and those who do are rarely interested in the vast plains and deep forests of the Ussurans. Outside of standard diplomatic relations, religious pilgrimages and matters of continental war, the two countries have had very little to do with one another.
Vestenmennavenjar: "Of all the crooked con men of the world, we hate the Vesten the least." Beyond this statement - made by the late King of Castille - nothing can be gleaned of the relationship between these two distant nations.
Vodacce: Between the animosity of the Church divisions and the constant quarreling between the pompous nobles of both countries, Castillian relations with Vodacce are at an all-time low. The most recent demands by Vodacce merchants and inflammatory statements of their Cardinals have only served to worsen the tension along the Vaticine Gulf, and the Grandes have begun to call for additional patrols to ensure their safety.

Castille is likewise fairly similar to 1e. The Inquisition has gotten relatively little press so far in the book, but we still have the boy-king and the failing rule. We're more strongly linking that to corruption caused by like of oversight on the nobility, though, and there's a stronger focus on Castille as one of the most advanced civilizations in Not Europe. The war with Montaigne is more definitively over, though, with a Castillian (Pyrrhic) victory.

Next time: Eisen.

Inexplicable Name Changes

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Inexplicable Name Changes

Eisen is in the center of Theah, which has made it a position of strategic import for pretty much all Thean politics forever. Before the War of the Cross, they controlled who got to move through their borders, both for war and trade. After the War, though...well, Eisen is essentially destroyed. Much of the farmland is still in ruins, even 20 years later, and they cannot even attempt to enforce their tolls - or even pay their soldiers. The Eisen are a proud people - they built the empire of the Vaticine, and it lasts for centuries. Their history is one of valor, constantly. Thus, they often try to live in the past, since the present is so awful. They were extremely proud of having no magic but that which they made by their toil.

And this is where 2e takes a hard right. See, at some point at the end of the War, the Horrors began to arrive. Vampires, skeletons, demons, werewolves. Eisen had survived the War of the Cross, but now, the monsters were here. They have a long history of coming back from the brink of destruction, though. Right now, the nation is fragmented, haunted and full of killers and monsters, but if it could unite and rise, the pride of the Eisen would bring it to the fore once more. This is te land of desperate heroism and courage in the face of darkness. See, while the War of the Cross eventually consumed most of Theah, it began with Eisen Vaticine fighting Eisen Objectionist - Eisen against Eisen, and they learned the price for their disunity. Most of the world now views them with faint scorn, even though their skill in battle is superior to any other. Even Montaigne's greatest general, Montegue, keeps an Eisen advisor. If one of the princes of Eisen can manage to unite the people and bring them together, they could define the role Eisen will play for centuries to come. But for now? Monsters.

Eisen itself is a mountainous region that borders just about everyone on the continent. They have long winters and chilly summers, with lots of rain, snow and mud. Lots of mud. The southern half is full of the black foerests known as the Schwarzen Walder, haunted by the mysterious Schattenmann, the Shade Man who is a gaunt, sticklike creature with an immense pair of shears to dismember you with, while the north has places like the Sudsee, a gigantic lake that has been heavily overfished, or the Unsterbliche Sumpf, the Undying Swamp. The northern forests are full of bandits, and the mountains are home to stories of drachen, gigantic creatures once hunted as proof of valor, but no one's seen one in living memory. The mountains are also home to the iron mines that make up the bulk of Eisen's economy (besides mercenaries), and were once home to the dracheneisen ore, almost magical iron that was legendarily indestructible. The old mines are long since abandoned, though, and what little dracheneisen remains is used to fight the Horrors, which it seems to ward against and is able to harm, even when those Horrors are otherwise immune to damage.

The Eisen are bloodied, but they are not quite beaten. They have more collective experience in battle than any other nation, and are masters of tactics. Their skill at war is the main thing they can sell these days, and their military schools are the best in the world. Eisen mercenaries often find work as soldiers, bodyguards or ship-defending marines, leaving their homes to make money for their families. The Eisen are a stubborn people - they may lie low, but they never give up. Their population has been dropped from 24 million to 10 million in 30 years, with only 6 million of that being refugees fleeing Eisen. The rest are dead, less often by battle than by plague and starvation. The Eisen are, as a result, a grim people. Some have been unable to deal with the pain and horror, retreating to catatonia or the bottle, and even those who do not tend to have volatile tempers and scars from their experiences, visible or otherwise. The men tend to wear short hair and beards, while women often grow it to shoulder length and sometimes braid it.

There are four classes in Eisen. AT the top are the Adel, the nobles, who live in their ancestral castles and fight over acres of land with a bloody ferocity. Below them are the Soldner, the mercenaries. They are some of the wealthiest people in the nation, and often found academies to train others when they grow too old for the field. The third class are the Bauern, the peasants, who cling to their ability to raise food in the increasingly dead soil. They have endured much, and their anger is growing by the year. The final class did not exist before the War of the Cross: the Waisen, orphans. Their homes were destroyed, their families slain. They wander the land as best they can, foraging to survive. Many starve or die of illness, and the survivors are just as often slain for trespassing on their own ancestral homelands. The Adel have a saying: You can easily tell the Waisen - they don't shield themselves when beaten.

The Eisen are a practical and straightforward people. They know tact, yes, but if they don't like you, they'll let you know it. They don't lie very often, except to help a friend or save their own skin. A strong friendship for an Eisen may have them call you their Rucken, their back. This means they would trust you to defend their back in battle, and expect you to never abandon them unless they tell you to do it. They will never check behind them when back to back with you, because they trust you that much. They also tend to be rougher than most foreigners are used to - hugging strongly, speaking loudly. The Bauern and Waisen have no time for fashion - they wear what they can get, though the wealthier ones often like a feathered cap or an apron. Soldner are known for their brightly colored dyed leathers and their distinctive slitted sleeves. They prefer wide-brimmed and feathered hats. The Adel tend to mirror the fashions of nobles elsewhere, but with a few Eisen twists - long leggings, thigh-length skirs and flat, wide-brimmed hats, mainly. (That's all for the men; the women prfer small lace collars and bright colors.)

The Eisen are known for their beer, but now even the Bauern rarely drink it - it's too expensive for them. They hope for clean water, good grains, tubers and butter. Lots of butter. Dip things in the butter. The wealthy get imported fruit and vegetables and often pay people to raise meat for them, which is dried or made into sausage, and their thirst for beer remains a constant. Most other Eisen customs have been abandoned these days for reasons of practicality, replaced by new ones. The food shortages mean that children always eat first, period. Even the most honored guest waits before they eat, for the children to get their fill. It is also now customary for guests to bring enough food for themselves and their hosts, as a 'gift' - largely to ensure no one goes hungry if possible. The Bauern also hold that it is terrible luck to harm or touch a Waisen, as their misfortune is contagious. To avoid it, they say, bathe thoroughly to wash it away. Eisen art and music, at least, is somewhat delicate, rather than military. Their greatest works tend to display scenes of idyllic beauty, often landscapes.

The Eisen are split fairly evenly between Vaticine and Objectionist. In both cases, their churches tend to the austere, forgoing flashy displays of wealth. They are often highly religious, and discussions of faith are common among Bauern at work, while most Adel donate up to 50% of their income to their local church. They also have a practice unique to Eisen, shared among both Vaticine and Objectionist: Soldner all wear iron necklaces that bear the insignia of the pious dead of their class. These are known as Heiligen, and the Eisen believe the souls of the dead will intercede on the wearer's behalf with God, to keep them safe. The most popular inisgnia is the man with a crown of stars, symbol of the late Imperator Weiss, who is remembered for his policies of religious freedom. AFter that, Imperator Gottschalk I is represented by the Vaticine cross, having created the Vodacce papacy and granted it to the Hierophant to rule. The wolf is the next most popular, with Objectionists at le ast, as the symbol of Stefano Wulf - not an Eisen, but for Objectionists, the holiest man since Mattias Lieber. The final popular heiligen is the hawk in flight, symbol of General Stauss, the Vaticine champion who is still fondly remembered.

Eisen is divided now into seven konichreiche, rouhgly 'city-state kingdoms'. Each is ruled by an Eisenfurst, an Iron Prince. The title derives from their former control over the dracheneisen mines. Most of the actual dracheneisen arms and armor were lost, stolen or destroyed during the War of the Cross, however. Each Iron Prince runs things differently. Their borders are often imprecise, too. The first is Freiburg, the Free City, ruled by Niklas Trage, who is probably the most powerful atheist in the world. The War of the Cross destroyed his faith, and he is certain now that all have a price that will make them betray their friends, if offered. He is known to get drunk and verbally accost clergymen. DEspite this, he does his best to help his people and to use their moral weaknesses to manipulate them into doing 'right' as he sees it. He has no desire to expand, claiming only the lands that can be seen from the top of the Wachtturm, the immense watchtower that stands in the center of his city. Freiburg is run on free trade - Trage levies no tax and his only real law is that you must never reveal where your questionable merchandise is from. He attempts not to govern at all, but rather to make his people desire to govern themselves. He is certain Freiburg will not live to see its fifth anniversary, however - there's too many ambitious Eisenfursten, and both sides of the religious divide agree that atheists must not rule. Trage is basically like his 1e version, though I believe they've spelled his name a new way.

Wirsche is ruled by Roswitha von Wirsche, who lost three sons and a husband to the War. She was depressed and listless for a time, but something has changed. Now, her land is booming, producing food where once ethere was nothing but ruin. The people are diligent now, but they are also afraid, locking their doors at night. They do not speak to outsiders, for fear that the Countess is listening. This is entirely new for 2e. Wirsche was, previously, Wische, and was ruled by Reinhard von Wische, who was catatonic, and was full of Waisen and little else. The whole probably-a-vampire countess thing? An improvement.

Posen is ruled by Elsa Posen (Fauner, in 1e), who, like her 1e incarnation, is a gigantic woman of immense strength, skill and arrogance. Her land is largely unharmed by the War and is full of fertile cropland and wealthy iron mines. Not much else to say. Stefan Heilgrund rules over the konigreich Heilgrund, who shares a name with his 1e version and little else. He wants to reunite Eisen and is sunned by all the other Eisenfursten but Niklas Trage - and even then, Trage only sees him as a brash idiot that can be used. He is collecting occult books and objects for some reason, which is also true in 1e. (The reason there was spelled out; I don't believe it is here.) Fischler is next, ruled by Falk Fischler, who put it together from pieces of Sieger and Hainzl. Fischler is fairly similar to his 1e version - he's a depressed and lonely man who has come into great wealthy but has no friends. He was once shunned by the nobles around him for his poverty, and now they fawn on him for his wealth. Fischler's income is based on fishing, but the Sudsee is nearly fished out and Falk is unsure whether to ban fishing for a bit to let it recover - or if that would ruin his people just as fast.

Sieger is the sixth konighreich, ruled by Erich Sieger. As in 1e, it was originally land belonging to a Castillian noble at the end of the War of the Cross, but was abandoned by Castille because Erich was willing to fight to the death over it despite the worthlessness of the area, resource-wise. The land is salted and burned, and Sieger can barely feed what remains of his people, who tend to flee to other konigreiches. Despite this, he is obsessed with retaining his lands and is quite angry at losing some to Fischler. He works hard and is legendarily stubborn. Essentially the same as 1e. The final konighreich is Hainzl, ruled by the cheerful Georg Hainzl, who in 1e was insane, and still is. His lands are largely untouched, and he takes on the role of being Mad King Ludwig, basically - patron of art and music, not super in touch with reality, loves opera. The details of his madness in 1e had him haunted and paranoid, but that doesn't appear to be the case here. His lands produce the best iron in Eisen.

Eisen's main exports are iron, lumber and coal, which are quite expensive - and that money is spent on importing food. 40% of Eisen's food is imported thanks to the War of the Cross, and the Eisenfursten conrol all trade in Eisen save for trade in Freiburg. Once, the Eisen currency was the mark, a silver coin minted by the Imperator, but only some Eisenfursten still accept it. Freiburg uses Guilders and its own coin, the pfennig - a tenth-Guilder coin made with permission from the Vendel League. Posen, Hainzl and Fischler do this also. Heilgrund, Wirsche and Sieger prefer the mark - Heilgrund to use as a rallying point and symbol of the glory days, Sieger because...well, because he's stubborn and crazy, and Wirsche for no reason anyone can tell. Freiburg's Guild moneychangers buy marks for Guilder but will not perform the exchange the other way - they want to take the mark entirely out of circulation.

Mercenaries make up the bulk of Eisen's military presence, with the rest being the private guards of the Eisenfursten, which are quite small. Most of the mercenary bands predate the War of the Cross, and many fought on both sides at various points. They each have their own distinct banner and war cry, along with a charter that sets out their bylaws. The most famous are the Blutgeister, the Blood Spirits, whose warcry translates to 'Spirits, fly!' and who are renowned for the terror they strike in foes. Of the Eisenfurst guards, only Posen and Sieger are of any note - Elsa Posen's guards are extremely skilled and loyal, while Sieger's are the most brutal and callous Soldner in all of Eisen, which takes some doing.

Eisen tactics are world-renowned, and they have four military academies that are recognized as the world's best - Steil, Unabwendbar, Klippe and Gelingen. Steil is only seven years old, founded by a cousin of the last Imperator, Riefenstahl. It accepts only half of those that apply, and focuses on cavalry and infantry maneuvering. Unabwendbar is primarily a school of tactics rather than combat, with a philosophy known as Unwiderstehlich, Irresistable. They learn to embrace rather than struggle against what cannot be changed, focusing on what can be changed in all things. They can often come off as cold, but...well, if they say someone cannot be saved, they're often right. Klippe students are sworn to strict secrecy and new students join only by invitation. It is renowned as the best school in Eisen, and its graduates can be assured of good jobs, but the students have a high mortality rate and the school is believed to be cursed by some. Gelingen, on the other hand, focuses on field education, hunting poachers and watching for invaders or monsters. Their motto is Leren durch taten, learn by doing.

quote:

Avalon: "The only thing good about the AValons is that we know they can't be trusted." As far as te Eisen are concerned, any Avalon has to be watched cautiously. Still, accusing someone of being a thief or a liar is a serious matter, so Eisen usually keep their opinions ot themselves unless they have absolute proof of an Avalon's dishonesty.
Castille: The Castillians are somewhat odd, but mostly good, religious folk. If an Eisen is an Objectionist, he will definitely keep this a secret around the Castillians. They aren't known for their open-mindedness.
Montaigne: The Montaigne prefer style over substance, which greatly upsets Eisen sensibilities. Eisen see the Montaignes as wasteful, arrogent children. Still, they often have plenty of money to throw around, so it's worth being polite to them, just in case.
Pirate Nations: There's nothing wrong with men making a living through force of arms. The threat of pirates keeps many Eisen employed, and their trade often goes to Freiburg, where it helps the Eisen economy even more. The Eisen will not profit if something happens to the pirates.
Sarmatian Commonwealth: The Sarmatians are an odd bunch. Almost like two different families living under the same roof. On one hand, they've given rights to all their citizens, and on the other, they're making deals with demons. A strange Naiton, to be sure. Not exactly sure how to even begin trusting them.
Ussura: The Ussurans are strong, quiet people, if a bit skittish. An Eisen could scarcely ask for a better traveling companion, since they keep to themselves unless there's a fight - in which case they're perfectly capable of holding their own.
Vestenmennavenjar: Although the VEstenmannavenjar are partially responsible for the War of the Cross, they are stout fighters and able craftsmen. Therefore, the Eisen respect them...but do not forget.
Vodacce: The Vodacce weave a web of lies around their victims and then descend to feast upon their helpless bodies. If there's a Vodacce around, always keep an eye on him, or he's bound to stick a dagger in your back.

Overall, Eisen's main changes are the Horrors. Eisen is full of horrorshow monsters, and that's honestly a good thing. Before, it was mostly just Depression Central with some asshole poisoners. I'm not honestly sure why Posen's Eisenfurst had her name changed, but whatevs. The replacement of Coma Dude with Probably A Vampire Lady was definitely a good one. Besides that, not much has changed except for Stefan Heilgrund possibly not being a villain.

The Importance Of Scotland

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Importance Of Scotland

The Highland Marches are surprisingly important on the world stage, and always have been. They aren't especially powerful or rich, but their ability to support or disrupt Elaine and her rule makes them extremely pivotal in Avalon's bid to join the world powers. Because of that, Avalon's foes have sought them out as a weak link...and the Highlanders are more than ready to follow the lead of their king, James MacDuff II, in using that status as a weapon. The Marches themselves are wet, foggy and rocky, with bad roads, banditry and lots of vicious beasts. Most travelers prefer horseback or carriages to walking, and the lack of major rivers means that boat travel is rare. The weather is distinctly unpleasant and there are few sunny days, though the frosts rarely get too severe. The food, like the weather, is heavy and rarely changes. Mostly, it's sheep in all of its varieties, though with the discovery of the New World, potatoes have been added to the menu as well, and carrots also grow well there. Most food is boiled or stewed, and fancy preparation is seen as wasteful.

The Highlanders tend to be tall, and their clothing is practical by necessity, made for warmth and comfort over fashion. Men wear kilts by tradition, in the tartan of their family or clan. Kilts form a sash also, which is worn over the shoulder or unpinned to serve as a kind of blanket. Nobles favor giant claymores over the more continental rapier, and wear them almost all the time - even at Parliament. Beyond that, their fashion is similar to Avalon's. Women fvor dresses and pleated skirts, usually rather less decorative than those of other nations, and made of strong and warm fabrics. Hats are rare, but women often wear flowers or ribbons in their hair. Clan and family are very important in the Highlands, though they have very little political power outside the island. Clan tartans are worn in public almost constantly, and dances and folk songs are favored for their ancestral allegiances. Foreigners usually have trouble telling them apart, but locals can easily distinguish a song from one valley over that of another. Indeed, county lines are often drawn based on which dances and songs are used where. The reason this obsession with the old affiliations doesn't spark the old wars any more is that Highlanders draw a clear difference between cultural identity and national pride. It's essnetially like sports fandom - you can wear your colors and sing your anthem proudly, but you're not going to identify as a Red Sox fan before you identify as an American, so to speak, at least outside the occasional bar brawl. After all, six centuries of subjugation by Montaigne and Avalon has a bonding effect.

Officially, women are second-class citizens in the Highlands. They are forbidden property ownership, political office and the appearance of equality. Women cannot sit at Parliament or serve as clan leaders. However, in practice, things aren't quite like that. Most Highland houses rely on the women to run them, and without them, the country wouldn't get anything done. Women are also the traditional caretakers of finances, and they run the banks to the extent that bills are generally addressed to 'the lady of the household.' Noblemen usually defer to their wives over all other advice, and while no woman holds elected office, many are informal community leaders. The army does admit women soldiers, though they make up a tiny proportion of it - albeit one that contains some of the greatest heroes of the Highlands, including the most notorious privateer of Elaine's fleet, Bloody Bonnie McGee.

The Highland nobles are slowly integrating with those of Avalon as the nations grow closer. Most of them still run large farming estates full of gardens and moors, and their education is primarily via home tutors, though some head to Avalon for formal schooling. While the nobles embrace the trappings of sophisticated culture and enjoy the subtleties of hunting, debate and so on, most Highlander nobles prefer to work in politics to being passive. Most of them are patriots, working to better those they lead or themselves rather than focus on mindless diversions. Of course, other countries tend to see them as quaint and backwards, given their isolation. The peasants have a hard life, though the growind middle class has been making things a little better. Most peasants work on the farms owned by the nobilities or wealthy merchant landlords. However, as education and science spread, their lot is improving. More and more are heading to the cities to seek their fortune as merchants or shopkeeps. Generally, Highlander peasants keep to themselves, respect their betters and try to make the most of their lives. They can be quite cheerful, however, and are known to love drinking, singing and competition.

The greatest virtue, for the Highlanders, is honesty. Opposing another is no sin if stated openly, and the idea of a 'good clean fight' is dominant in Highland politics. Promises are rare, but if given, they are held sacred - one's oath is one's good name, and no Highlander will consciously break their word. However, this applies only to the people of the Glamour Isles. Foreigners may be deceived freely, and often are tricked into believing a solemn oath that is broken at the worst possible moment. Beyond that, their etiquette is similar to Avalon's. Men tip their hats to ladies and are respectful of rank, and while honesty makes them coarser than in less open nations, the Highlanders still expect politeness or a good explanation. They're also quicker to fight than many, and duels are considered always appropriate as a way to solve a dispute.

Clan politics traditionally have been the mainstay of the Highlands, with clan dominance being the focus even under Montaigne rule. However, this is changing as clan loyalty shifts to broader political parties. The Highland Parliament is made of the heads of each major Clan, who inherit their seats, and the old rivalries are shifting from blood feud to debate. They are overseen by the High King, who is a direct descendant of Robert I and oversees all meetings and executes Parliament's edicts. He is the shaper of policy and often controls the agenda. He can tehcnically act without approval, but risks censure and rebellion if he does. It is an unspoken rule that the king respects Parliament's decisions, and in turn gets their approval when he puts forth issues. Currently, the Parliament is divided between the Unionists, who support Elaine's rule, and the Separatists, who want independence. The Unionists are the majority, but the Separatists have been growing. King MacDuff is a Unionist of some passion and has been keeping them in check in the belief that the Highlands can gain strength while remaining largely autonomous as part of the United Kingdoms. Independence, he feels, would leave them weak and unprotected by Elaine's privateers, allowing for easy invasion. He doesn't want to throw away practical freedom for theoretical independence.

The main cities of the Highland Marches are Kirkwall and Connickmoor. Kirkwall was built during a centuries-old Vesten invasion, and has stood many sieges since. Now, it is the King's keep and embqassy, and he can generally be found here. The clans meet in the grand hall once a year, and during that week, Kirkwall's population triples and a grand fair is held. Connickmoor is the home of the MacBrides and the center of the Separatist Movement. The MacBride clan leader dreams of independence, but has been constantly stopped by the support for the alliance between MacDuff and Elaine. However, MacBride is a patient man.

The rest of the world sees the Highland Marches as nothing but a vassal state to Avalon. However, the Highlanders maintain strong ties to the Vestenmennavenjar, which has allowed wealth and prosperity to enter their lands fairly often.

Inismore is the other 'vassal state'. For centuries, the Inish were ruled by cruel Avalon kings who outlawed their language, taxed them heavily and enforced order by violence. Many Inish still hate and distrust the Avalon monarchy, even though Elaine holds the Graal. They dislike the phrase 'Avalon Isles', but they know more than any the power and importance of the Graal. Only a worthy monarch may hold it, and that means Elaine is worthy. And yes, she reduced the tax and made Inish legal again, and yes, the military rule is over, and yes, the island has its own king, even if he's mad. But more than that, the Inish know Glamour is frail and weak. If she does but one thing wrong, Elaine could lose the Graal - and with it, the isles would fall to chaos. Thus, the Inish do not support Elaine out of love or loyalty to her. Rather, they are loyal to Inismore, for they know that if Elaine falls, the terrors begin again, and the Inish would do anything to stop that.

The Inish tend to the shorter side, and it is said that when the world was made, the greatest sorcerers ever cast a Gesa, a compelling spell, on the island. It made the code of conduct that has ruled Inish blood for millenia, a code foreign to most outsiders until they visit Inismore. It's all about your reputation. The Inish would kill themselves before doing anything to disgrace their good names. Now, what is honorable and what isn't is very strictly defined by the Gesa of Inismore - and it applies to all, even the king. Indeed, the Inish view of their king is 'the best among equals', quite unlike the rest of Theah. The Gesa is divided into three Great Laws and the Fourth Law that is invoked only when those are broken.

The Law of Hospitality says that friends and strangers alike must be treated well. The King maintains hostels along the roads that will feed and bed a traveler without charge, and in which no weapon of any kind is permitted under the King's Peace. Breaking that peace is punishable only by death. A host that turns a guest away or treats them badly is at great risk of reputation loss, and word spreads quickly among the Inish. Abusing hospitality is just as bad, of course. Generosity is also part of this law - a man is judged by kindness of heart and generosity with money. Those who have have a duty to help those who need, and a man with full pockets that cannot spare a coin is a fool and a monster.

The Law of Bravery states that it is better to die horribly but with courage than to live blissfully as a coward. More important than anything else is how you are remembered after your death, for you are immortal only in memory. The Inish are a proud people, and that pride prevents them from showing pain, doubt or fear - which has given them a rather casual attitude towards violence. Fistfights can be friendly, and they're always respectful...even if triggered at the drop of a hat. Weapons are never used, of course - just fists, until one man cannot get up again without aid. Then the winner helps him up and buys him a drink. The winner always pays - it's a sign of respect for a man who fought until he could not stand, never giving up.

The Law of Loyalty states that a man must always keep his promises, no matter the cost. However, no man can be expected to keep a promise that would make him break the Three Laws, of course. That'd be dishonorable. A man's loyalty is owed to his lord, but his first loyalty is always to his honor - a fact that confuses many Theans. The first and most important concern of all Inish is that their honor is kept intact. Others may find this troublesome, but individualism and honor are taken very seriously on Inismore. Outsiders often see them as arrogant as a result, but it's core to their pride.

The fourth law, only ever invoked once one of the Three is broken, is the Law of Justice. Inish law is not about preventing crime, but punishing it. Any injustice is brought to right, no matter how hard it may be. Justice may not be fast, but it cannot be evaded. Foreigners often see this trait of the island as coincidence, but the Inish know it isn't. Fate intervenes. Justice, to the Inish, is a responsibility. If you witness a transgression, you are dutybound to make it right. You cannot ignore it. The only way to rectify a wrong you've done is to atone with a quest that puts your name clear. Often, this includes three impossible tasks, all of which a good Inishman will try to do, even if it means death. Hell, dying is probably the best way to clear your name.

Inish fashion is extremely traditional - leggings, long-sleeved shirts and cloaks, all wool, with leather boots and belts. No buttons. Lots of jewelery of all kinds, often with intricate knot patterns. The Inish farm practically all year round, and the island is pretty much two-thirds farmland, primarily barley, dairy, hay, potatoes, poultry, sugar beets, wheat and livestock. Fishing is also common. Inish music is primarily singing, and their customs and traditions are built into their songs, with subjects that vary from rebellion against tyranny to war to love to whiskey. The most important part of this is the bard, one of the Inish learned class. They are unique to Inismore, found in noble courts telling stories and writing songs.

Inish religion says that the gods live in far Shadowlands, which can be reached by magic only, though the gates are long closed. The Inish don't especially care about them, honestly. They worship at the right times, on the right nights, but otherwise the gods aren't important, except to note that anyone can become a god, with strong enough glamour. The Inish believe glamour is reputation, and that it has a direct tie to the afterlife. The stronger your legend, the more glamour you're given, and some of the greatest gods were once ordinary people whose legend outlived them, giving them a path to the Shadowlands. That's why you never call an Inish a coward - their reputation matters so much that they have to prove they're not. The keepers of these old waysa re the druids, men and women who hide for a century, until the O'Bannon returned and they could come out into the sun. They aren't always sorcerers - they're teachers who know the secrets of the world, the patterns that show up again and again. They know the right herbs and when to pick them, how to guard against disaster, because they are taught. And because others do not know it, the knowledge looks like magic. Bards are initiate druids, spending their lives learning the secret knowledge by wandering, telling stories and making new ones. They see the patterns as they wander, learning to recognize and understand them as well as serving as messengers with the aid of 'seven-league striders', the magic boots that can cross Inismore in a single day.

Inismore is divided into 26 counties, each of which has one representative in Parliament under the ard ri, the High King of Inismore, who rules from Donega. Outside the town is the Fal Stone, a holy artifact that weeps and sings if the ard ri kisses it. Most of Inismore is lowlands but for the core of the isle, which is mountain. There is no place on the island that is more than a hundred miles from water, and boats and ports are very important to the Inish. The climate is mild and warm, but very wet indeed. The rivers are never dammed or blocked for fear of Sidhe vengeance, as the Sidhe live in the waters and sacred lakes. The most sacred are those with an island in the middle, as the Inish say they are gateways to the Sidhe lands. Perhaps oddly, the most prominent buildings are foreign castles along the shore, built by invaders and now rulked by the people they were meant to keep out.

The O'Bannon is the High King, but he must deal with Parliament, which was established centuries ago by the Avalon invaders. The O'Bannon has neither the time nor patience to deal with the nobles, though, and dislikes his authority being questioned. The economy is essentially linked to that of Avalon, and the coinage is similar. The Vendel guilds have a growing presence in the ports of Donega, Dunkeen and Darwah. Donega, the capital, is largest, due to fishing and trade. It was cursed in the year 00, but the O'Bannon broke the curse by bleeding on the Fal STone. Dunkeen was the center of Avalon rule and is now the main trade city of Inismore, sitting on several Montaign and Vodacce trade routes. Darwah is the port that trades only with the Highlands. It is ruled by the O'Tooles, whom the O'Bannon removed from the throne when he returned. They make no secret of their distaste for the ard ri, but have so far done nothing to sabotage him.

The Inish military is about 90% untrained soldiers and 10% professionals - but those 10% are the important ones. The average Inish army is a mass of madmen led by wild fanatics, and their tactics are unconventional at best. While they're always outnumbered, they are entirely unpredictable, so generals hate fighting them. They have no navy, but have sent hundreds to join the Avalon privateers, and their marines are legendary. For the rest of Theah, they're just Avalon's angry little sibling - no navy, no army, no real economy, no embassies, no threat. The king is a boor and a madman, so why visit? And, honestly, the Inish are okay with that.

Overall, the Highlands and Inismore haven't changed much if at all since 1e, though there's less hinting that James loves Elaine and less talking about how totally awesome and invincible the O'Bannon is. In 1e, he was an unstoppable fae supergod with infinite Glamour power. Here, he's...well, probably immortal and fae, still annoyingly crazy and all that, but at least I don't have to read much about it. I'd still prefer him being gone, though.

Next time: Montaigne.

The French Are Still Assholes

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The French Are Still Assholes

Montaigne is the nation that leads Theah's culture, art and architecture. Until quite recently, it was at war with Castille, and the peasants suffered greatly from the war, but the nobles have become quite rich on it. Montaigne itself is resource-rich, with farmland as far as you can see in any direction. The cities are separated by vast gulfs of peasant hovel surrounded by arable and heavily worked land, and the cities are immense and wealthy beyond measure, ignoring the life of the rural peasants outside. Everything about noble life revolves around the Sun King, l'Empereur du Montaigne, Leon Alexandre. He's chopped the land up into small parcels, each ruled by a duke, with each duke served by some number of marquis to attend to day-to-day work. They report to the Empereur, but never actually tell him anything is trouble - they are expected to solve that before he hears about it. The life of the nobles is rich, with no understanding of moderation. For the peasantry, life is simple, with minimal education, large families and quiet lives of respectable desperation. Until recently, all men over the age of 15 were conscripted to the military, and many have come back broken or dead, so the farming is largely taken care of by daughters and widows.

It was once tradition for all weddings to be in spring, but the Castillian war changed that - the men would be given leave in winter, when the fighting slowed, you see, and they'd marry quickly and have as much sex as possible before being shipped back to the front. Peasant families are encouraged to be large, to provide more manpower. Nobles, on the other hand, rarely have many children - usually no more than two or three, as Montaigne law states that only the eldest inherits. More than one heir is prudent, but more than three is bad manners...if you aren't l'Empereur and his nine daughters, anyway. Montaigne peasants are hospitable and direct in their words, but the nobility are all about inference. Nothing said is ever what is meant, but instead relies on precedent and metaphor, and diplomats from foreign lands hate being posted to Montaigne as a result, despite the excellent food and lodging. It is considered the greatest rudeness to force someone to have to respond directly, especially on a controversial subject, and the banter can be practically painful in its need to make light of serious situations so no one has to address them. Wit is valued highly - as is intrigue, the favored hobby of the Montaigne court. They are playfully vicious about plot and scandal, and the Montaigne nobles seem to be natural spies as a result of their hobbies. They are also welcome just about everywhere, as the trendsetters of fashion and culture.

The Montaigne army forced the Vaticine church out of the country, and the nobles have reveled in their newfound theological freedom, while the peasants are terrified of their possible godless status. The nobles are decadent in the extreme, with so much wealth they have no idea how to use it all except on mischief and extravagance. The entire nation has been excommunicated, and while the nobles don't care, it has broken the morale of the peasants, and some are willing to kill over it. Still, despite all this, the land is beautiful and rich, opulent in every sense. The Church, before it left, warned that the massive overfarming and overly active production would ruin the land if kept up, but there haven't been major failures yet and no one is worried. After all, the climate is kind and the farms still produce well.

Montaigne nobles are all fashion-obsessed, with excellent and often complex grooming and hair. Peasants tend to have thick hair, cut only once per year, and thick beards on the men. The classes are very firmly and strictly divided. The highest class is La Famille Royale, who have near absolute power. They consist of the Empereur, his wife, their immediate family, and the parents of former monarchs. Mostly, that's l'Empereur's 9 daughters (and 0 sons, which he's sore over), and his third wife, the Fate Witch Morella Alouse Giacinni. Her only child is Dominique, a girl with no magic whatsoever. His prior wife was mother of three, a Castillian, and died of, quote, 'feminine ills.' Below them are the noblesse, the proper nobility - the Dukes and Marquis. Dukes outrank Marquis by right of owning land and descending from the founding families of Montaigne, while the Marquis are their siblings, who control most of the wealth in exchange for overseeing life in the ducal provinces. Under them are the petite noblesse, the gentry. These are people who are noble by virtue of wealth only, lacking both land and responsibility. Some inherit, some lie and steal, but all that matters is they have the cash. They live extravagantly and avoid politics. On equal footing with them are the noblesse errante, those nobles who have somehow lost their lands and chosen instead to serve in the courts as bureaucrats, courtiers or diplomats under a patron. Just below them are the courtier class, the talented commoners that serve to entertaint he nobles with their skills - poets, jesters, prostitutes, actors, writers. Merchants and priests who possess enough wealth can also be considered of this class, though they can quickly be driven out if they don't understand the rules of the court and accidentally offend the powerful.

Below these nobles are the scholars, who have recently become quite popular due to the rise of exploration. While scholars and philosophers have traditionally been well-regarded and supporting them was a matter of noble prestige, archaeologists are the current stars, and most noblesse vie to keep them on hand and build private libraries to attract them, often at great expense. Below them are the merchants and craftsmen, most of whom belong to the Vendel League and thus make a decent income. Some sign exclusive contracts with Montaigne nobles, who love the air of superiority it gives them. Lowest of all are the peasantry, who must work to ensure the rest of the system doesn't collapse. Their life is hard indeed, especially compared to the luxuries and privileges afforded to peasants of other nations such as Vodacce or Castille. They usually work upwards of 60 hours a week, no matter their age or health, tending to the lands owned by the nobles.

Montaigne etiquette is all about avoiding confrontation, at least among nobles, and blending in. They are subtle and conflict-averse to the point that they can talk for hours without actually saying anything, and that is admired far more than honesty. Fashion and trend make parties difficult and tiring to organize, but they remain very common, although most prefer to fund the parties that others host, at least outside the bold, trendsetting cities of Paix, Charouse and Crieux. The peasants tend to be more kind and inviting, despite their hard lives. They have learned not to complain, and they keep as clean as they can in their squalor. While visitors often complain about rudeness or vulgarity in the cities, the rural peasants are universally beloved by visitors.

Peasants rarely own more than one set of clothes; nobles rarely less than fifty. Porte sorcerers are especially easy to pick out among nobles due to their gloves and cosmetics, used to hide the blemishes that form on their arms and hands. Noble fashion generally consists of many materials of great expense, and while royal blue and gold are always popular, they come in many colors indeed. Rococo floral patterns are almost never out of style, and dark colors are seen as ugly and insulting. The Mode du Lac, or Fashion Society, dictates the trends across Theah at least to some extent, and they have grown close with the Vendel League to help spread their message. Men typically follow the Mode, but women may diverge if the queens of Theah end up wearing different outfits than are dictated by the Mode. Likewise, the nobles eat richly, with imported meat, fish and other products that are seen as rare and exotic. Vodacce food, especially, is popular right now, and Montaigne cooking is considered the most innovative in the world. Grapefruit and cantaloupe are also growing in popularity, as are truffles. Merchants generally eat a less exotic but still solid and filling diet, often heavy in breads and imported Castillian crops, while the peasants make do with beans, moldy bread, discarded or old vegetables, spoiled wine and dirty water. The food they grow never fills their own bellies - it goes to feed the nobles or for export, save for what little the peasants can skim and hide from the tax collectors.

Montaigne custom embraces humor, particularly humor that mocks others or even the self, as long as it does not cross certain lines. Those who go too far are ostracized from polite society quickly, and it is not rare for those gifted in ridicule to be popular until they screw up, at which point all abandon them nearly immediately. However, ironically, situations that become so delicate as to be explosive are safer - everyone joins in the ridicule, called 'the game', to make life easier on everyone else - which most outsiders never really grasp. Montaigne do not touch their spouses publically, except sometimes when dancing, but commonly embrace friends or courtiers publically. Touching friends while laughing, particularly in the hand or chest, is also common, as is fanning one's face. Montaigne art and music are as trendsetting as their fashion and philosophy, and it is full of artists and musicians. Harps and string instruments are preferred, while percussion is disdained - for now. Wolffrond von Hazel is working to change that. He's seven years old and considered the greatest musical talent of the last century. He's Eisen-born, but he came on tour with his parents to Montaigne, as they hope to find a patron to support him. He's very popular.

Until the early 1600s, the Montaigne were a very spiritual people, strongly Vaticine, but as the morals of Kings Leon XII and XIII were terrible, the moral fiber of society decayed. The Church's influence on the Montaigne nobles is now essentially nonexistant. They promote banned books and secular movements, what churches remain are heavily taxed, and l'Empereur is openly atheist. The peasants, with the exception of direct servants of nobles, tend to fear they're damned. The Church has worked to try and keep the masses happy and alleviate their strain, but even many Church officials turn a blind eye when the soldiers arrive with gold as "gifts." There is no Cardinal in Montaigne any more, and all of its Bishops are in seclusion or missing, leaving only the Monsignors and priests to lead the flock. They have a rough job of it.

Governance is, surprisingly, actually functional. The politics are Byzantine at best, built on a web of connection and intrigue and rumor, but results happen...as long as you have the wealth and knowledge of how to make it happen. Montaigne has doubled in size since the War of the Cross, and it relies heavily on the nobles to lead and organize things, while they use the new land to grow rich. On average, Montaigne has the highest standard of living in Theah - though the peasants do rather drag it down. Heavy tariffs on trade keep the coffers full, and the nobles' consumption vastly outstrips their production and export...which means that if they ever hit hard times, the nation would be in deep trouble. But they've never had economic problems, so why worry? Their coinage is the soleil, though the Guilder is equally popular, with merchants preferring to take in Guilders and give soleils as change.

The military was once an austere, elite group, but now, it's size is tripled due to conscription, and its command structure is dwindling and largely inexperienced. Most of them are peasants with talent but no real experience, and few nobles bother to enlist. The conscription, of course, applies only to peasants. The losses in Castille were a harsh lesson for the poor and the soldiers, but the rich learned nothing. Many grew wealthy off the war and few nobles died, after all. It hardly helps that the current leader of the Navy, High Admiral Alceste Valois de Praisse III, is the most ostentatious military leader in years. He spends more time at court than at sea, always assuring l'Empereur that the pirates are no threat nearby...though his patrol orders have left the bay west of Crieux essentially unguarded.

The elites still exist, however. The Musketeers serve as police, guards for nobles in transit and agents to perform any number of tasks for the royal family. They swear to serve l'Empereur and wield a rapier, tabard and musket as signs of authority, with each blade specially forged and fitted to their grip, the tabard bearing the royal crest and the musket inlaid with silver. Musketeer recruits must be accepted by a council of 20 serving Musketeers, and they never have more than 1000 members at any time, with old soldiers retiring and new ones joining each spring to maintain peak efficiency. Each would fight to the death for any other, and the trust and loyalty between them is legendary. They are not, however, the personal guard of the Empereur - that honor belongs to the Lightning Guard, who are formed from the best Musketeers only. The force has existed for 600 years now as devoted and righteous defenders of the monarchy, as well as couriers, escorts, investigators and ambassadors.

quote:

Avalon: Though the constant shuffling of government between Montaigne and Avalon has long since settled and commerce across the Montaigne Strait is at an all-time high, long-standing grudges continue between the two nations. Montaigne and Avalon have moved on to new conflicts, however, and internal struggles within both nations serve to keep these hostilities buried at the moment.
Castille: The people of Montaigne have never respected the Castillians, resenting their booming agriculture and export business and holding the daily siesta in contempt. The Montaigne nobility considered the war to be a righteous cause - a blow against the domineering morality of the Vaticine Church - but even the lower classes felt that the Castillians were undeserving of their riches. Most commoners found the war to be a reasonable response to the insults and indignities the Castillians forced on Montaigne over years of trade negotiations and border disputes.
Eisen: The Treaty of Weissburg ended open hostilities between Montaigne and Eisen, but the emotions beneath those angry blows remain. The Montaigne have made an enemy of the Eisen, though it may not appear that way to those outside the conflict. Both sides have made a very public display of trading resources with one another, including employing Eisen generals at the Montaigne trading grounds.
Pirate Nations: Montaigne's navy currently spends most of its time defending trade ships from pirates. The Vendel League recently offered to supply additional mercenary ships as escort vessels, but l'Empereur has not acknowledged their offer.
Sarmatian Commonwealth: Peasants voting? Surely, no. Enough with that. Bring the wine.
Ussura: There has been little contact between Montaigne and Ussura. They are distant from one another, for one thing, and it is simply easier to negotiate with other Nations that are closer to Montaigne. Yet...l'Empereur often asks questions of visiting nobles and dignitaries about the Ussuran land and people, hinting that he may pursue another military campaign when he grows tired of his latest artistic endeavors. Some of his generals have suggested he look west or north instead of so far east, but - so far - he has remained noncommittal about his plans.
Vestenmennavenjar: Montaigne maintains contact with Vesten primarily through the League and its economic charters, which regularly strain their resources. Were it not for a series of tariffs set in place by l'Empereur and his council, the constant machinations of the Vendel League might have caused tensions between these Nations. Despite their differences, both Montaigne and Vesten agree on one thing: luxury goods are wasted on the rest of Theah when Montaigne is willing to pay so much for the best that the Vendel League has to offer.
Vodacce: Montaigne's trade relations with Vodacce are certainly more agreeable, and profitable, than those with any other nation in Theah, for many reasons. First and foremost, the Montaigne love items produced by the Vodacce, whom they consider "larger than fashion." Rumors abound, however, that l'Empereur - who has made an enemy of, or alienated, everyone else - is laying the foundation for a future political alliance.

The biggest change here is the wars. The Castillian War is officially over and Montaigne lost, though the nobles have not seemed to notice that loss. The Ussuran War has not yet started. So that's some timeline shifting that is probably for the better, because the active wars were always a bit weird for making international parties of patriots. Other than that, the nobles remain utterly awful and the Revolution is clearly building up, but has not reached a head yet or even really threatened. It will clearly happen at some point, but it's going to take a while.

Oh, and we lost the metaplot about l'Empereur shoving the Not Pope down the stairs. Honestly? Okay with that.

Next time: The Sarmatian Commonwealth.

These Guys Own, Actually, Like, A Lot

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: These Guys Own, Actually, Like, A Lot

The Sarmatian Commonwealth was once two kingdoms - Rzeczpospolita (more commonly referred to as Rzeplita) and Curonia. However, around 100 years ago, the King of Rzeplita was also the Grand Duke of Curonia and decided to formally unite the kingdoms as a nation most others now call the Commonwealth, though the cost was that the united aristocrats forced a series of compromises on him to limit his power and form the Sejm (pronounced 'same'), a parliament of nobles that would serve as the royal council. By 1667, IE, last year, the sixteen-man council was consumed by corruption and petty politics of wealthy nobles and bishops. The aged, dying king had little power, and the Commonwealth seemed sure to follow him to the grave...but his son found a solution, a cure to the poison of corruption: he'd make all citizens noble. Thus was the Land of Golden Liberty formed. The Golden Liberty has given every citizen of the Commonwealth the right to vote in the Sejm, which has dramatically shifted the balance of power. Of course, all isn't bright - the old voices of the dievai, the dark powers of the shadowed forest and the crossroads, whisper promises of power to those who will make deals with them.

Rzeczpospolita tends to the temperate, with warm summers and cold winters, and rain and snow are common. It lies southwest of Curonia, and most of it is plains and marsh with a number of forests throughout. The river Sejm (renamed by the Sejm in honor of themselves 50 years back) crosses the entire nation, starting in Ussura and ending in Vodacce, which serves as an excellent trade route for Ussura, who have no good access to the southern seas - and thus a good source of fees for the Sarmatians. Curonia in the north is mostly marsh, except for the cursed and haunted Sandaras Forest.

Until recently, the Sejm was just sixteen powerful nobles and clergymen who'd gained their power by politicking, commerce and threats of revolt. The Kings of the Commonwealth signed away most of their rights to the Sejm, but...well, that all changed last year. Just eighteen months before start of game, in fact. See, the Commonwealth was paralyzed and dying, because every member of the Sejm had the right of liberum veto - that is, any single posel ('representative') could kill any legislation by declaring they wouldn't allow it. End of discussion, everyone's done. The rule had been introduced to officially reflect that all members were equal, with equal say, but cynicism and posturing meant nothing got done. King Stanislaw I was dying, and his presumed heir, Stanislaw II, locked himself away in the Royal Library to see if he could do literally anything to make the kingdom survive. He discovered something that'd work. See, any Royal Decree could be vetoed, given the things the kings had signed, with one exception: the declaration of noble title. The King could do that still and no one could stop him. And so, he convinced his father to make one final Decree: all citizens of the Commonwealth would henceforth be nobles, granted the proper title of Sir or Madame, and would have the right to vote in the Sejm. It would take effect within 30 days, and the Sejm could not stop it or prevent it any way. A true democracy would exist. Within hours, they voted unanimously to remove the liberum veto. Stanislaw I also survived an assassination attempt within those hours, thanks to the work of a brave party led by his son and his son's fiance (now wife), a Vodacce Fate Witch.

Now, every Sarmatian may travel to the Sejm and vote, if they choose. Not all do, but they know they can. If the Sejm wants to go to war, the army can turn up to vote against it. If the Sejm wants to raise taxes, the merchants can vote against it. It is the first democracy to exist since the very, very earliest days of the Numanari Empire, and the people are very proud of it. Classes do still exist, but they're blurring. Nobles remain powerful, peasants poor, merchants rich - but it's all shifting. Anyone can walk into the Sejm and call a vote, and while most of these 'common votes' are struck down, well, the real politics is when an entire village shows up to push an issue. The power and privilege of rank are slowly eroding, bit by bit.

Curonia and Rzeplita are two distinct cultures still, but over the last century they've started to merge. The main difference is religion. Most Rzeplitans are devout Vaticines, sometimes extremely so, while most Curonians follow an ancient faith that reveres old spirits and gods. Both see themselves as holy warriors, blessed by divinity - they just disagree on which divinity. Some Rzeplitans see Curonians as heathen, while some Curonians see Rzeplitans as traitors, but they tend to tolerate each other for the sake of the Commonwealth. Both groups are heavily influenced by the fashions, food and philosophies of the neighboring Crescent Empire, and turbans, long coats and elaborate belts are common in all classes, while the most popular sword, the szabla, is based on a scimitar. However, the last year has seen a shift in fashions with the rise of Sarmatism, a sort of idealized chivalry drawn from the legendary past of Rzeczpospolita. The nobles, seeking to distinguish themselves, began to wear clothing popular centuries ago, thick moustaches and long, braided hair, and to carry szablas once more, along with heavily plumed, gigantic hats. The fad boomed, and became embraced by the peasants and merchants as well, with the most popular item being the pas kontuszowy, the cloth belt in dashing color. Among Rzeplitans, it has become a way of declaring nobility of spirit - of being a just, honorable and righteous person, not a greedy pig. Curonian nobles are getting into it, but the Curonian common folk tend to think poorly of Sarmatism.

The currency of the Sarmatians is the zloty, made of one hundred grosz. However, the Golden Liberty has seen the Guilder eclipse both coins in popularity. Rzeplitan food tends to be an eclectic mix of tastes from Eisen, Vodacce and the Crescent Empire, heavy on cream and eggs and kielbasa. They also love soups, and their pierozkies (pierogies) have become extremely popular in Castille and Montaigne. Curonian food is more Ussuran, with a lot of pork and potatoes and dumplings. Cranberries are also common to both, and have become a new export crop that is popular in Avalon, as Queen Elaine loves them.

The Vaticine have been quite powerful since the 1300s, but they've never been able to root out the old faith, and most people, even devout Vaticines, still believe in ancient spirits - ancient, powerful and dangerous. This is because, frankly, they exist. The old gods are still here: the dievai. The Vaticines name them czorts, a Rzeplitan word meaning 'demons', but most call them dievai - 'gods'. Singular dievas. Avalon scholars have claimed they may be the lost court of the unseelie Sidhe, but while they look similar, there are some key differences between Sidhe and Dievai. Sidhe tend to be destructive but largely impersonal beings - essentially wandering natural events. Dievai are anything but. They love to disguise themselves as mortals, befriending heroes and revealing themselves only when they must. They travel the land freely, and so you can never say if the man you meet is mortal or...something else. Best to be polite. That's not to say the Curonians worship dievai - they just recognize them as gods that can change your life on a whim. The priests know how to deal with spirits but are not inherently sorcerers...though it's more common among them than among others, because of the nature of the dievai, who love to make bargains - 'Sanderis', in Curonian. The Vaticines see them as deals with devils, and the dievai may love wagers and bargains, but only at a cost. Maybe your hair, maybe your first child, maybe service. The Church rightly regards Sanderis as extremely dangerous as a practice, but they can't stop it. It's been going on for centuries before they ever showed up, and getting rid of that tradition would take more time than they're willing to put in. They don't like it, but what can you do?

The Sejm's changes in the past year have led to a lot of governmental reforms. After all, now everyone can vote - and so the stroz exist, the watchmen. They are paid to sit in the Sejm chambers and watch for votes starting, when they then go outside and ring bells to inform the city that the voting is beginning. It's an unofficial position, but necessary after two attempts to sneak votes through by night. The commoners work in shifts to ensure there's always a stroz on hand, just in case. The King himself is easily the least powerful monarch in the entirety of Theah. He's basically a goodwill ambassador to other nations and his castle serves as the embassy for visiting dignitaries to stay in. He can make laws, but the Sejm can veto them by simple majority - harder now than it once was, of course. He may also grant noble title, but since everyone already has it, that's basically pointless now. Beyond that, he is limited by the Walezy Articles, signed in the 1550s.

quote:

The King is chosen by the Sejm; his offspring does not inherit the throne.
The King may not make new laws or taxes without the Sejm's approval.
The King's marriages must be approved by the Sejm.
The King may not dissolve the Sejm.
The King must create a royal advisory board who shall be present to oversee his decisions.
The King may not declare war without approval of the Sejm.
The King must provide for a standing army.
The King must protect the religious freedom of all citizens.
The King may be removed from office with a majority vote of the Sejm.

Stanislaw I is a just, fair man, but he is extremely old. The people love his son, calling him Stanislaw II even now, before his selection, but very little is certain in these times, and the Prince has many enemies. He recently married his Vodacce fiance, the witch Domenica Vespucci, and she helped save King Stanislaw's life with him. Some do not trust her motives, but both King and Prince would trust her with their lives and those of their people. The Sejm itself is divided into two houses - the Senat ('Senate'), made of the old Sejm before the Golden Liberty, and the Izha Poselska ('House of Deputies') whom the Senat look down as a lower house. The Izha Poselska has no official number and must be called to order by the King, who thought he would die shortly after his Decree. He has not, and while many love him, he is often unable to call them to order. Laws may start in either house, but both must agree to pass them via majority vote, and neither house likes the other. Thus, in order to get laws pass, each house tends to rewrite them and attach new legislation so that everyone can get part of what they want.

After the assassination attempt on King Stanislaw, the Senat insisted that they and he needed bodyguards. He refused at first, claiming that their rank didn't raise them over others, but eventually agreed conditionally - and so the slachta were reborn. In old Rzeczpospolita, see, there had been an order of knights devoted to honor and the protection of the Sejm and King. The new slachta must swear to abide by their ancient ideals, protecting not only Crown and Sejm, but all of the nation. The officers of the Sejm were made the first knights, given sacred duties. The king chooses six of these to be goodwill ambassadors, promoting justice and Golden Liberty beyond the nation's borders.

Both halves of the Commonwealth provide some military power, but about a third of the army is Curonian by birth. The army is largely volunteers, and is the largest standing force in Theah. Due to multiple clashes with the Ussurans and Crescents, they rely on speed and mobility over brute force, which is rather atypical. The most feared and famous regiment is the husaria, the Winged Hussars - the most dangerous cavalry unit on the continent. They are fearless, and so intimidating in full armor that they've driven forces five times their number from the field. The most common weapon among officers and slachta is the szabla, the Rzeplitan saber based on a scimitar, with a double-edged tip. The blade was originally for nobles only, but is now a symbol of solidarity. It is tradition now that the szabla is not a right - it is a distinction, and wearing one must be earned and maintained by showing true honor, courage and loyalty.

quote:

Avalon: Because of geographical distance, the Commonwealth has little interaction with the Glamour Isles; however, this has emboldened the activities of Elaine's privateers, giving them the courage to raid the southern seas. The ageing King paid little attention to their raids, but Stanislaw II has hired mercenary ships to guard the Commonwealth's trade routes, ensuring the Sea Dogs meet with cannon fire when they try to capture merchant vessels. Some suggested the Prince of the Commonwealth seek Elaine's hand in marriage. It would have been a great match: two great nations united. Stanislaw II considered the option but carried out his father's wishes to marry a Vodacce woman. The Prince knows Elaine's situation is just as perilous as his and hopes he can convince her to at least make a political alliance now that marriage is out of the question. However, the Prince often suspected it might have never been a legitimate question in the first place.
Castille: Castille is closer to the Commonwealth than Avalon in many ways. Half the Commonwealth is devoutly Vaticine, perhaps more devout than any other nation in Theah. Trade between the two countries is strong, bolstered by access through the southern seas. King Stanislaw has openly supported the Church on many occasions, though even he is reluctant to openly support the Inquisition. The Church's more recent activities have caused him to pause on many occasions.
Eisen: The Commonwealth refused to participate in the War of the Cross...until it came across the border. Then, both Curonian and Rzeplitan soldiers fought the invading armies, pushing them north and west, back into Eisen. More than a few disobeyed orders and continued fighting, looting and raiding the already ruined country. Needless to say, tensions still exist.
Montaigne: King Stanislaw is not impressed with the Sun King. He hears about the oppression of the Montaigne people, the wanton poverty, the abuses...everything the Golden Liberty stands against. His nation has diplomatic relations with Montaigne and both countries have embassies, but King Stanislaw seldom sees Montaigne's envoy. She's too busy drinking, flirting and attending lavish parties held by the Commonwealth's wealthier aristocracy.
Pirate Nations: The Commonwealth has a mixed relationship with La Bucca. For years, the King used Buccaneers to protect his trade ships. "Pay them now or pay them later," was his attitude. Now with the King near death, the Sejm has taken a dimmer view: "Buccaneers and pirates are all the same! Negotiating with pirates is like negotiating with your own kidnapper."
Ussura: Because Ussura has no warm-water ports, they must rely on others for overseas trade. Among that list of "others" is the Commonwealth. Ussura is one of the Commonwealth's most important trade partners. Couple that with both nations' proximity to the Crescent Empire and Cathay, and you can quickly understand the tight political bond between Ussura and the Commonwealth.
Vestenmennavenjar: Stanislaw I is forward-thinking enough to recognize that the Guilder is the path of the future. A single unit of commerce used all across the world, easing trade and making diplomacy easier? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Plus, the Vesten are far enough away to not be a military threat.
Vodacce: Zloczynca na Zachodzie: "The Villain of the West." That is how the Commonwealth addresses their neighbor. Vodacce holds an iron grip over southern sea trade and it seems they will never give it up. So long as Vodacce maintains their tyrannical hold over the southern seas, they will always be at odds with the Commonwealth. However, using the famous Merchant Princes against each other has been a reliable strategy so far. The Old King knew how to do that, but as he has grown older, as his wits have dimmed, his successes have faded into failures. Stanislaw II - should he win the throne - has this challenge before him. Establish new relationships with the Vodacce Princes, discover their petty jealousies, and turn those against them. It is a dangerous strategy, but the alternative is costly. Too costly.

These guys are new and I love them.

Next time: Ussura.

A Land Without A Future?

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: A Land Without A Future?

Ussura is seen as a backwards hinterland by most Theans, with a backwards faith and uneducated populace, whose nobles are barely noble at all. And yet, they say this with no small measure of fear, because the forests of Ussura have ears. Families in Ussura gather in the winter nights to tell stories of the Leshiye, the ancient spirits who give blessings and curses, and of the greatest of them all: Matushka, Mother Winter, who walks the woods with broom in hand to sweep children back to their homes...or to steal them and cook them if they do not show proper respect. Ussura is not kind or gentle, but its people are, and they are forged tougher than steel. The land is frozen almost all year, and when it isn't, it is coated in mud. They do not have working roads, dams or other modern infrastructure, and their hovels are primitive even by peasant standards.

If you actually talk to Ussurans, though, they are well fed. The place is not the wasteland it appears to be. The land produces crops almost impossibly, the people have luck with their traps, the fisherman gather hauls that'd make Avalon weep in envy. And yet, to those not born of Ussura, the land can seem actively malicious. Outsiders rarely find game, pick poison berries and mushrooms, lose track of landmarks. And yet the Ussurans wander through it all, wondering why everyone tells them Ussura is so harsh and inhospitable. Matushka provides all you need, does she not? If she is harsh, it is only to make them strong. The Ussurans are a short, broad people, and the nobles with the gift of sorcery can be told by the emerald green eyes that mark the favor of Matushka. (This is a change in 2e; in 1e, Matushka didn't exclusively grant her power to nobles.) Men typically wear long hair and beards, while women pull their hair back, and married women cover it with a babushka. They say that they care for the land, and so it cares for them. That's not to say the trees bear fruit on command or anything so silly - farming is still hard, but the good are rewarded and the bad punished. An Ussuran farmer that works hard through the year and puts his duty before his desire can expect a good harvest, even in a bad year. And no invasion of Ussura has ever gotten past the first river. Cathay's barbarian hordes died of plague and hunger, Eisen's General Johann von der Velde led an army into a deadly ice storm in the 500s...in midsummer. The Ussurans just accept this with practicality and good humor - it works. Why change it?

Ussura has two classes - muzhik and boyar. Muzhik are the peasantry, and they respect size and strength. Rural villages often hold contests of strength of all kinds, from arm wrestling to races to tug of war. Women are allowed to participate freely, but they tend to favor games where their greater stamina lets them make up for their lesser brawn. Boyars are the landowners, who collect a tax of crops in return for land usage. Their status is more to do with how much land they own, and while they sometimes take part in the games of strength, their power will never be as much if they have little land and great strength than if they are weak but wealthy. The greatest of the boyars are the royal family, whose head is known as the Czar or Czarina, a title taken from the Old Republic of Numa. While the title is usually inherited, the family that holds it can change if power shifts enough. All classes wear the same sorts of clothing - the long, warm clothes they call caftan. Boyars generally mark themselves by dying their clothing in bright reds and oranges, and active boyars that manage land favor bright red boots.

Muzhik eat a lot of bread, cabbage, bread, turnips, bread, cucumbers, bread, jam and bread, most popularly an unleavened bread called khleb. They eat eggs and milk more often than meat, which is usually taken only from the hunt. They also eat mushrooms, which they preserve as delicacies in winter. Their customs are dictated by the long winters and short summers. They work like madmen over the summer to get the crops harvested before first frost, and in winter, they spend most of their time in the home, near the stove, drinking and partying to make the isolation pass faster. Important talking is done over chay, a spiced tea, and is done at the kitchen table. Almost all families have a pechka, a central wood-burning stove, and guests are usually asked to sleep near or even on top of it for their comfort. On the last day of each week, the muzhiks take two hours out of their day to offer prayers of thanks to Matushka and the First Prophet at the village altar, typically led by the most educated man of the village. Most villages cannot actually afford a priest, see. Their most important day is Rebirth Day, third day of Corantine, which celebrates the eve of their bargain with Matushka. Every Ussuran, even children, pricks their left thumb with a needle and spills a drop of blood on the soil to nourish her, and the day is spent in song and prayer. In winter, families stay indoors and relax by telling stories, visiting neighbors, drinking and gaming. The game Squares has become extremely popular recently, as it takes several hours to play.

Because Ussura is so large and cold, no Ussuran would dare refuse hospitality to a visitor except under extreme circumstances. It's pretty much the same as murder to refuse them food and shelter, after all. Thus, they have a reputation for generosity. They have a relaxed attitude toward both table manners and casual nudity, and often partake in communal steam baths. After bathing in the steam as long as they can stand, bathers rub themselves down with snow or go swimming in a cold stream, then dry and redress. Foreigners are often shocked by the display - both out of scandal and awe at the ability to handle such brutal extremes. Ussuran carpentry is famous, especially their miniatures, and they are known to spend days on a single doll no bigger than a man's thumb. The work is often extremely detailed and precise, so much so that the seams are entirely invisible for foreigners. Every year, the town of Siev holds a great contest and woodcarvers come from across Ussura to compete, with prizes donated by attending boyars, varying wildly by year. Last year, the winner got a wonderful sleigh pulled by four fine dogs, and the year before that was 20 acres of land and the rank of minor boyar. Ussuran music is, by contrast, loud, boisterous and not entirely on-key. Most of the songs are deeply spiritual praises of the land, or fairy tales such as the legend of the first head of the Riasanovas, who earned the power to become the firebird. (It is unclear if this is a true story or not.)

The official faith of Ussura is the Ussuran Orthodox Church, which combines the teachings of the First Prophet with the native reverance for the leshiye - and most of all, Matushka. Matushka appears as an ancient matron with iron teeth and nails. Children must be polite to her, or she will eat them. However, she generously rewards respect. Ussurans hold that nature serves as a guide to behavior, and visitors that cannot understand this are often utterly baffled by Ussuran custom. The Orthodoxy ignores the Second and Third Prophets entirely, as they feel their messages go against the First's teachings and intent. Why change what works?

The Leshiye, on the other hand, are the nature spirits. They are ancient, powerful creatures that roam Ussura's wilds, blessing and cursing those they meet. All Leshiye are dangerous, even if usually beneficent. They are known to reward wisdom and punish disrespect, and they are no longer quite seen as gods. They are...something. Something other. The Orthodox Church has syncretized them into the faith in a way that most outsiders see as bizarre but Ussurans cannot deny. There are countless Leshiye, but some are greater than others. Matushka, of course, the Grandmother Winter, who is both cruel and giving. Children are taught to call all old women 'Little Grandmother' if met on the road, and always to treat them with respect and dignity, to avoid Matushka's wrath. Her counterpart is Chernobog, the Shadow on the Mountain, who is wicked and cruel and only curses those who disturb him. It is said he lives atop the mountains, hurling lightning at people. He doesn't reward the worthy or tolerate tricks, and his wrath is sudden and pitiless. Borovoi, the Forest Walker, is a huge, thick creature with grass for beard and teeth, and he helps lost travelers at times, and at others he leads them deeper into the woods, depending on how they treat him. Vir'ava, Mother of the Wood, is possibly Matushka's sister or possibly her daughter - it depends on the story. Maybe she's both. While she is never seen with Borovoi, they may be married. She is charitable but when offended she is known to lead people into the caves of napping bears.

The Czar, Keeper of the Knias Council, is the absolute ruler of Ussura. Some say Matushka will not allow a Czar she disapproves of to rule, and when the Czar dies, the Council mourns briefly and then rushes to fill the vacuum. His children may inherit, but they may not, if they cannot prove their strength and leadership. Right now, Ussura is in the midst of a succession struggle. The old Czar was a widower who disowned his eldest son, Ilya Sladivgorod Nikolovich, and remarried the young Eisen princess Ketheryna Fischler Dimitritova in the hopes of getting a new heir. However, he ended up dying mysteriously, and now both Ilya and Ketheryna vie for the throne. (This is a huge change from 1e.)

The Knias Douma is, technically, the Czar's council of advisors, and in most circumstances, were the power behind the throne. Now, however, all is in flux and no one can say who has true power. The boyars are, at least, usually good at manipulating the Czar. There are five Douma seats, each held by a specific family. First are the Novgorovs, rulers of the province Rurik, who control the northwestern trade routes with the Vendel League. Their symbol is the Great Wolf, the king of wolves, and the seat always belongs to a descendant of Arch-Duke Novgorov, who created the Knias Douma. The Novgorovs have the eternal right to cast their vote last in all issues, and their region is most populous of all. The current holder is Prince Aleksi Pavtlow Markov v'Novgorov, whose lack of ambition and mood swings mean that, unlike most Novgorovs, he does not lead the Douma. (This is another change from 1e, where he was very ambitious indeed.) The second seat is the Vladimirovich seat, rulers of Veche, whose sigil is Grandfather Bear, the largest of all bears. Theirs is the second-largest province but the least populated, though its capital, Siev, is a trade hub. Both they and Somojez sometimes trade with the Crescents, and see each other as rivals.

Somojev is ruled by the third family, the Pscovs. They hold the Eisen border but have great influence throughout Ussura, and they've adopted some Eisen culture. Their sigil is the armored drachen, and their province is home to beautiful monasteries and reliquaries, mostly within the Sorivdgrastov mountains, which they guard fiercely. The Pscovs descend from Grand Duke Vsevolod, who was sainted by the Church, and so they are called Tabularius, Guardians of the Faith. Their land is a bastion of the Orthodoxy. Fourth are the Riasanovas of Gallenia, who hold southeastern Ussura and sometimes trade with the Cathayans. Their sigil is Firebird, the burning hawk, and while their family is smaller than the other four, they are known for their ferocity. Last of them are the Pietrovs of Molhynia, who control the north and do only a small amount of trading. Their leader is the disturbing man called Koshchei, whose flesh is as waxen as a corpse and who, rumor has it, has held the seat for centuries - among other wild rumors. Their sigil is the raven before the setting sun.

Ussura primarily exports furs, honey and beeswax, bringing in spices, alcohol and steel. The boyars oversee the trade and have grown wealthy on it, even more than the hardest-working muzhiks might dream. Of course, most internal commerce is barter-based, as Ussura has no centralized coin. The Guilder is making some inroads, but unscrupulous merchants often misrepresent its value, which has made Ussurans somewhat distrustful of currency. You can't eat money, they say. Ussura has no standing army because it has never needed one. Every attempted invasion of Ussura, from the Crescents to the Eisen, have failed because of the land itself. Most boyars maintain home guards, of course, and the Czar has stelets, but that's about it. They do not have a navy, either, unless you count the fishing fleet in Grumfather Bay.

Despite their practicality and strong intellect, the Ussurans are extremely superstitious and have many ways to remove bad "blessings" or other problems. These are simple cures, for the most part, and often causes other nations to ridicule them. You must always plant a tree when a child is born, and so long as the tree flourishes, so will the child. If the child dies, legend has it, so will the tree. In Somojez, children must throw their baby teeth onto the roof and ask Matushka for an iron tooth in exchange. Flowers in even numbers are only given for deaths and tragedies, while odd numbers are used at all other times - and so, the Thean tradition of the dozen roses for a lady would likely be seen as a threat to her life. Every home, the Ussurans say, has its own domovoi, a gentle guardian spirit and a prankster, which lives inside the pechka oven. It will cause minor problems, steal socks, lose the knife and otherwise make mischief, but it is generally friendly.

quote:

Avalon: The Ussurans think the Avalons are great fun to have around. Their tricks delight like few other things. Of course, an Avalon who uses his abilities to rob or cheat an Ussuran is liable to gain a more persistent enemy than he anticipated. Ussurans have long memories.
Castille: "Although you Castillians are somewhat pig-headed, you have your hearts in the right place," a minor boyar once said to a visiting Castillian Bishop. It sums up the Ussuran opinion of the Castillians quite nicely.
Eisen: "There is something wrong with the land," is the general consensus among Ussurans on Eisen. Since they tend to equate a people's land with the people themselves, the Ussurans keep a careful watch on any Eisen they meet, half-convinced that he could go mad.
Montaigne: Ussurans have nothing but contempt for the Montaigne nobles. The use of Porte near an Ussuran causes him physical pain, and the Montaignes' callous disregard for others disgusts him.
Pirate Nations: Ussurans are unbothered by pirates. The only fleet Ussura has is a fishing fleet that sails on the Bay.
Sarmatian Commonwealth: A dangerous, backward, progressive, superstitious, overly pious gathering of conflicting ideals. Best to avoid them. Anyone clever enough to trick a demon is clever enough to trick you.
Vestenmennavenjar: The Ussurans are very pleased with their relationship with the Vendel League. Through their interactions with the League, they have been able to acquire so many new things, such as steel and spices.
Vodacce: Vodacce is a confusing and dangerous place for an Ussuran to find himself, and the Fate Witches are not to be trifled with.

The biggest changes here are a mix. Matushka's pantheon of Leshiye are cool; her favoritism for nobles now is less so. I liked her sorcery for being more egalitarian. Ivan and Ketheryna used to be married, and are now rivals for the throne, which is actually really cool. We get few details on the major NPCs, and only one named leader on the Knias Douma. He used to be a major, ambitious villain; now he appears to be very different. The Ussurans are presented as less backward and more suspicious of outside influences that don't provide obvious benefit - they're quite smart, they just have no patience for, say, currency that they can't get use out of.

Next time: Vesten.

Ex-Vikings

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Ex-Vikings

Once upon a time, the Vestenmennavenjar were the msot terrifying pirates in the north. They came down with sword and fire, taking what they wanted. However, things are different now. See, while the class of ruling nobles, the jarls, controlled the nation, during the 1400s they ran low on money. They were, like many nobles, rich in land but poor in cash. Meanwhile, the merchant class, the carls, needed protection from banditry and piracy. The carls banded together to create an informal organization to protect their shipments, based out of the trade port Vendel. The local jarl, Eindridi Utterstrom, saw potential. He was already one of the most powerful and famous jarls, but he'd lost all three of his sons to battle the previous year and had become depressed. When the merchants came to ask for his help and offer him money, his advisor, Inger Holmstrom, spent three days convincing him to accept. It was money for nothing - no violence, but pay anyway. Utterstrom had always been a supporter of art, which is the main reason the carls picked him and his town in the first place, so he eventually agreed.

It's been 200 years since then, and the investment has paid off in ways no one could ever have guessed. The titles of carl and jarl remain, but they mean something different. No longer do the jarls rule the carls from above. They are equals in rank, and their land is an economic empire. They are one of the greatest economic powers in the world, if not the very top. The jarls sponsor, the carls organize, and the Guilder makes it go. The Vendel League was the most important thing to ever happen in Vesten history. It is a conglomeration of merchants and crafters not only in Vendel, but now across all of Theah. Almost every nation accepts the Guilder, which is the League's currency, and so they are a world power. They still raid the foreigners, but rather than fire and sword, now it's with smile and handshake.

Vestenmennavenjar has had no true Mjotuðr in at least 200 years - no high king. Various nobles have claimed the title over the years, but none held it long. It is the Vendel League that control the land now. The jarls still exist, serving as the Vesten military and maintaining peace on the border. They're rather like the sheriffs of Avalon, but with a lot more social distinction. The cultural change has merged warrior and merchant together into one person - two sides of one coin. And that is why the Guilder has a sword on one side and a wheel on the other.

The key element to understanding Vesten culture is wyrd. It means a lot, but in essence it is your destiny or your fate. The Vesten King of Gods, the Allfather, saw a glimpse of the future and knew - it was set, unchanging. This concept, that your life is predetermined, is extremely powerful among the Vesten. Wyrd is why they still have their caste system of jarl and carl. You are born to your role and do it to your best ability. If you avoid it, you will be punished by the wyrd. Merchants were born to be merchants, nobles to be nobles. That is how it is. There is no dishonor in either caste - dishonor has nothing to do with what you are, but in not respecting your wyrd.

Officially, the jarls still rule over the land parcels. They collect the taxes, command the armed forces, appoint officials, perform justice. The carls run the economy. They both rule, in different ways. Traditional authority lies with the jarls, while power often lies with the League, and thus the carls. The line where those end is often blurry, and much of it depends on the local authorities and their relationships. The League assigns a representative to each jarl, officially to advise and unofficially to keep them in line with what Vesten needs. Most of the jarl's authority is from tradition, while the carl's is from need. The jarl has the right to tax, but the carl determines how it is spent. The jarl's wyrd is to protect the land and its people from physical danger. The carl's is to make lives worth living. Jarls are warriors, and carls are providers. Without the jarl, the people would be slain. Without the carl, the people would starve, in mind and body. Both are essential roles, necessary roles for life. Every region thus is ruled by both a jarl and a carl. The jarl protects and serves as political liaison, while the carl is his exchequer and treasurer. The relationship between the two varies by region, and while the jarl has ultimate authority, these days, using it without the carl's blessing is seen as challenging his wyrd and disrespecting the carl's.

The Vesten name four virtues: courage, loyalty, honesty and luck. Courage is valor in the face of danger - but blind courage is just stupidity. Loyalty to family is first of all loyalties, for the land is dark and snowy most of the year and you must rely on family or die. Honesty is with yourself and your family first - you cannot be courageous if you lie to yourself and you cannot honor your family if you lie to them. And luck? Everyone is born with a measure of it. Some have more, some less, some none. Some just have the wrong kind. The Vesten also have a strong belief in the mystical relationship between mead and good stories. Both make you light-headed, both make you believe you can do things you didn't think were possible. And both can get you into a lot of trouble.

Vesten heavily favor warm clothes - long pants, furs, coats. They live near the polar circle, after all. It gets cold. Men usually wear a long shirt, a knee length leather tunic and linen or wool pants tied with a leather belt. They wear tall, pointed leather hats and leather or fur boots. Women just replace the shirt with a floor-length chemise and are otherwise similar. How ornate it is is up to the person wearing it. Lately, they've been incorporating foreign styles into traditional wear - primarily, they take from the Montaigne fashions and adapt it to Vesten traditional outfits. They have also recently invented the top hat, based on the Avalon flat cap, and it's quite popular within Vesten. Not anywhere else, yet.

Vesten's coin is the Guilder, which has transformed the continental economy. Merchants have to use only one currency, never worrying about exchange rates, and the Guilds declared that its value would be set and never change. Many national leaders were slow to realize the effects of this, but the merchants loved it. Guild houses will take Guilders or their nation's coin, but hte Guilder is so easy to use that all the merchants were eager to exchange for it, even at the 5% exchange rate they charged. Merchants could now track prices across nations, and so captains began to be hired to transport goods like fresh fruit, leather, spice. The Guilder is the most popular currency now, having made a world market economy, and as a result, visitors to Vesten are treated like nobles, no matter who or what they are. Vesten is a service economy, the first ever to exist, and business is booming. Tourism is their stock in trade.

The Vesten mainly eat fish, though they also like game meat, like rabbit or venison. They also import a lot of foreign delicacies along their trade routes - Vodacce wines, Castillian fruits, Montaigne bread, Avalon veal. The most important piece of literature they have is the Grumfather Cycle, a collection of epic poetry that describes the creation of the world, the rise and fall of gods and men, and the destruction of the universe in a final batttle. The people that remember and tell it are called skalds, keeping the memory alive, for they hold that a man's soul lives only if the living remember his name. Vesten music sounds primitive to most Theans, with a lot of percussion and lutes, and that music isn't for fun - it's for rituals. VEsten art is heavily invested in sculpture, painting and carving, and some of the most beautiful in the world deck the halls of the guildhouses, as artists seek prestige and patronage. Only Montaigne is their equal there.

The League Guild House is the largest building in VEndel, home to the nine Chairs and 91 Seats that control the Vendel economy. The League takes only Guilders at their auctions - they'll accept foreign coin in foreign lands, but at home, no other currency. The men and women in the Chairs bought their positions when the League was formed. A Chair cannot be bought - just inherited, and the men and women who invented the Guilder four years ago hold all nine Chairs. The Merchant's guild is led by Sigvald Gunnisen, known by most Theans as Master Val Mokk, his trade name. The Carpenter's Guild is Joris Braakenjorsen, called Master Joris Brak. The Blacksmith's Guild Chair is Slema Colbjorsdatter, called Mistress Sela Cole. The Jenny's Guild Chair is Madame Lorraine Weller of Avalon. The Brewer's Guild Chair is Jorgan Skaadalsen, called Master George Skard. The Miner's Guild Chair is Master Eladio Ballesteros of Castille. And, of course, there's Joseph Volker, butler and representative of the late Imperator Riefenstahl of Eisen.

The Vestenmennavenjar do not debate religion as other nations do. Their belief in their gods and their ancestors is not faith - it is fact. The priests can see the ancestors and call on their power, after all. Their rune magic is not magic at all - it is a miracle, gifted by the gods. The Vesten hold that a great hall awaits them after death, but only for those that die in battle. There, they await the coming of a great serpent that will, if they do not fight it, devour the world. The Vesten religion is a living myth, a spirit world that surrounds and interacts with the world. The spirits of ancestors live on, and by naming places for the dead, their myths live on as well. As long as their names are spoken, their souls remain in the afterlife. Those who master the runic arts are called the Ypperste Prest, the high priests. They can see the living myth around them at all times. The Vesten do have some sympathy for Objectionist doctrine and have allowed them into the nation, even sponsoring some cathedrals and universities of beautiful design. Indeed, they've recently begun a three-decade plan to build the tallest and most beautiful cathedral in the world, even greater than those of Montaigne.

The Vesten legal code is simple, but seems backwards to other Theans. It focues on the impromptu courts known as things, which heard arguments from both sides, then decided on a punishment, if required. They convened only when families couldn't resolve things themelves, and the decision had to be enforced by the family involved, which left weak families with little justice. The rise of carls to power changed all that. Now, the things are formal, and the jarl has a duty to enforce their decisions, generally via fines. Besides for murder, the Vesten have no corporal punishment - just fines. For murder, the murderer is branded on the forehead and exiled. If he returns, he is given the Death Brand and exiled again. He will not return again - death will find him. There is no High King and hasn't been for centuries. The Vendel found it wasn't necessary, and in fact believe the place has been running much better without one. Local jarls manage their lands, the League keeps the coins flowing, and when land disputes happen, a thing is called and the jarls stand in judgment, with the League enforcing the decision.

The Vesten army is made from both native soldiers and mercenaries. Their fleets are local navies and hired privateers. What they couldn't get from themselves, they hire, and their military has become one of the best in Theah. The Vendel Irregulars, as the mercenaries are known, are mainly highly paid Eisen, Avalons, Inish and Highlanders. There's been a lot of speculation about why the Sea Dogs don't like to attack Vesten pirates that terrorize the north - and some say it is due to a secret treaty between Elaine and some Chairs of the League. Despite their sophistication, the Vesten remain pirates at heart, and many rumors claim each jarl has their own privateer navy, though the Vendel League denies any knowledge of this.

quote:

Avalon: When Queen Elaine took the throne, she needed allies, and the Vendel League was in the right place at the right time. Both have put high stock in their privateers, but have kept to raiding the less scrupulous nobles and merchants - the Vodacce. A great deal of commerce, trade and communication go back and forth between Avalon and Vestenmennavenjar. The two are close allies...for now.
Castille: Suspicion has made Castille reluctant to adopt the Guilder into her economy despite Vesten assurances of neutrality, and the Vaticine Church has found many of its ships under fire from Vestenmennavenjar privateers lately. Needless to say, Castillians are highly suspicious of the pagan Northmen, but the Vendel League needes Castillian support if they wish to remove Vodacce from the international picture.
Eisen: Eisen is an opportunity that the Vendel League has not overlooked. The Eisen economy has collapsed and four of her Eisenfursten have already accepted the Guilder in lieu of the near-worthless Eisen mark.
Montaigne: No two Nations could be more chummy than Montaigne and Vestenmennavenjar. The two have used each other to make themselves very, very wealthy. However, the carls are very aware of l'Empereur's treatment of his subjects and do not approve. Many have called to cut off relations with Montaigne, but the steady flow of income currently has the vote.
Pirate Nations: The Vestenmennavenjar see piracy as a useful tool, but one they should control. They nver complain about the Vesten Raiders or Sea Dogs. And while they engage their own Buccaneer privateers, they despise freebooting pirates - Buccaneers and Brotherhood alike; "They are nothing more than lazy criminals perpetuating their lives of luxury and vice through violence."
Sarmatian Commonwealth: Many of the Vestenmennavenjar are impressed with this "Golden Liberty" Sarmatia has put forward. And with their forward-thinking Prince poised to take the throne, perhaps that backward little country can finally make a profit.
Ussura: As far as the Vendel League are concerned, Ussura is a large kingdom with limited potential. Ussuran crops are always plentiful, but when the League tries to exchange currency for produce, the farmers reply, "You expect me to feed my family with paper?" The current dispute for Czar means conflict and conflict always leads to profit, but some within the League want to help settle the dispute without violence. "Bloodshed costs more than coins."
Vodacce: If the Vodacce see the Vestenmennavenjar as usurpers, the League looks upon the Vodacce as cranky old men who refuse to look progress in the eye - even if it's holding a gun to their heads. But the Vodacce are still dangerous. Very dangerous. So long as they keep pointing that danger at each other, the League will continue to flourish.

The big thing here? The conflict is gone. In 1e, tradition and innovation were essentially at civil war with each other, as the Vendel gave up the old ways in pursuit of profit. What we have here is more organic and real-feeling, as they mix old tradition with new ideas. However, the conflict between Vesten and Vendel was also an extremely vibrant one in which both sides had some good points. Here, well...it feels like they lost something. I do like New Vesten, but I feel that in losing that internal conflict, they needed to replace it with one and didn't, at least in this book. Also, rune magic isn't in this book - it's in one of the Nation books. Whoops.

Next time: Vodacce.

The Asshole Country

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Asshole Country

Vodacce is a place of paranoid rules. Always check both shoulders, never meet a woman's eyes unless you know you can outfight her husband, and never turn your back on a challenge - you won't get a second chance to turn around. It is a dangerous, dangerous place for the reckless or stupid. Most of it is either swampy or mountainous along its mainland, with lots of mining but not a ton of farmland. It is divided into territories ruled by seven Merchant Princes, each of whom guards their resources closely. Treachery is common, even among family. It was once the seat of the Old Empire, but it's been centuries since that fell, and the capital lies empty. The Princes have rejected it and its promises of republic and debate in favor of spies and plots, turning their cities into miniature kingdoms rather than sharing an empire. Each Prince controls part of the nation's economy and exports - wine, craftwork, Syrneth artifacts, Crescent trade routes. Vodacce is a pretty sexist place - men fight and run things, with hot tempers and fast blades. Women are expected to be cold, calculating. Only the women of Vodacce possess sorcery, the Sorte Strega - fate witches. They are expected to aid their husbands by manipulating destiny itself.

Vodacce men are expected to have affairs and fall in love; respectable women do not. Married couples rarely meet before their wedding, though husbands are expected to send poetry and gifts once the engagement is finalized. However, most romance is directed instead at courtesans, who exist separate from other Vodacce women. Respectable women are illiterate, as the men fear it would make them too powerful. Courtesans, on the other hand, are expected to be highly educated, to better please their clients with discussion. The art and architecture of Vodacce, in general, is extremely open and jovial and intellectual - all a grand stage to play out the treachery upon. The cities build tall, making the best use of every possible bit of space and connecting the high buildings with treacherous bridges. It's beautiful but highly fragile - the entire thing could, with bad luck, fall into the sea. But hey, it's better than the politics. The Princes are all ruthless, but have reluctantly come together to fight a trade war with the Vendel. The problem is that each is watching for a chance to betray the others for personal gain, as well - after all, there haven't always been seven Princes. Once, there were as many as twelve...and once, as few as three.

Vodacce pride is strong, and Vodacce tempers hot. A man is judged by what he will fight over, by how much wealth he has, and by how he spends it. A proper man has enough money to spend it freely and without care, but only a fool is taken advantage of. The women, of course, must act differently. They rarely act publically, supporting their husbands by craftwork and magic, especially among the nobles. The divide in social class is stronger here than anywhere but Montaigne, but at least the peasant life isn't so harsh. The peasants work long hours, spending most of the day until noon farming, then take up to two hours for lunch, then nap. They wake again at four, working into the night. Once the chores are done, they eat dinner and sleep. That's their entire lives, really, outside of festivals and feast days. Above them are the middle class - artisans and merchants. Vodacce craftsmen are renowned for their skill, and bartering is the national pastime. A bargaining session can take hours, because a man who can't get a good deal is no man, and a woman who cannot shop properly for her household is worthless. In all cases, the wealthier and more powerful the urban people are, the further from the water they live. The poor live on the water or lower levels, while the middle class can afford higher floors, often on top of the roofs of the poor. Nobles and the very rich live in high, narrow buildings made with elaborate suspension, careful architecture and, often, a hint of magic.

The nobles of Vodacce descend from the Senatorial families of the Old Republic. The Merchant Princes, called signore, are not so extravagant as Montaigne nobles, but neither are they as dignified as Avalon. It is said that a Vodacce noble has two hearts - one that beats for duty, the other for love. The Princes take their titles deadly seriously, and their pride and wealth are both immense. They rarely gather together except on policy matters or extremely formal occasions, like weddings and funerals. Policy meetings are only ever held on neutral ground, to avoid bickering and tactical disadvantage. After all, they don't trust each other at all. They have, as a result, little chance to show off their wealth to each other, so they've found other methods to do it. They take turns holding elaborate feasts for the lesser nobles, who travel through the year, telling stories of the excesses of their hosts - all in the understanding that the current host will go out of their way to outdo the last. Some say that Vodacce spends too much on wine and finery, to the detriment of her Princes, but for Vodacce, wealth is the tool of pride, not the end goal.

The courtesans are a social class to themselves - professional prostitutes of extreme skill and education. To Vodacce men, romance is a virtue, and a man is expected to court women even after marriage. Marriage is politics, not love. Women of good breeding must be modest and shy, so they make poor targets for romance - and so the courtesans exist. A man can talk to a courtesan about things he'd never say to his wife, can take her places where proper women cannot go, and when he is done praising her as a goddess of love, he can move on. Vodacce courtesans are renowned for their knowledge of etiquette, music, the arts and scholarship. The job is often handed down from mother to daughter, and they are allowed to break most Vodacce rules on the roles of women. They can read, attend university, act in public - anywhere their clients choose to be, in fact. However, there are disadvantages. Vodacce noblewomen are highly limited, but they are kept very safe and secure, while a courtesan must survive on her wits, trying to curry favor with nobles who will defend her if she has problems. It's easy to spot a courtesan - they are the women in bright colors, covered in jewels and libertine styles of dress, who always wear decorative masks in public, usually patterned on animals and covering only parts of the face. (In theory, this is to add an element of excitement to their image; in practice, it is also to protect their identities from wives.)

Noblewomen, on the other hand, tend to be among the least educated women in Theah. Those born with Sorte are never taught to read - an act only vulgar women do, anyway. Church scholars have, in the past, often said that this is an ideal example of the price mortals pay for sorcery. Enlightenment, you see, comes from knowledge - and if a soul is forbidden knowledge, how can they know grace? Sorte, the power to see the strands of fate and manipulate them, is possessed only by women - a fact that enraged the men who first bargained for the power from mysterious forces, and so they made the traditions that still hold sway over women today. Women with the gift are expected to serve their father until they marry, when they then serve their husbands. They wear modest black dresses and thick veils, so that their eyes can never meet those of any man not their husband.

The ultimate sin for a Vodacce man is to show cowardice. Duels among the Vodacce are extremely common, over even minor slights. Dishonor is not in picking fights, you see, but in declining them. These duels aren't usually fatal, but instead to the scarring - whoever can scar the opponent worse wins. Sometimes, they're to first blood. Vodacce men are also expected to keep their promises. Breaking your word is shameful to you and your family, and your family's patriarch will punish you for it. Of course, openly doubting the word of your social superiors is cause for a duel to the death. Vodacce men, like courtesans, wear their wealth openly and opulently, favoring brocades, velvet and leather in dark shades. Women wear simpler clothes, and neither sex wears faceted gems or mirrors - it is bad luck to see your own reflection in more than one place at a time. Noblemen wear baggy, loose trousers, linen shirts with loose sleeves and flared cuffs, and heavy embroidery. They usually wear knee-high boots when out and about, and frock coats that flair under the waist. Sleeves are usually removed when dueling, but a vest is kept to hide extra weapons in.

Vodacce food is mainly rice, pasta (having been imported as an idea from Cathay) and seafood, with a wide variety of fish, crab and lobster. They grow some citrus and vegetables, but import most of it. The middle class and nobles also import beef and venison, and oysters are considered a delicacy, though they aren't rare in Vodacce. (Just everywhere else.) For the Vodacce, high or lowborn, family is important. Your profession is probably hereditary, and your father's reputation is as or even more important than yours. If your father was the best fisherman ever, that is your pride too, and will get you more business. Another noted custom is that the dead are given absolute respect. No matter how much you hated a man in life, you never speak ill of the dead.

The Vodacce are master craftsmen, and their art reflects this. They have some painters, but tend to instead favor weaving, goldwork, cuisine and other arts that involve the making of physical objects. They are hedonists, after all, who love physical experiences. While they appreciate grand operas and productions, they tend to prefer romantic and dramatic music, especially the songs of troubadours. Men are expected to know how to sing and play an instrument, and most ballads are either romantic, witty or both. Women also sing love sings, but only ever in private, either for other women or their husbands. In public, they rarely sing except for historical or familial ballads.

Vodacce faith is...strange. They are devoutly Vaticine, yet they have many witches and adulterers. The Vodacce Church has spent a lot of time defining what is and is not sin, and it is said that the most decadent men are clergymen - though if so, it's never been proven. Inquisitors are not welcome in Vodacce. For the people, religion is a political tool. The nobles and Church have always been close, and they control five of the ten Archdiocese seats of the Vaticine. In practice, for any policy to be made official, favors must be traded with the "Vodacce Five", and even the Hierophant cannot easily disrespect their authority and expect to get anything done. The Princes have used this many times, even after the Church's seat moved to Castille. The key difference between Vodacce views on sin and those elsewhere is that Vodacce sin is primarily defined by inaction, rather than action. Sloth is the most reviled, of course. Envy, they say, is a sin because you should not seek to be your neighbor's equal, but to become grand and be envied by others. Greed, they say, is wanting what you have no right to. If you can earn what you want, you are a fool not to do so. Lust, to the Vodacce, is not about the wanting - it is about not acting on it. If you have feelings for a woman, pursue her. Sin is allowing your desire to become a spiritual impotence. Vanity is a sin not in taking pride in your appearance, but in taking unwarranted pride in it. Know yourself, and know what you really look like. Wrath...well, if you're mad, challenge someone. Sin is cowering in your home and raging impotently, not addressing the harm done to you. Gluttony? That's consuming more than you should. They just define 'how much you should consume' more liberally.

Each of the Merchant Princes controls a different part of the economy and a different region. Each wants to rule all of Vodacce, but right now only three have the power to really make a go of it - Bernoulli, Falisci and Villanova, who all want to manipulate their weaker cousins into supporting them. (Yes, they're all technically related.) The Bernoulli family has always been a strong supporter of the Vaticine Church, and as a reward, when the Crescent general contact with the world ended in the 1200s, they were given sole rights to trade with the Crescent Empire, and they've prospered greatly by it. They donate heavily to the Church, and the patriarch, Gespucci Bernoulli, is very devout. He's in his early sixties, and his sons are becoming more active in his business, frequently heading to the Crescent lands for pleasure as well as trade. The Faliscis make wine, and Donello Falisci sees no reason to change that. Falisci wine is worth as much as small estates, sometimes, and the Faliscis control the most fertile parts of the mainland. As for the Villanovas, they are the oldest and most powerful family, known for the deadly treachery. Giovanni Villanova took control of the family when his father, Allegro, died in an unlucky fall at the age of 32. His brother Giam stepped in to advise the 10-year-old Giovanni, but became ill soon after, dying after two years of terrible pain. Funny, that.

The Lucanis have only had their territory for around a century. Before that, it was Villanova land, but the patriarch awarded it to the Lucanis as payment for some loyalty or service. They've been struggling to keep it since. The Mondavi are the agricultural barons of Vodacce - but not by wine, like the Faliscis. Rather, they grow rice in the marshes of Vodacce, and while that's not the most lucrative export, it is a very stable income. They're happy to maintain the status quo. The Vestini family control the creation and export of domestic luxury goods, having paid many craftsmen heavily to move to their lands. It was, at the time, a maneuver to bolster themselves, as they had plenty of power to fight off the other families - even murdering a Prince's youngest son for challenging them. And last are the Caligaris, led by the very elderly Vincenzo Caligari. He's obsessed with tradition, and his home is modeled on the old senate of the Old Republic, and his advisors wear medallions that resemble senatorial seals. He practically lives in a museum of the old Empire, full of ancient tomes, scrolls and Syrne artifacts. He's obsessed with finding these things, ever since his father's lingering death, for he believes that the correct combination of tools will keep him safe from aging and sickness.

Vodacce continues to use the coinage of the Old Republic - a bronze coin called a republic, divided into ten smaller coins called sedilo, or seats. They refuse to accept the Guilder, and the Vendel refuse to accept their currency. There is no exchange rate. Likewise, Vodacce lacks a standing army. Each Prince instead keeps a house guard and a small set of young men to garrison the traffic checkpoints to the Crescent Empire. However, pretty much every nobleman in Vodacce can fence, a tradition that dates back to the fall of the Old Republic. There isn't an official navy, either, but most Vodacce merchant ships carry cannons and crews of well-armed mercenary marines to repel pirates, and the merchant fleet could, if needed, be used as a fairly respectable naval force.

quote:

Avalon: Officially, the Vodacce want nothing to do with Avalon, and vice versa. However, there are rumors that the two countries are carrying on trade in secret using the Sea Dogs as an intermediary.
Castille: Vodacce's relation with Castille is strained at times, almost the way feelings between siblings sometimes run hot. The two nations are more similar to each other than to any other country, but they often butt heads, mostly regarding their shared religion.
Eisen: The Vodacce keep a careful eye on the Eisen. With the country in such dire shape, the Vodacce fear a desperate mob of Eisen may attempt an invasion to avenge themselves for the War of the Cross.
Montaigne: The Montaigne people are Vodacce's largest market for luxury goods, and the two peoples have a lot in common with one another. This makes for very good relations between the two countries.
Pirate Nations: Thanks to the predictions of the Vodacce Fate Witches, the merchants of Vodacce suffer from less piracy than might be thought. They still keep a close watch for pirates, and hang any they capture, but it isn't as much of a concern as it could be.
Sarmatian Commonwealth: The Commonwealth Prince, Stanislaw II, has a Vodacce wife. That makes him a cousin of sorts. He has been crafty dealing with the Merchant Princes, playing one off the other. So far they respect his skills, but only for so long. And as for this "Golden Liberty" idea? That sort of nonsense had best not come across the border to Vodacce.
Ussura: The Fate Witches are afraid of the Ussurans, warning of a dark shadow that looms over them protectively. This has made the rest of Vodacce very cautious around them. They are very careful not to do anything that might insult or upset them, or their mysterious protector.
Vestenmennavenjar: The situation with Vesten is strained. The two nations are already engaged in a trade war that could quickly become a shooting war. In the last few years, there have been several instances of a Vodacce Prince sending a trade group too far north. More than one of these groups were politely returned home in chests. The main reason that no serious action has been taken by the Vodacce is that no single Prince has sufficient power alone to attack the Vesten. Besides, if he did, he'd have to explain his actions to his cousins, and admit to them that he'd attempted to trade outside his borders and behind their backs, as well.

Not much has actually changed here. Same names, same plots.

Next time: boats.

Seas, They're Seven

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Seas, They're Seven

There's seven seas around Theah. The first is the Trade Sea, between Avalon and Vesten. It's got shallow water, and its only real danger is that the tides often make the reefs appear to move, so even experienced captains can lose their bearings and run aground on the reefs. The second is the Widow's Sea near Avalon and Montaigne, so called for all the sailors lost to pirate attacks and, more recently, the War of the Cross. The Widow's Sea is full of sharks, sirens, fog banks that come from nowhere and the "sea mirage" phenomenon, where ships appear on the horizon but vanish as you get closer. The third sea is La Boca del Cielo off the coast of Castille, also called the Vaticine Gulf, which is a whale breeding ground guarded by the leviathans, whales triple their normal size which are unnaturally aggressive. The waters are deep and cold, and the place is a favorite of the Brotherhood of the Coast. There are also rumors of an immense sea serpent called Estallio, which eats leviathans, but there's never been a confirmed sighting.

The fourth sea is the Numanari Approach, named for the Numanari islands of the south. It lies between Vodacce and the Crescents, and until recently the Church maintained garrisons there to prevent access. Numa recently declared independence, however, and has now declared the sea open to all, so trade with the Crescent Empire has begun once more - as has piracy. The fifth sea is the Maw, between Vesten and Eisen. It is so called because the Vesten sailors thought their island looked like a dragon's head when they saw it on maps, and it is heavily guarded, as the Vendel League hires a lot of mercenaries - mostly ex-pirates set to hunting their compatriots. The sixth sea is the Avalon Strait (or the Montaigne Strait, depending on who you ask). The Sea Dogs guard it heavily, and while it is the fastest route from the southern waters to the northern, Avalon's ships demand a "tax" from all travelers. Going around the Glamour Isles takes days, though, and puts you in the sights of Avalon and Vesten pirates.

As for the seventh sea - it's a legend. Sailors speak of a place where the sun and moon share the sky, where stars go backward and the water is silver. Scholars debate what this means, where the seventh sea truly lies. Sailors have reached it, sailed for days, lost, only for the sky and water to return to normal and the ship to be thousands of miles off course. A recent archaeological discovery, the alchemical compass, may hold the key to it - the Explorer's Guild believe the Syrneth used the device to sail the Seventh Sea's strange waters.

We then get a section on court life. The most active international courts are in Avalon, Vesten and Montaigne; Castillian courts are smaller, more open and more community-based, while Eisen and Ussuran courts are small, insular affairs, and Vodacce courts are full of intrigue and are somewhat more exclusive. Sarmatian courts tend to be debate halls on issues of state, not parties. Court is tiring - it takes hours for most to get dressed for it, several servants, tracking all the fashion and rumors and trends...it's exhausting. Currently, the fashion is to carry a book to read - even if you're illiterate. (You hire a servant to read it to you.) Some are normal books, others quartos used to make picture books. Courts are mainly used for power brokerage, marriage arrangement and favor trading, but also entertainment. People love a party.

Dueling has been a big controversy in the past 50 years, and some nations were looking to ban it entirely. However, in 1644, three owners of fencing academies got together and signed a blood pact. They then approached their nations' rulers, gaining their approval, and the Duelist's Guild was formed. Now, to be a duelist, you must join the Guild. The law is complex, but boils down to this: only a duelist may challenge someone to a duel. So, if you want a duel, you must either be or hire a duelist. If you aren't, you can be arrested for challenging, and if you are challenged by a non-duelist, you can have them arrested. Duelists can, of course, easily be hired to make the challenge and oversee the duel...though many continue to duel illegally, in the shadows. The Duelists don't like that, though. They've got Guildhouses across Theah, and most duels happen in those Guildhouses, in front of witnesses and seconds. While the Guild denies permitting illegal duels behind their closed doors, for the right price, you can make arrangements. Duels sanctioned by the Guild are either to first blood or the death, and death duels are rare. While a Duelist may be hired to fight for you, you can also pay them the same price to make the challenge and then let you fight for yourself, which most Duelists are more than happy to do. It's less risk, after all.

Modern Thean ideas of honor mostly derive from old ideals of chivalry, drawn from a lot of stories - mostly Avalonian stories. The ideals are dying, and those who cling to them are known as gentles or romantics. The fall of chivalry really began in the 1460s with a Montaigne knight named Bastion. He was the peak of chivalry, loved by all, and he died when a peasant armed with an arquebus shot him in the back and he drowned in his own blood. He was a man of honor and all it got him was a horrible death. The average Thean looks out for themselves first, then their family, and no one else. Not that they're all schemers or plotters - they just keep themselves to themselves. Chivalry is a game for rich people and dreamers. However, the gentles are not all gone yet, and some still admire them for their honor.

A gentle will never break their word - period. They are usually quite particular about giving it out, as a result, and while no honorable person would hold them to a promise made while drunk, they'd probably try to keep it anyway. They would die before betraying their bond, after all. Anyone who claims to be a gentle and does so will see their reputation utterly ruined, and reputation is vital. They will go to extreme lengths to avoid sullying it, and anyone who insults their reputation should expect a challenge, while public disgrace often provokes a death duel.

We also get a side note on the Thean calendar - it is a seven day week, 24 hour days. The days are Soldi, Veldi, Amordi, Terdi, Guerdi, Redi and Voltadi. The original calendar was 10 360 day months, but is now 12 30 day months, as two months were added to honor the Old Empire hires Imperator Corantine and Julius Caius. Now, the months are Primus, Secundus, Tertius, Quartus, Quintus, Sextus, Julius, Corantine, Septimus, Octavus, Nonus and Decimus. Each season is three months long, and at the end of the year, the extra days make up the Prophets' Mass, a 5-6 day celebration.

Next time: The Vaticine.

Vaticine Apparently Means Prophet

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Vaticine Apparently Means Prophet

The Reformed Vaticine Church is easily one of the most potent and influential groups in Theah, with their power taken from the many commoners and somewhat fewer nobles that support them. They began in the time of the First Prophet, in the Old Empire, and they built their own army, education system and, indeed, were the cause of most technological and philosophical progress on the continent for many centuries. However, they are now being harshly criticized over corruption and greed, and many are beginning to doubt their authority and doctrine. The Objectionist Movement, begun a hundred years ago in Eisen, has altered the Church forever - almost a third of the flock has become Objectionist. It's not an easy time for the Church right now, though many within it believe that it all could've been avoided it the Cardinals had listened to warnings.

The Vaticine message is simple: the Creator made the world as a riddle to be solved. The closer humanity comes to that, the closer they are to understanding the mind of God. (This is a rather more Gnostic take on religion than Actual Catholicism, which the game acknowledges. Knowledge, not faith, is the cornerstone of the Vaticine.) The Church's credo was developed under orders from Imperator Corantine of the Old Empire, after his conversion, and it was put together in the year 325 AV ('Anno Veritas') at the Corantinian Convention. It consists of six articles of faith, which all Vaticine believers take as true. These are memorized and recited before Mass.

Article One: We believe in one true God, the Creator Almighty, Maker of Paradise and the World, and of all things visible and invisible. The only god that exists is Theus, the Maker of the Universe. Those who belong to the Faith may not believe in any other gods or powers, and must not use sorcery, which the Church teaches came from Legion, the Great Adversary. See, use of sorcery is acceptance of powers other than the Creator, which is heretical and can be ended only by death and cremation.

Article Two: We believe in one holy and prophetic Church. If there is only one God, then there can be only one Church, the Vaticine. Only the rites taught by the Prophets are ordained by them, and therefore the Creator. Those that follow these beliefs and rituals stand as the army of the Prophets when the world ends. All other churches are false, deceitful lies that will lead believers only to the Abyss and not Paradise.

Article Three: And in its Prophet, who spoke the Creator's message for man and his salvation; who foretold the coming of three further Prophets; who delivered himself unto his enemies; and who was martyred for us in the days of Augustin Lauren. The First Prophet is the key to the entire credo, for it was he whom the Creator used to speak His message and spread the word of the three yet to come and their wonders. He gathered the first saints to be his followers, those who had achieved enlightenment by reason, and preached that only by acceptance of others, even those tainted by magic, could salvation be attained. And it was he whom corrupt sorcerers and the rulers they advised put to the flame.

Article Four: And in the Second Prophet, who bore a staff, who spoke the Creator's message, and delivered men from evil; and who was betrayed by the unfaithful and was martyred for us. The Second Prophet came from the Empire of the Crescent Moon (now considered infidels), claiming to be sent by Theus. He was doubted, for he looked different than other men of Theah and he spoke such claims, but all those who opposed him were struck dumb, and all sorcerers he met were made powerless. It was he who, claiming his flock were slaves to their homeland, led them through the desert, where he was then betrayed and murdered by his own brothers.

Article Five: And in the Third Prophet, who bore a sword of pure flame; who spoke the Creator's message; divided the righteous from the unrighteous; and made the way clear for him who shall follow. The Third Prophet was born into chaos, and he was neither understanding nor tolerant. He was of noble blood, and he declared a war on nobles, igniting a war of faith. It was he who shifted the Church from Vodacce to Castille and he who disrupted the harmony of the Church by changing how many thought in a single decisive act.

Article Six: And in the Fourth Prophet, who shall bear a balanced hourglass; who shall be announced by trumpets; and the dead shall awaken and he shall reign in the visible and invisible world forevermore. The Fourth Prophet shall bring Armageddon, beginning the cosmic battle for all human souls. His kiss will breathe life to the globe, and his army will be the dead. He will lead them into a new age of truth and glory, where all will command their own destiny and live in beautiful service to Theus for all time.

All administrative divisions are based on the number ten at each tier, and religious divisions in each nation need not conform to political districts. At the lowest level is the church. Any region that recognizes the Prophets will have churches, and as per the Third Prophet's Declaration of Deference in 1267, "any fellowship without the blessing of a place of worship to the Creator shall be considered without the blessing of His Church." As such, the church is generally the first thing built in any new town. It serves as a community center, a court for magistrates, a town hall and the focus of any number of festivals and holidays. It is a refuge for the needy, a hospital for the sick and a sanctuary for the penitent. A church is run by its most senior priest. Within the church, the priests and congregation will elect one priest to be High Priest and represent them on the Parish Council.

The Parish is the smallest district of administration, made of ten churches in close proximity. The Parish is governed by a Monsignor, who represents it on the Diocese Council, elected from among the High Priests of the Parish. The Diocese is the next level up, made of ten Parishes. The Diocese is governed by a Bishop, elected from the Monsignors. The Archdiocese is next, the second highest and most powerful district. Each is quite large, made of ten Dioceses, and governed by an Archbishop that represents them on the Hieros Council. The Archbishops choose ten of their number to serve as Cardinals, each representing an Archdiocese and also maintaining a Rectory in Vaticine City. The highest rank is the Hieros, who sits just under the Prophets in rank and power. The Hierophant is selected by the Cardinals from among the Archbishops, and serves for life. The Hierophant lives in Vaticine City, which has been in Castille since the 1200s. It's not an easy or stress-free job, and so the Cardinals serve as the advisors of the Hierophant, and traditionally the Hierophant visits a court of a Vaticine monarch every other year for the summer - generally, Castille or one of the Vodacce princes. The Vaticine City was in Vodacce until the Third Prophet, and until the 13th century most Hierophants were Vodacce. At present, there is no Hierophant - she was murdered by an unknown assailant some time ago. All Church positions are held for life or until you retire. Retired officials become normal priests in the local church they first began in. The Vaticine holds that all are created equal, and that the sexes are equal. Priest is gender-neutral - there are male and female priests.

The three most common of the many, many rituals of the Church are Mass, Baptism, Marriage and Ordainment. The Mass is the gathering of the faithful in a church to pray. Most Mass is held in Old Thean, the trade tongue and common language of the Old Empire. However, Eisen and Avalon have translated the hymns into their own languages. Baptism occurs at the age of ten. A child receives an oral exam of scripture, and failure grants a one year grace period, called deferment, to allow the child to study again until they succeed. Ordainment also requires an oral exam - a rather more difficult one, and deferment lasts three years for it. A student that fails twice is not given another deferment - they simply cannot try again. Marriage, under Vaticine belief, is a social contract before Theus. A wedded couple agrees to uphold the tenets of the Church and ensure that the next generation also does. Priests can marry, provided their prospective mate is baptized and Vaticine. The primary holy books of the faith are the Book of Common Hymns, which lays out religious etiquette, procedures, rituals and hymns, and the Book of the Prophets, which consists of four Vigils - one for each Prophet, including the one yet to come, with the Fourth Vigil being delivered by the Third Prophet and supposedly documenting the end of the world.

Because the primary sacrament of the Vaticine is knowledge, not faith, they actually are generally unconcered with your faith and belief, but rather with what you have learned. Philosophical debates are the primary occupation of the Vaticine establishment when they have nothing else to do, and currently two major issues focus much of their philosophical attention. The first is the question of free will. Determinism is the theory, at this point in time, that all decisions made by humanity are predetermined by Theus, and it's the dominant paradigm. However, many scholars have begun to argue that mankind must have choice - not because determinism is illogical, but because of the importance of choice. If there is no choice, they say, then nature is impersonal and uncaring, and Theus cannot have the character the Church teaches that He does. It is unlikely this heated debate will be resolved any time soon.

The other is love. See, the Church recognizes love as a concept, but not in the way poets do. You must love your neighbor, no matter who they are. You must love your spouse, no matter who they are. Love is universal, for all mankind, not for just one person. The love of romantics, the Church has always argued, is base lust. However, the romantics now sing of a new kind of love, a love between two people that no others can experience, share or understand, an eternal fire without reason. The question of whether True Love exists, and if so, if anyone has truly felt it, is a more minor diversion for the Church, but one they find quite fascinating.

The biggest change here is in the detail, focus, and admission that these dudes are Gnostic as fuck.

Next time: The Inquisition

HELLFIRE

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: HELLFIRE

The Inquisition are a clandestine order in the Church, made by the Third Prophet after he rose to power and charged to seek out and destroy sorcery. They answered only to the Hierophant and had a lot of authority over Church procedure, with Vaticines being expected to aid them in any way they required. Because of their efforts, sorcerers had to remain hidden for centuries. However, the Hierophant always kept them in check, with each one keeping an eye on them, limiting their membership and quietly removing any too-ambitious Inquisitors that might step beyond the bounds of their power. This kept them focused on their duties rather than taking over the Church. However, over the centuries, the Church grew more conservative and gave the Inquisition more leeway in how they worked. This reached a head when the Hierophant was murdered. Now, the Inquisitors answer to no one until a new Hierophant is chosen, and Cardinal Esteban Verdugo has moved to seize power, expand the goals of the Inquisition and fill its ranks with fanatics. They've declared war on the universities, burning books and killing professors that oppose them. They kidnap their foes and execute them as heretics, and many that oppose them are too sacred to act. Within a single decade, they have come to control much of the Vaticine Church.

The Inquisition is built around a small core of High Inquisitors, priests and Bishops that are charged to carry out the Third Prophet's edicts. They answer directly to Cardinal Verdugo and command a massive network of assistants and lackeys, controlled by faith, fear or blackmail. Those of the network who willingly involve themselves in the Inquisition may claim the title Inquisitor, as well. Because the Inquisition is, in theory, secret, all Inquisitors and High Inquisitors hold normal positions in the church, pretending to be ordinary priests and lay agents. They target scholars, sorcerers, Objectionists and anyone that questions Church policy. When they gather sufficient evidence, they strike without warning, relying on surprise and terror as their weapons. They attack by night, always ensuring the local authorities are distracted. They hang their victims oin sight, or burn them if they have time, along with any experiments, books or notes. They then vanish, leaving only cryptic warnings.

The Inquisition is only able to move openly in Castille, so far. In all other nations, they must use more subtle means. In Montaigne, they hide among the Vaticine peasntry, while in the chaos of Eisen, they merely avoid the Eisenfursten and their troops. Vodacce's political infighting makes for excellent cover as well. Avalon, the Commonwealth, Ussura and Vesten are their hardest targets - these nations do not approve of Vaticine zealots. Currently, two main forces oppose the Inquisitors. The first is the secret society called the Invisible College, and the other is the masked vigilante El Vagabundo. Between them, they've stopped Verdugo's worst crimes...but without a new Hierophant, they can do little but slow him.

The Objectionists, meanwhile, began in 1517, when a youngish monk walked up to his Bishop's door and nailed a piece of paper to it, alongside many other pieces of paper that the monks wanted to discuss. The author of this particular paper was Mattias Lieber, a name that would, within five years, be known across the world. It was a list of questions that challenged all Church authority and called for a fundamental and sweeping reform of the entire Church philosophy. Lieber denounces his fellow monks to the Hierophant, demanding an explanation for, quote, "the Church's inexcusable crimes and decadence." He was excommunicated and set to die, but he was smuggled out of Castille by King Franz II, returning to Eisen. There, he used the newly invented printing press to spread his ideas, as well as translating the Book of the Prophets into Low Eisen and distributing both. His efforts started the Objectionist movement that spread first in Eisen, then across the continent.

Objectionism resembles the Vaticine faith in many ways, but with key differences. First, the Church is no longer the arbitrator between Theus and man - no one can interpose or filter the Creator's teachings. Theus is everywhere and needs no interpreter. Priests may not absolve sin - only Theus. The Church cannot make miracles - only Theus. Thus, humans should appeal directly to Theus, not rely on the Church to do it for them. They can do this by reading the Book of the Prophets and acting on its teachings, expressing faith by charity, hard work and helping the needy, for all creatures have a measure of Theus' grace, which must be used to further His works. The Church can facilitate, but has no claim to absolute authority.

While Objectionism is roughly structured on the Vaticine model, it has fewer ranks and those have less authority. Individual priests, called chaplains, oversee a church. Deacons are senior chaplains that coordinate 20 churches. Above them are the Apostles, who coordinate across entire provinces or nations.That's as high as you go, and currently there's 25 Apostles, none of whom has any authority over any other. They are elected by the deacons, who can also remove them by vote of no confidence. There are no dioceses, Bishops or Hierophant. Chaplains may not absolve sin or declare heresy. Fasting, pilgrimage and miracles are not required. Baptism is at age seven, with no exam. Chaplains have only limited official duties - they hold mass, oversee marriage and conduct funerals - but they're also expected to be examples to the congregation. When not proselytizing, they are expected to work in universities or hospitals to better lives. The Vaticines, obviously, do not like them. Tensions rose in the century following the Objectionists' formation, until they exploded into the 30-year War of the Cross. Finally, with that over, the continent has decided, as a whole, that both faiths will have to exist alongside each other.

Avalon technically also has its own church - in 1554, the King refused to accept a Castillian Hierophant and formed the Church of Avalon, which Elaine has taken as her own as well. Elaine is, as part of this Church, equal to the Hierophant in all spiritual matters. (So yeah, the Not Anglicans do exist, they just got a poor writeup in the Avalon section that barely mentioned them.) Inismore and the Highlands feature mostly Vaticine and Objectionist churches, and of course the Old Faith is in all three. Castille is steadfastly Vaticine, and pretty much every Castillian attends Mass at least once a week. Any Objectionists there are very quiet about it. Eisen is pretty much Objectionist at this point, largely because the Vaticine Eisen have mostly left the nation. Montaigne's peasants are devout Vaticines; its nobles are very much not. The entire nation was excommunicated by the Hierophant before her death, but many churches still operate there to serve the peasants. The Sarmatians are a mixture of Vaticine teachings and pagan beliefs, in large part because the dievai manifestly exist. Ussura follows the Ussuran Orthodox Church, of course, which accepts only the First Prophet. (The Vaticine has essentially given up on them and decided to "allow" them to be "backwards" barbarians.) The Vesten are largely still adherents of their own pagan faith, though the Vaticine have some footholds - not a lot. The Vesten also donate heavily to Objectionist missions and cathedrals, but no one is entirely sure why. Vodacce, of course, is Vaticine and always will be,

Due in large part to the Vaticine Church, Theah is somewhat ahead of the actual mid-1600s on Earth. Their last ten years have seen the invention of the microscope, reflecting telescope, discovery of human anatomy, plus major advances in astronomy, physics ands chemistry. With the rise of the Inquisition, however, those advancements are threatened. The Inquisitors believe that the time of knowledge is over - the end of the world is coming, and all must prepare rather than dabble in useless curiosity. Archaeology is still limited to shovels, brushes, notes and investigation. Theans are growing to understand things slowly, but important artifacts are often destoryed by accident or stolen by private collectors as art pieces. Architecutre is quite advanced - not, perhaps, on the level of suspension bridges or skyscrapers, but they can build 400 foot cathedrals, and while they lack mass production infrastructure, Theans know how to make concrete on a small scale. Roads are typically cobbles, roofs are covered by tin, and windows in the bigger cities are usually glass.

Theans know that the planet Terra is a sphere that orbits the sun Solas, and is orbited by a moon. They know of five other planets that also orbit the sun; their telescopes are too primitive to see more than that. They know the size of Terra within a 1% margin of error, and may predict both solar and lunar eclipses. Telescopes have been around for a century, but it was only a few months ago that Alvara Arciniega invented the first reflecting telescope, which the Invisible College has spread to the scientific community in the hopes of further refinement. Chemistry has recently emerged from alchemy with the publication of Jeremy Cook's The Rational Chemist in 1661, and now only a few still practice alchemy. In 1662, Cook invented the first air pump that should have proven the existence of air, but he was shot for his research by the Inquisition, and it only survived due to the Invisible College.

Mathematicians understand algebra, trigonometry, geometry and the zero. They lack calculus as yet but it should be along soon. Probability is not rigorous as a mathematical discipline. Medicine is significantly more advanced than our world was at the time. Humor theory was denounced by Franz Deleboe in 1661, and while he was kidnapped by the Inquisition, his theories leaked and have been expanded on. Hygiene is understood as impacting survival rate in operations, but the reasons are not. They know bullets must be removed from gunshot wounds before stitching, that bandages need occasional changes and should be boiled to ensure cleanliness, and they know sick people spread disease, but have discovered neither viruses nor bacteria. The microscope has been around in Vesten since 1608, used to view blood corpuscles, insects and small plants. It has greatly advanced medicine, biology, botany and entomology.

Physics has seen a number of breakthroughs despite the Inquisition's best efforts. Static electricity was harnessed in 1662 with a rotating globe of sulphur, invented by Maria Alvarado as a practical demonstration of her studies. At the time, the Inquisitors were too weak to stop a prominent and respected scientist, though they did come close to wiping out the evidence (and life) of Alvara Arciniega's discovery of the light spectrum via handmade prisms. Fortunately, he was a good enough swordsman to kill three Inquisitors and flee to the countryside, where he made his telescope. Theans do have magnetic compasses and astrolabes, but lack a chronometer accurate enough and resistant enough to moisture to easily measure longitude. The Montaigne know how to do it, but their method involves using Porte to teleport home and look at a clock. It's not used all that often, but it means they have the best maps in the world.

The musket is the weapon of choice for warfare, usually with pike support. Rifles do not yet exist, so accuracy isn't great. Cannons have been developed, but they lack the ballistics to make mortars. The Montaigne have developed primitive and highly unreliable grenades; their peasant grenadiers have an average lifespan of three battles. In duels, rapiers are most common, with sabers reserved for cavalry.

All of this is broadly where it was in 1e, with the note that 1e had a dude in Ussura who'd invented a single rifle, and also there was primitive blood transfusion, which doesn't appear to have made it.

Next time: Pirates!

Yo Ho Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Yo Ho Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me

While there are literally hundreds of pirate crews out there, there's five groups that pretty much everyone knows the name of. First, the Brotherhood of the Coast. See, the Castillians had hired a band of thugs, brigands and former pirates they called the Black Spot Fleet and set them to killing other pirates. The Brotherhood was formed when a bunch of their victims banded together under a charter of mutual protection, led by the legendary Captain Roberts, First King of the Pirates. They defeated the Black Spots for good, and declared that each Brotherhood ship was now a nation unto itself, with the captains elected by the crew as representatives of a free republic of piracy. Of course, the entire thing would've scattered were it not for Gentleman Gosse, the most civil and polite of all pirates. See, he was elected as the second King of Pirates after Roberts was slain by the Devil Jonah (read: Davey Jones). Gosse worked to build a solid foundation to keep them all together, then retired to make way for the Third (and current) King of Pirates, a woman known as Captain Bonaventura. Now, she has declared war on the entire world. She says that if the governments of Theah will not recognize the Brotherhood as a true nation, then they will continue to seize their ships, cargo and lives.

Second are the Buccaneers of La Bucca. La Bucca was a prison island far off the Castillian coast, and it's now a beacon of freedom and liberty. The prisoners faked a plague outbreak, using it to capture the island. The Castillians, Vodacce and Vesten all sent warships to seize the island, which ended in a four-way stalemate until the three warships found their potable water had mysteriously vanished, perhaps by magic or sabotage. The Buccaneer leader offered them a choice - sign a treaty or die of thirst. They relented and signed the treaty. That leader is a man named Allende, whom most believe to be a sorcerer due to the strange events surrounding him. A former prison guard claims to have shot him point blank, only for the man to stand back up unharmed, for example. Allende and the Buccaneers welcome any to use their harbors safely and freely for as long as the island is in view, to trade for water, salt pork and information, and the ships that crew there are always happy to sign Letters of Marque for any that'll hire them. However, once the island is out of view, its inhabitants are happy to engage in vicious piracy against any ship whose name is not listed on one of their various Letters of Marque.

Third, the Crimson Roger, is less a group and more a single ship. Its crew are bloodthirsty, vicious and terrifying. They take no prisoners and leave no survivors. They seem to target ships bearing Syrneth artifacts more often than others, and no one is entirely sure how they find them. There is only one eyewitness account of the Crimson Roger - the captain of His Lordship's Mistress, a merchant ship that escaped an attack after the Crimson Roger sank her sister ship, the Grey Dog. He reported that the crew of the Crimson Roger used strange devices in combat, possibly of Syrne origin, and their captain was a tall man with curly hair and a scythe that could cut through flesh and wood like they were paper. The captain shouted at the fleeing ship, telling them to tell the world of the Crimson Roger and her Captain Reis, and that when they next met, he'd cut them all in half. The captain of the merchant ship retired in terror, and within a month His Lordship's Mistress was lost at sea, along with all hands. The captain was found cut in half, lengthwise, in his home a week later, with the word 'Reis' written on the wall in blood. Queen Elaine has placed an 8000 Guilder reward for proof of Reis' death, which presumably would require his scythe.

Fourth, the Sea Dogs are a group of pirates in the northwest who focus on Montaigne and Castillian ships. They favor small, fast ships and never attack Avalon vessels of any kind. Some believe they are connected to Queen Elaine, which she denies, but few believe her. The Sea Dog crews seem to operate largely independently, and the most famous of them is the crew led by Captain Jeremiah Berek of the Black Dawn. Berek is a dashing man whose crew is loyal to the death. Some say he uses Glamour to gain this loyalty, but there's no solid proof. The Sea Dogs appeared in the Avalon battles against the Castillian Armada, and Berek's daring leadership played a huge role in their defeat, which only strengthens claims that the Dogs work for Elaine.

Finally, the Vesten Raiders seek out merchant ships while crewing longships out of, usually, cold fog banks. They wield the power of Vesten skalds and Eisen mercenaries, and the drums they beat to time their oars have become feared by all merchants. When they appear, they blow a ram's horn three times. This is a signal to their prey - lower sails and surrender, or be prepared to fight to the last. The Raiders do not take prisoners - they have no interest in slaves. They do, however, make a policy of leaving one person alive whenever they slaughter a crew, to spread word of their deeds. More hysterical tales claim they have rune-covered figureheads that spit lightning, that they go to battle in a madness and wear horned helmets, that they can shrug off blows that'd kill any man. More sensible merchants know these tales are caused by drunkenness, but also that the Raiders are a terrifying threat to any merchant ship not backed by the Vendel League.

Then you have the secret societies! They operate behind the scenes of the world, manipulating events for their various goals. They are:
The Brotherhood of the Coast: Pirates that prey on the corrupt and decadent and fight to be free men, even if it kills them.
Die Kreuzritter: A group descended from 12th century Eisen knights who travelled to the Crescent Empire to fight 'heathen hordes', and discovered something that utterly changed their order, transforming them into monster hunters who battle armed with knowledge few have.
The Explorer's Society: A group who began as a scholarly club in Castille's Odiseo region, and is now a society of adventurer-scholars seeking out the lore and secrets of the Syrneth ruins. They have gone underground to avoid the Inquisition.
The Invisible College: A small team of priests and scientists that have worked to resist the Inquisition, smuggling papers and research to be conducted out of view of the Inquisitors. They will see science pushed forward, even at risk of their own lives.
The Knightly Order of the Rose and Cross: A gentle's order dedicated to the ancient ideals of chivalry - protecting the weak, defeating injustice and making the world better. They are either the world's greatest heroes or a bunch of idiot manchildren who have no idea what they're doing. Or both.
Los Vagabundos: A small, elite group of heroes, begun in Castille but now covering the continent, who seek to uphold the rule of just kings and queens and overthrow those that oppress the people.
Mociutes Skara: The Grandmother's Shawl, a group begun in the Sarmatian Commonwealth during the War of the Cross, who respond to disasters to bring aid, comfort and shelter. They seek to end war forever.
The Rilasciare: An extremely disorganized but very dangerous organization, dedicated to overthrowing what it names the Two Tyrannies: monarchy and the Church. It does this by wielding the power of ideas.
Sophia's Daughters: Vodacce women are practically slaves, and so a covert organization has developed that seeks to change that, one Prince at a time. While their focus is primarily Vodacce, they are also happy to work to protect and advise women with power in any nation.

Next time: The Syrneth, 2e.

They're Magical Hi-Tech Ancient Ruins BUT NOT ALIENS

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: They're Magical Hi-Tech Ancient Ruins BUT NOT ALIENS

So, the Syrne. The Syrne were a pre-human civilization with ruins scattered across the globe, and these ruins have become a treasure trove for archaeologists and adventurers - if a dangerous one. Their partial artifacts have been found across Theah and surrounding islands, all over the dang place. Well preserved sites are rare, however. Around 50 years ago, Leandra Souza founded the Explorer's Society in Castille, and now there are chapterhouses in several nations, dedicated to learning as much as they can about the Syrneth, preserving their artifacts for study. Adventuers and independent treasure hunters funding by nobles also hunt for Syrneth artifacts, not for information, but for money. See, Syrne artifacts are highly fashionable right now, and private collections are very prestigious, so nobles will pay a high price for whatever you find.

Some Syrne ruins are obvious. There are buildings in Montaigne that, while inhabited by humans for centuries, were not built by them, quite clearly. They are tall, impossibly slender, and have no clear means of support. Other areas, they're buried deep, and some locations are even heavily trapped or home to unnatural beasts. One of the more famous ruins is in the tunnels under Charouse, capital of Montaigne. There are maps, but none cover the full extent of the tunnel system, which averages 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide in most caverns. They have existed far longer than the city and were deliberately made. Spiral pillars support stone arches with decorative carvings, and the stone matches none in the region. Currently, the tunnels are mainly in use as a sewer system for Charouse, and no one is actually sure where the waste drains to. Some people also live in the tunnels. Several Explorer parties have gone into them, and while most passages are full of human waste, they've made some interesting finds. Strange ornamental metal objects have been found which would fit on a humanoid figure, though some believe these are discarded Montaigne decorations...albeit in a style that matches no Thean fashion, and in areas where there was no waste. More impressive was the discovery of the so-called Star Map, a vast spherical chamber reached via narrow bridge, suspended 50 feet over the bottom of the sphere. Gemstones line the sphere, reproducing what appears to be a map of the Thean heavens...including stars that don't appear to exist in the sky. It is believed based on some geometrical calculations that the chamber lies directly underneath l'Empereur's palace. L'Empereur is not especially friendly to the Explorers and has set the city guard on them, and the local residents don't welcome them, either. Shortly after the map was discovered, the explorers had their rooms ransacked and their notes stolen. No one is sure if this means the royals knew about the chamber or not, and if so, why.

Then there's the Signore Catacombs, which may or may not be a natural feature. The Signore Islands are all of hard, non-porous rock, and the entire chain is run through with tunnels. They follow no pattern and their surfaces are rough, but there are regularly spaced shelves in the stone. Like the Montaigne tunnels, these go for miles and are largely uncharted, though they're only an average seven to eight feet tall and five to seven wide. Often they run in levels, stacked atop each other, with the sea flooding the lower levels. The Merchant Princes of Vodacce have used the tunnels as tombs, as the shelves are wide enough to hold human bodies, and have been in use for that by several major families for generations. This makes it hard to tell if anything found in the tunnels has been there for centuries or whether it just washed out of the sea or fell from the various corpses.

Other sites exist throughout Theah in small pockets. A number of western islands are apparently old Syrneth havens - most famously the Thalusian islands west of Avalon, but pretty much every island out in the west seems to have at least something. Explorers travel there often, as no one owns the islands and so no one can bar them except pirates and rivals. There are reports of aeries in the Ussuran mountains that are too large for any known bird, and pirates speak of lands in the south where lakes boil and giant insect remains have been found. Of course, some of these tales are almost certainly inventions of fancy. Syrne ruins also show up sometimes in other continents, but most nations care less about preserving them than the Explorers do.

The sidebar on who the Syrne are explains the sum total of what the game is going to set down in stone. The Syrne appear to have been similar to humanity, but with technology that is more advanced than 17th century science can understand or conceive of. There is no record of their appearance, but they were probably bipedal, and their tools seem designed for human-like hands of human-like size. Because they appear to have quickly and completely vanished, most scholars believe some great disaster destroyed them, though some believe that the Leshiye, Dievai and Sidhe are surviving Syrneth remnants. If so, none of the three are willing to admit or talk about it.

Besides the Syrne, Theah also has monsters in its wild lands. Most are not capable of intellect, though some can. These tend to be the most dangerous. Constanzo Rodriguez of the Explorers has spent most of his life cataloguing animals, and his ever-growing Complete Bestiary has brought the old man lots of prestige. It includes several monsters. Ghosts appear to be the lingering souls of the dead, typically wandering the place they died and appearing as they did the moment of death. Some ghosts appear to interfere with the use of some sorceries - most notable Montaigne's ghosts, which can prevent the use of Porte in their vicinity. Some Montaignes have also got the rare talent for trapping ghosts in mirrors, and some nobles display them as entertainment at parties. The Church associates them with the sin of Envy.

Ghouls are ape-like monsters that can, apparently, sense the wounded from miles away. They prefer to eat living flesh, but are generally too weak to capture it themselves, so they prey on injured animals...and humans, as they can't seem to tell the two apart. Field hospitals must be guarded by night to prevent ghoul attacks, and most soldiers are terrified of ghouls finding them while injured. Ghouls following an army are a bad omen. The Church associates them with the sin of Gluttony.

Kobolds are typically found in uninhabited forests, especially in Eisen. They were the models for the stone statues used as gargoyles atop cathedrals and other buildings. This is because kobolds are very bloodthirsty, but very territorial, and will never settle in an area in which they see another of their kind. The statues are an attempt to trick them. They have immense fangs and claws, are very tough, and their bite is mildly venomous. The Church associates them with the sin of Greed.

Sirens have an upper torso resembling a human woman and the lower body of a fish. They exclusively eat meat, and they love human flesh. They are known to imitate drowning women to lure in ships, in the hopes of an attempted rescue turned meal. They sometimes beckon for sailors to swim with them for the same reason. They also follow ships in hopes of shipwrecks. Once a sailor is in the water, they will swim up and make soothing warbles before attacking with sharp nails and shark-like teeth. Their necks expand to accomodate large pieces of meat, and they make a high keening while eating that is believed to be a sound of satisfaction. This is called the siren's song, and it is terrifying to most sailors. The Church associates them with the sin of Lust.

Wights are mobile corpses. They tend not to use weapons, favoring their own hands, turned into filthy, bony talons. However, despite this, they are quite clever and may even be capable of reasoning, though they do not ever speak. Most pious Theans believe Wights are born when a man who is too proud of his deeds dies of unnatural causes, whose pride prevents them from moving on to the afterlife. Rodriguez disputes this, believing that wights are actually caused by a sort of disease spread by contact with other wights. Because wights are so hard to destroy, the few cadavers he's gotten to examine are all too mangled for dissection, however. Wights are most often found near the sea. The Church, obviously, associates them with the sin of Pride.

Other monsters of Theah include drachens, griffons and night terrors, none of whom are encountered very often. No drachen has been seen in living memory, in fact. Night terrors seem to be able to invade dreams and attack from them, while griffons hunt in large packs. Beyond this, little is known of their behavior. The Church identifies drachens with Wrath, night terrors with Sloth and griffons with no particular sin.

Next time: Chargen.

We are literally 16 pages from the halfway mark and just now hitting chargen

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: We are literally 16 pages from the halfway mark and just now hitting chargen

If I have one major problem with this book it's organizational. We literally took half the book to reach the part where mechanics even begin to exist, and will be past that before we know how, like, dicerolls work. Whoops. Anyway, we start off with the standard Wick-style game sugestion of reaching character concept by answering 20 questions.

quote:

1. What Nation is your Hero from?
2. How would you physically describe your Hero?
3. Does your Hero have recurring mannerisms?
4. What is your Hero's main motivation?
5. What is your Hero's greatest strength? Greatest weakness?
6. What are your Hero's most and least favorite things?
7. What about your Hero's psychology?
8. What is your Hero's single greatest fear?
9. What are your Hero's highest ambitions? Her greatest love?
10. What is your Hero's opinion of his country?
11. Does your Hero have any prejudices?
12. Where do your Hero's loyalties lie?
13. Is your Hero in love? Is she married or betrothed?
14. What about your Hero's family?
15. How would your Hero's parents describe her?
16. Is your Hero a gentle?
17. How religious is your Hero? What sect of the Church does she follow?
18. Is your Hero a member of a guild, gentle's club, or secret society?
19. What does your Hero think of Sorcery?
20. If you could, what advice would you give your Hero?

Having done that, you now get your Traits. As before, they are Brawn (strength and power), Finesse (coordination and agility), Resolve (willpower and endurance), Wits (ability to think on your feet) and Panache (charm). You start with all of them at 2, and have 2 additional points to spend as you like. Then, you add your Nation Bonus. Each Nation provides a bonus to one of two traits, your choice. I feel like they went with ten nations solely so they could have each trait be a bonus to four different nations. You apply the Nation bonus after spending your two free points.

Now, you select two Backgrounds. Backgrounds represent your past and its influence on you, but do not limit what you become. Each Background provides:
1. A Quirk, a trait that you can follow to gain Hero Points.
2. Advantages. You get all the listed ones for free. I want to say they all provide 5 points worth of advantages (before any national discounts) but I'm not totally sure. If your backgrounds have overlapping advantages, you get another advantage of the same cost as the duplicate, which you may choose freely.
3. Skills. You get 1 rank in five different skills. If your backgrounds have overlapping skills, those start at 2, not 1.

The Basic Backgrounds, which anyone can take, are:
Archaeologist: You studied Syrne ruins, and gain Hero Points when you turn artifacts over to museums, universities and public sites.
Aristocrat: You're a born noble, and you gain Hero Points when you prove that there's more to nobility than fancy clothes and court.
Army Officer: You were a command-ranked member of the army. You gain Hero Points when you seize command in moments of intense violence or danger.
Artist: You made art. You gain Hero Points when you make sacrifices to make Theah more beautiful.
Assassin: You were a hired killer. You gain Hero Points when you go out of your way to avoid killing an enemy or refuse an action because it might kill someone.
Cavalry: You were a cavalry soldier. You gain Hero Points when you apply your horseriding skills in uncommon situations.
Courtier: You were a diplomat and courtier. You earn Hero Points when you turn the tide of violence with charm or flair.
Crafter: You made useful things. You gain Hero Points when you use normal crafting skills to solve a problem that others deem too complex for such a simple solution.
Criminal: You broke the law. You earn Hero Points when you break the law in pursuit of a noble goal.
Doctor: You healed the sick. You earn Hero Points when you tend to a Villain's injuries or those of innocents harmed by a Villain.
Duelist: You devoted your life to the blade (or other weapon). You earn Hero Points when you resort to fighting to defend a noble cause.
Engineer: You studied how to apply knowledge and math to solve problems. You earn Hero Points when you use your technological skills to solve problems.
Explorer: You sought out far lands. You earn Hero Points when you see things few if any Theans have ever seen before.
Farmkid: You were raised on a farm. You earn Hero Points when you solve complex problems with simple methods from back home.
Hunter: You were a hunter. You earn Hero Points when you use your hunter's skills to save people from danger.
Jenny: You were a prostitude or seduction artist. You earn Hero Points when you resolve conflicts with seduction or sexiness.
Mercenary: You fought for cash. You earn Hero Points when you choose to use your skills for a reason worth more to you than money.
Merchant: You sold stuff. You earn Hero Points when you sell something for far less than it is really worth to someone who desperately needs it.
Naval Officer: You were in a ship's command crew. You earn Hero Points when you put the needs of the crew before the needs of the mission.
Orphan: You lost your parents young. You earn Hero Points when you endanger yourself to ensure someone else doesn't have to be alone.
Pirate: You were a pirate. You earn Hero Points when you make a personal sacrifice to ensure another's freedom.
Priest: You served as a priest. You earn Hero Points when you put aside words and take action to practice what you preach.
Professor: You taught others. You earn Hero Points when you use obscure textual knowledge to solve complex problems.
Pugilist: You punched people. You earn Hero Points when you drop what you're holding and fight unarmed, regardless of your foe's weapon.
Quartermaster: You took care of ships' supplies and other details. You earn Hero Points when you solve a problem for your crew.
Sailor: You sailed. You earn Hero Points when you put aside your own desires to ensure the safety and comfort of your allies.
Scholar: You knew things. You earn Hero Points when you endanger yourself in pursuit of knowledge.
Servant: You worked for someone else. You earn Hero Points when you endanger yourself to help someone with a difficult task.
Ship Captain: You commanded a ship. You earn Hero Points when you're the last of the crew to get to safety.
Soldier: You fought for an army. You earn Hero Points when you stick to the plan even if it puts you in danger.
Spy: You sought secrets for a nation. You earn Hero Points when you take great risks to discover secrets.


All Glamour Islanders may take the following backgrounds:
Bard: You told the old stories. You earn Hero Points for solving problems by following Legendary examples.
Knight Errant: You gained the magic of the Knights of Elilodd. You earn Hero Points when you uphold ideals of knightly virtue in ways that get you into trouble.
Privateer: You had a charter to sink ships for Avalon. You earn Hero Points when you defeat enemies of Crown of Avalon.
Unification Agent: You were hired by the Crown to keep the peace. You earn Hero Points when you ensure the United Kingdoms remain stable.
Avalons may take the following background:
Puritan: You were a reformed Objectionist that wanted to purify the Church of Avalon of Vaticine practice. You earn Hero Points when you expose the corruption, hypocrisy or ineffectiveness within the Vaticine Church.
Inish may take the following background:
Saoi (Wise One): You were granted the highest honor of Aosdana, a state association of artists. You earn Hero Points when you endanger yourself to protect artists.
Highlanders may take the following background:
Seanchaidh (Warrior-Poet): You were a historian and storyteller-lawyer. You earn Hero Points when you enforce the ancient laws of your people.
Castillians may take the following backgrounds:
Alquimista: You were a successful alchemist. You earn Hero Points when you improve others' lives via Alchemy.
Antropologo: You studied people, not ruins. You earn Hero Points when you solve problems for groups of strangers.
Diestro: You studied the art and beauty of the sword. You earn Hero Points when you beat trained duelists at fencing.
Mirabilis (Priest): You were a master scholar of the Vatiicine and member of the Ordo Doctorem Mirabilis. You earn Hero Points when you give of yourself to demonstrate the compassion and love of the Vaticine Church.
Eisen may take the following backgrounds:
Hexe: You were a master of Hexenwork, the dark sorcery of the dead. You earn Hero Points when you go out of your way to ensure the dead stay that way.
Krieger (Warrior): You survived the War of the Cross. You earn Hero Points when you fight to defend the defenseless or prevent destruction.
Ungetumjager (Monster Hunter): You hunted monsters. You earn Hero Points when you choose to hunt down inhuman creatures to ensure they can't hurt anyone again.
Vitalienbruder (Pirate): You were one of the Eisen dedicated to fair trade and equality on the sea. You earn Hero Points when you take from the rich to give to the poor.
Montaignes may take the following backgrounds:
L'Ami du Roi (Courtier): You are a favorite of the King. You earn Hero Points when you leverage that favor to solve problems.
Mousquetaire: You were sworn to protect the King and your fellow musketeers until death. You earn Hero Points when you are seriously injured while protecting your comrades or king.
Revolutionnaire: You were pledged to see Montaigne freed from the tyrant aristocrats. You earn Hero Points when you make personal sacrifices for the sake of liberty.
Sorcier Porte: You were a master of Porte, the sorcery of portals. You earn Hero Points when you close a Blessure opened by a Villain.
Sarmatians may take the following backgrounds:
Posel (Envoy): You were an advisor to the Sejm. You earn Hero Points when you insist on democracy when it'd be to your advantage not to take a vote.
Tremtis (Expatriate): You fled to the Commonwealth seeking asylum. You earn Hero Points when something from your past returns to haunt you.
Winged Hussar: You were a member of the greatest cavalry in the world. You earn Hero Points when you and your steed head recklessly into battle or conflict regardless of danger.
Zynys (Soothsayer): You tricked the Devil at the crossroads and gained his power. You earn Hero Points when you use something evil to do good.
Ussurans may take the following backgrounds:
Cossack: You were of the east, a horseman and warrior. You earn Hero Points when you leave something important behind so you can travel light.
Progressivist: You sought innovations to bring home to Ussura. You earn Hero Points when you endanger yourself to secure advanced technology.
Touched by Matushka: You were given power by Matushka - for a price. You earn Hero Points when you teach lessons in ways that'd make Matushka proud.
Whaler: You hunted whales. You earn Hero Points when you face down creatures that could swallow men whole.
Vestenmennavenjar can take the following backgrounds:
Bearsark: You fought with trance-like fury. You earn Hero Points when you let the GM decide your next action.
Guildmasteren: You helped manage the Vendel League. You earn Hero Points when you use Vendel League resources for something more noble than profit.
Sjorover (Pirate): You practiced the old ways of raiding. You earn Hero Points when you endanger yourself to ensure your place of honor at the Allfather's table.
Skald: You learned the secrets of the bones and fire. You earn Hero Poins when you use your Seidr knowledge to help other Heroes solve problems or thwart Villains.
Vodacce can take the following backgrounds:
Bravo: You swore to protect someone else. You earn Hero Points when you endanger yourself to defend that person's life.
Consigliere: You advised a Merchant Prince. You earn Hero Points when you take great risks to protect other people's secrets.
Esploratore: You traveled on behalf of a Prince. You earn Hero Points when you use foreign, non-Thean goods or knowledge to solve problems.
Sorte Strega: You must be a woman to take this. You have the power to sense and manipulate Fate. You earn Hero Points when you commit yourself to dangerous acts that you believe are destined.

After that, you get 10 points to spend adding or raising your skills, 1 for 1. You can't go above 3 in any skill this way. A skill at 3 lets you reroll any one die when you take a Risk using that skill. At 4, you also get the ability to make 2 Raises with a set of 15 when using that skill, rather than just 1 Raise per set of 10. At 5, you also get exploding 10s - that is, every time you roll a 10, you add and roll an additional die to your roll when using that skill. Skills are designed to be pretty open-ended in how they're used.

Skills:
Aim: Guns, throwing things, ranged combat.
Athletics: Acrobatic feats and dangerous physical stunts.
Brawl: Unarmed combat, grappling, dragging people.
Convince: Appealing to someone's better nature or getting them to trust you.
Empathy: Telling if someone is lying or how they're feeling.
Hide: Sneaking, concealing things, ambushing people with any weapon, making disguises or camouflage.
Intimidate: Forcing people to do what you want with threats - any kind.
Notice: Investigation and detecting detail.
Perform: Captivating audiences, getting across messages or emotions in your performances, doing shows.
Ride: Riding mounts, driving carriages, high speed vehicle chases.
Sailing: Navigating rigging, steering ships.
Scholarship: Nerding out about stuff, knowing things, medical skills.
Tempt: Bribery and seduction to get people to do things they really shouldn't.
Theft: Picking pockets, cracking safes, picking locks.
Warfare: Tactics, army command, breaching defenses.
Weaponry: Armed melee combat.

Then you get 5 points to buy any Advantages you didn't already get from your backgrounds. We'll get into those next time.

Next time: Sorcery is less than half the price of being a duelist each time you take it. This is completely accurate to its usefulness.

We are now halfway through this book.

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: We are now halfway through this book.

So, advantages. Advantages cost between 1 and 5 points, though some Nations get discounts to some Advantages, and others have restructions. Except for a handful that are specifically noted, you can only buy them once. Advantages with the "Knack" tag (a K in a circle) cost a Hero Point to activate, but do not generally require an Action to perform - they just happen when you spend the Hero Point, though usually it'll need to be on your turn to make any dang sense. An Advantage with the "Innate" tag (a meeple) can only be taken at chargen and never through advancement. (Knacks, incidentally, only work on PCs if they allow it. You must pay them the Hero Point, and if they refuse it, the Knack just doesn't work on them.) The GM may veto use of an Advantage if it would be utterly silly, like seducing Elaine during the middle of a public speech, but generally speaking they can do what they say.

One Point Advantages
Able Drinker: You are never adversely affected by alcohol, ever, no matter how much you drink.
Cast Iron Stomach: You suffer no negative effects from spoiled or raw food, and you may gain sustenance from them, no matter what, ever.
Direction Sense: So long as you have any kind of reference point, you are never lost. You may not know what city you're in after getting knocked out, but you can always perfectly retrace your steps, no matter how winding the path, and you never get lost and turned around.
Foreign Born (Innate): You were raised in a different Nation than your own. Pick that Nation. You get a Bonus Die whenever you take any Risk that'd somehow benefit from your dual heritage.
Large (Innate): You can't take Small. You get a Bonus Die on any Risk that's easier due to being huge.
Linguist: You speak, read and write all Thean languages, even the dead ones.
Sea Legs: You get a Bonus Die on any physical Risk while on a ship at sea, and you are immune to all treacherous footing on a ship.
Small (Innate): You can't take Large. You get a Bonus Die on any Risk that's easier due to being tiny.
Survivalist: When in the wilderness, you can always find enough food for yourself and up to five other people, except in the most extreme wilderness, such as the desert or tundra. There, it's you and up to two other people.
Time Sense: You always know the time, and how long to the next sunrise or sunset, with less than a minute margin of error.

Two Point Advantages
Barterer (Knack): 1 point less for Glamour Islanders. You can activate this to get someone to cut you a deal, give you a discount or assure someone who knows you that you're totally good for it.
Come Hither (Knack): You can activate this to lure someone into a private room, then later leave the room without them, removing them from the scene. They may be rescued, but only long after you're gone.
Connection: You choose a specific type of contact. You can always find someone of that type to give you basic info or help you in some minor way that doesn't cost them or endanger them. If you want something harder to find or dangerous, you must spend a Hero Point or pay a cost they stipulate.
Disarming Smile (Knack): You can activate this to prevent someone from drawing a weapon, starting a fight or resorting to violence. They may still defend themself - but they won't start it.
Eagle Eyes: As long as you have clear line of sight, you can see perfectly out to a mile away. With a spyglass, you can even pick out fine details like the inscription on a ring. You get a Bonus Die on any Risk that relies on your keen vision heavily.
Extended Family (Knack): 1 point less for Ussurans. You can activate this to reveal a distant cousin that lives nearby and can give you resources, info or shelter.
Fascinate (Knack): You can activate this to grab someone's attention until the end of the scene or until you stop talking and/or paying attention to them, whichever comes first.
Friend at Court (Knack): You can activate this at a ball, feast or society function to reveal you have a close friend also attending.
Got It! (Knack): You can activate this to immediately pick a lock, crack a safe or disarm a trap.
Handy (Knack): You can activate this to instantly make a broken item, damaged gun, leaky ship or other similarly broken thing function normnally for the rest of the scene. At the end of the scene, or if it takes additional damage, the thing becomes entirely unusable until you have time to do serious repairs with proper tools.
Indomitable Will (Knack): You can activate this to automatically resist an attempt to intimidate, seduce or goad you.
Inspire Generosity (Knack): You can activate this to convince somneone to give you something you want, free, by the easiest means for them to do so.
Leadership (Knack): 1 point less for Sarmatians. You can activate this to inspire a group that can hear you to act, so long as they are at least of neutral disposition towards you. They will do whatever you command as long as it's not unreasonable, such as suicide.
Married to the Sea: You have access to a Ship. If you already had one, the Ship gains an additional Background.
Perfect Balance (Knack): You can activate this to move across a thing beam, jump to somehwere or otherwise perform a feat of perfect agility and balance.
Poison Immunity: 1 point less for Vodacce. You suffer only mild, brief discomfort from all poisons that are not normally lethal. Lethal poisons may also cause you to vomit but are still otherwise harmless.
Psst, Over Here (Knack): You may activate this while undetected to automatically lure someone away and knock them out, leaving everyone else unaware of you still.
Reckless Takedown (Knack): You may activate this to immediately defeat an entire Brute Squad, regardless of its Strength. After you do, you take 1 Dramatic Wound.
Reputation: You have a rep. Define it. When using it to your advantage in a social Risk, you get a Bonus Die. You can buy this multiple times, either to boost a rep's Bonus Dice (1 per purchase) or have multiple reps.
Second Story Work (Knack): You can activate this to find a way into a building or restricted area and enter it, bringing up to one other person with you. Everyone else has to find their own way in or wait for you to open a path.
Slip Free (Knack): You can activate this to escape from manacles, ropes or otherwise free yourself.
Sorcery: You gain your nation's Sorcery. You may earn this Advantage after chargen only via a Hero Story, not any other kind of Story. You may take this multiple times, with different effects based on your Sorcery.
Staredown (Knack): 1 point less for Eisen. You may activate this to intimidate someone into backing down from a threat, letting you into somehere or otherwise getting out of your way.
Streetwise (Knack): You can activate this to find a fixer, information dealer, black market or similar criminally inclined figure.
Team Player: When you spend a Raise to make an Opportunity, you can spend a seond Raise to activate it on behalf of a willing other Hero, so they don't have to spend their own Raise to do it.
Valiant Spirit: You begin each session with 2 Hero Points, not 1.

Three Point Advantages
An Honest Misunderstanding (Knack): You may activate this to edit, redact or otherwise alter something you or another Hero just said, 'reinterpreting' it into something inoffensively complimentary.
Bar Fighter: You get a Bonus Die when making Brawling Risks to fight with improvised weapons.
Boxer: You get a Bonus Die when making Brawling Risks to fight using only your own body.
Bruiser: You get a Bonus Die when making Weaponry Risks to fight using a two-handed weapon such as a zweihander, claymore, halberd or battle axe.
Brush Pass (Knack): You can activate this to pick someone's pocket, steal their ring off their finger or plant some small handheld item on them without being noticed.
Camaraderie: 1 point less for Montaignes. When you spend a Hero Point to aid an ally, they get 4 dice, not 3.
Deadeye: You get a Bonus Die when you make an Aim Risk using a pistol, blunderbuss or thrown weapon.
Dynamic Approach (Knack): You can activate this to change your Approach during an Action or Dramatic Sequence.
Fencer: You get a Bonus Die when making Weaponry Risks to fight using a one-handed bladed weapon.
Foul Weather Jack: You may have two Hero STories active at once, not just one.
Masterpiece Crafter: 1 less for Vesten. Pick a type of item, such as weapons, armor or paintings. When you make one of that type, you may spend extra time on it to make it of greater quality. When using normal materials, this is purely cosmetic - it is notably good quality and will draw a higher price if for sale, but that's it. If you use exotic materials, such as making a sword from meteoric iron, you may make it into a Signature Item for yourself or another Hero. The time required and if a material is exotic enough to qualify are up to the GM.
Opportunist (Knack): You may activate this when another Hero spends a Raise to make an Opportunity to immediately activate that Opportunity for yourself.
Ordained: 1 less for Castillians. You can always expect a refuge, shelter and meal at any church, and have free access to most, but not all, Church libraries. You get two Bonus Dice on social Risks against those that share your faith.
Patron: You have some kind of patron that keeps you employed. You start each session with 1 Wealth, and you may spend a Hero Point to call in a favor from your patron - usually a political or mercantile one. Your patron may occasionally ask you favors or otherwise want you to produce something, depending on what they pay you to do.
Quick Reflexes: Pick a skill. When using that skill, you may always take actions as if you had an additional Raise. (So if you roll 3 Raises, you act as if you had 4 for timing purposes. If you spend 2, you then act as if you had 2 Raises instead of 1.) You can take this multiple times, but it must be a different skill each time.
Rich: You begin each session with 3 Wealth.
Signature Item: You have an important item. Describe it and why it's important. You may always spend a Hero Point to have it appear in the next scene if it's lost or stolen, to get 2 Bonus Dice on a Risk while using it, to attack a foe to deal Wounds equal to Raises spent plus your highest Trait while using it, or the prevent Wounds equal to Raises spent plus your highest Trait while using it. You must describe how it helps you do that when you do it, of course, and it has to make sense to the GM.
Sniper: You get a Bonus Die when making Aim Risks using a long-barrel musket, longbow or crossbow.
Tenure: You can expect refuge, shelter and food at any university, and access to most, though not all, of their libraries. You get 2 Bonus Dice on social Risks against members of institutions of higher learning and those that respect university education.
Virtuoso: Choose a type of performance, such as song, a specific instrument or dance. You get a Bonus Die when making Perform Risks using that art.

Four Point Advantages
Academy (Innate): You attended a military academy. When making a Risk using Athletics, Warfare or Ride, you may add +1 to the value of all rolled dice.
Alchemist: Castillians only. You may spend a Hero Point to produce an immediately useful exlir or potion. Using one in an Action or Dramatic Sequence requires a Raise, of course. Examples are smoke bombs, a single-round buff to a Trait, or extremely slippery oil, but anything of similar utility the GM agrees makes sense is probably doable.
Hard to Kill: You are not Helpless when you have 4 Dramatic Wounds. Instead, any Villain that takes a Risk against you while you have 4 Dramatic Wounds gets 3 Bonus Dice instead of 2. You have an additional tier of Wounds, becoming Helpless when you take your 5th Dramatic Wound.
Legendary Trait: Select a Trait. When you roll a Risk using that trait, remove one die from your pool. That die automatically rolls a 10. If your 10s explode, it also explodes.
Lyceum (Innate): You studied at a lyceum or finishing school. When making a Risk using Convince, Intimidate or Tempt, you may add +1 to the value of all rolled dice.
Miracle Worker (Knack): For some reason, you know how to heal wounds. You can activate this and spend a Raise on your Action to heal another Hero you can touch, curing them of one 1 Dramatic Wound.
Riot Breaker: You're good at fighting groups. When you take Wounds from a Brute Squad, you take fewer Wounds based on REsolve, to a minimum of 1.
Seidr: Vesten only. You know how to see Names and have studied as a Skald. You can spend a Hero Point to make a speech about another character, giving them a 1-die Reputation of your choice (or increasing an existing one by 1), or altering one of their existing reputations of your choice but keeping its dice the same. If you change a Reputation, anyone who uses the new one against them gets its Bonus Dice as well. You may spend a Hero Point to cast runes, dice or bones. When you do, you may ask the GM a single yes/no question about the future, which they will answer honestly (for that particular point in time; it doesn't control dice rolls - just gives the most likely answer). Beyond that caveat, this is never wrong. You may spend a Hero Point while looking at a mortal human to instantly know their name, regardless of any disguise or lie, and you may always recognize them (and their name) for the rest of the scene.
Specialist: Choose a skill you have 3+ ranks in. When making a Risk using any other skill during an Action or Dramatic Sequence, you do not have to pay additional Raises to improvise with that skill. You may repurchase this to swap your chosen skill, but if you do, you lose the old one.
Trusted Companion: You either have a small group of loyal people or a single ally who would die for you. If your ally or allies help you in a Risk, you get a Bonus Die if you can describe how, specifically, they help. If you send them out to do something and they must make a Risk, the GM will have them roll 5 dice. They can take 5 Wounds before becoming Helpless.
University (Innate): You attended university. When making a risk using Scholarship. Empathy or Notice, you may add +1 to the value of all rolled dice.

Five Point Advantages
Duelist Academy: You have a Dueling Style and access to Duelist Techniques. You may purchase this multiple times, gaining a new Style each time. (It is not usually worth it.)
I Won't Die Here (Knack): 2 less for Eisen. You may activate this to ignore all negative effects from Dramatic Wounds for the rest of the round, including becoming Helpless.
I'm Taking You With Me (Knack): 2 less for Vesten. You may activate this to increase all damage you deal for the rest of the round by your number of Dramatic Wounds.
Joie de Vivre (Knack): 2 less for Montaignes. You may activate this just before a confrontation with a Villain to make a pithy or clever comment about how it's always darkest before the dawn or something similar. Every Hero that hears the speech counts all dice that roll equal to or under their skill on their next roll as 10s.
Spark of Genius (Knack): 2 less for Castillians. Select a field of academic study. When you make a Risk and can call on that specialist field, you may activate this to get additional Raises equal to your Wits automatically.
Strength of Ten (Knack): 2 less for Ussurans. When performing a feat of raw strength as part of a Risk, you can activate this to increase the value of all rolled dice by the higher of your Brawn or Resolve.
The Devil's Own Luck (Knack): 2 less for Glamour Islanders. You can activate this after taking a Risk to reroll any number of dice that you choose, keeping the new rolls (barring any other reroll effects). You can only use this once per scene.
Together We Are Strong (Knack): 2 less for Sarmatians. You can activate this to give any number of your Raises to another Hero in the same scene that can see or hear you.
We're Not So Different... (Knack): 2 less for Vodacce. You can activate this to convince a Villain you are on their side. They consider you a trusted ally until they see you do something Heroic or you refuse to do something Villainous for them. You can only use this on a given Vllain once, ever.

So, having picked your Advantage, you then get to pick your Arcana. All Heroes, according to the Sorte strega, are touched by Fate, which gives them an aura that can be read. You have two Arcana - your Virtue and your Hubris. Your Virtue is what makes you truly Heroic, while your Hubris is your greatest emotional challenge. You select one Arcana to be your Virtue and another to be your Hubris. (You can have them both be the same, but you don't have to.) You can activate your Virtue once per session. There is no cost to doing so. You may choose to activate your Hubris to gain a Hero Point, and the GM can offer you a Hero Point to activate it - but you can refuse that. You never jhave to activate your Hubris.

Arcana:
The Fool: As a Virtue, you can activate this to escape danger from the current scene, though you can only rescue yourself this way, no one else. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you investigate something unusual and dangerous.
The Road: As a Virtue, you can activate this when you meet a character for the first time - even a Villain. They treat you as friendly for one scene. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when your Hero decides they can't do something without someone else's help, whether that's them spending a Hero Point to give bonus dice or using an Advantage on your behalf or whatever.
The Magician: As a Virtue, you can activate this and target a Villain. Until the end of the scene, you can't spend Hero Points and they can't spend Danger Points. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you chase power and make a dangerous or troublesome deal.
The Lovers: As a Virtue, you can activate this when another Hero takes Wounds to prevent them from taking any Wounds. You take one Dramatic Wound instead. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you become enamored with someone you really shouldn't.
The Wheel: As a Virtue, you can activate this to delay an Opportunity or Consequence by 1 Action. As a Hubris, you get 2 Hero Points when you choose to fail a Risk without rolling instead of 1.
The Devil: As a Virtue, you may activate this after a Villain spends Raises for an action. The Villain loses the spent Raises, but the action automatically fails. As a Hubris, you gain a Hero Point when you accept someone's lies or bad deal.
The Tower: As a Virtue, you may activate this to gain 2 Hero Points instead of 1 from a Quirk or Hubris activation. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you show disdain, contempt or otherwise look down on a Villain or someone else who can cause harm to your friends.
The Beggar: As a Virtue, you may activate this to discover the type of a Brute Squad or the Rank and Advantages of a Villain. As a Hubris, you receive a Hero Point when you want something and do something unwise to get it.
The Witch: As a Virtue, you may activate this to ask one yes/no question about an NPC, which the GM will answer honestly - and including any qualifiers that need more full explanation. As a Hubris, you receive a Hero Point when you try to get someone else to do your dirty work and it backfires.
The War: As a Virtue, you may activate this the first time you wound a Villain in a fight to cause a Dramatic Wound on top of the normal Wounds dealt. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you go back from a fallen comrade or refuse to leave a wounded ally.
The Hanged Man: As a Virtue, you may activate this take a Risk's Consequences in place of another Hero. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you spend an action pausing in hesitation, doubt or uncertainty before actually doing anything.
Coins (for the Ferryman): As a Virtue, you may activate this to take your first action before anyone else in the round can act, no matter what. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you refuse to leave well enough alone or quit while ahead and it gets you in trouble.
The Thrones: As a Virtue, you may activate this to cancel the effects of Fear on you and your friends. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you're stubborn and refuse to change your mind in the face of evidence.
The Moonless Night: As a Virtue, you may activate this when you act secretly or through intermediaries. For the next Risk, all of your dice count as a Raise when calculating Raises. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you fail to understand something important about the plot and this leads to danger for you or others.
The Sun: As a Virtue, you may activate this when you're the center of attention. For the next Risk, all of your dice count as a Raise when calculating Raises. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you refuse a meaningful offer of aid.
The Prophet: As a Virtue, you may activate this to know whenever someone lies to you for the rest of the scene. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point whenever you strongly defend an opinion at an inappropriate time or place.
Reunion: As a Virtue, you may activate this and pick another Hero in the scene. You both pool your Raises for the round, sharing the same pool for the purpose of spending Raises on taking actions. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you bring up old grudges or bad feelings when it will lead to trouble.
The Hero: As a Virtue, you may activate this to add your target's Fear rating as Bonus Dice to your Risk. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when your brash, cocky or reckless action causes trouble for you and another Hero.
The Glyph: As a Virtue, you may activate this to prevent any magical effect of any kind from affecting you. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you refuse to solve a problem using Sorcery, artifacts or other mystic effects you don't trust.
The Emperor: As a Virtue, you may activate this to give a Hero Point to all other Heroes in the scene. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you lose your temper and fly off the handle, causing trouble.

Next time: Advancement.

Story Time.

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Story Time.

Your character sheet, at this point, is mostly done. However, next up is your Story. Each PC has one (or sometimes two) Hero Stories, and these are your main method of advancement. (Well, them and GM Stories, but those are GM-controlled and dealt with later.) First, when you make a new Story, you decide what theme you want to explore. You can usually only have one Hero Story at a time, which you must either resolve or abandon before you can get another. So, first, we come up with a simple description, usually just one word. Revenge. Absolution. Amnesia. Then you expand it a little with a sentence that specifies what. Revenge: I must find the man who killed my parents. Amnesia: I can't remember who I am. Absolution: I failed to protect my sister, and must find a way to atone.

Now, we must determine what we want - our Goal. There's two parts to that. First, the Ending of our Story. Endings aren't meant to be suspenseful for the players - they tell the GM what outcome you're aiming for with the Hero Story. GM Stories can be suspenseful, but with these, you know what you're going for. So for our Revenge story, let's say our Ending is 'I slay the man who killed my parents.' Amnesia: 'I discover that I am the younger brother of Queen Elaine, royal of Avalon.' Absolution: 'I save a young girl from a monster, like I couldn't save my sister.' So now we have our solid ending - though the game does suggest we put these in third person to remember that our Hero probably has no idea what the ending is. These should always be some actionable goal we can do, eventually. If the Ending becomes unattainable, the player and GM work together to craft a related but feasible Ending. Second, we determine the Reward. See, when a Story resolves, that's when a character gets advancement. Depending on what we want, we know how many Steps the Story has.

Steps, see, are how many distinct, related events must occur before we can reach the Ending. Steps should be achievable, but we don't know all of them in advance. In facy, when a Story begins, all we know is the first Step. Revenge: Find the man who sold my parents out to the killer. Amnesia: Learn my name. Absolution: Find evidence of a monster. You can be as detailed in the Step as you like, but you only need the one when you create a Story. Once the Step hsa been completed, you may choose to write the next Step at any time - immediately or you can wait a bit, it's totally up to you. If a Step becomes impossible, just erase it and replace it. (You cannot, however, put in diversions that are unrelated to your Story in as Steps. Do what you're doing and stay focused on that Story, then come back to your Hero Story later.)

So, what's the stuff you get? Anything. You want to increase a Skill? That'll be a Story with Steps equal to the new rank in the skill. A new skill at 1 needs only a single Step, while improving a skill to 4 takes 4 Steps. Advantages take a number of Steps equal to their point cost. You can erase one of your Quirks and replace it with another Quirk - any existing one or one you and the GM write up - for 3 Steps. You may change your Virtue or Hubris for 4 Steps, though you can only have one Virtue and one Hubris at any time. You can shift a point in one Trait into another Trait for 4 Steps, or increase a Trait by 1 for 5 Steps. However, your total Traits can only equal 15, no more, so you can only increase Traits twice. After that, you have to shift them around to change them. Removing a point of Corruption costs five Steps.

That's most of chargen! There's just a few bits left. First, you speak Languages equal to your Wits score (assuming you don't have Linguist). Everyone has Wits 2, so everyone can start with their native language and Old Thean, which is Not Latin and is the trade tongue that almost everyone knows. Second, you may choose to join a Secret Society. There is no cost to doing so, but your Society may (and probably will) ask you to do stuff from time to time. If you choose to begin play in a Society, you begin with 2 Favor with them. You do not begin play with any Wealth by default; that doesn't mean poverty, however. It is assumed that a Hero can always afford the basic necesseties of food, shelter and clothing, as long as they are available to buy at all. Wealth is there to buy extra stuff.

How do you earn Wealth, then, besides Patron or Rich? Well, you can choose to take up a Profession. To do this, you select the skill that'd be relevant - Perform for a musician, Weaponry for a bodyguard, etc. You tell the GM what you're doing and, assuming you have the time and opportunity to work, you gain Wealth equal to that skill. Unspent Wealth is usually lost between sessions, however, unless you're trying to save up for something. In that case, the GM may allow you to bank half your Wealth between sessions, but you always lose at least half your total Wealth at the end of each session.

What can you do with Wealth? Well, you spend it. When you're in a social Risk that could be influenced by money, you can spend Wealth. Each Wealth spent lets you reroll one die. You can spend 1 Wealth to get a high quality common item - a good sword or horse, say. 3 Wealth lets you hire a Strength 5 Brute Squad to serve you for a scene. 5 Wealth lets you buy just about any piece of equipment that is not unique, even stuff not readily available or which is illegal. 8-10 Wealth is enough to get a business, house, ship or other piece of property. Obviously, if an adventure ends in you getting paid for something, you get the appropriate Wealth at the start of the next session, rather than losing it when the session ends - presumably, with the adventure, after all.

Then you mark your Death Spiral. (The game instructs us to always say 'Death Spiral' as overly dramatically as possible.) This is your HP bar. It consists of four sets of 4 Wounds and 1 Dramatic Wound, with a total of 16 Wounds and 4 Dramatic Wounds (assuming you didn't buy the Advantage that adds more). Normal Wounds are basically meaningless; Dramatic Wounds are not. When you take damage, you fill in Wounds equal to the damage taken. If you ever have to fill in a Dramatic Wound star, you take a Dramatic Wound. However, that's not always totally bad! When you have 1+ Dramatic Wounds, you get a Bonus Die to all Risks. When you have 2+, Villains get 2 Bonus Dice to any Risk rolled against you. When you have 3+, all of your 10s explode. When you have 4, you are Helpless.



Next time: How the fuck does this system even work, anyway?

Risk It All

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Risk It All

Any action that isn't important and risky and dangerous isn't rolled. That'd be silly. Your PCs are Heroes, and Heroes don't fuck up when doing totally normal things! That'd be dumb and bad narrative. So, all the game cares about are Risks. Risks are what you do when there's something on the line, something that matters. You roll dice when there's a Risk. Risks are considered to have three major elements: your Approach, the Consequences, and Opportunities. Your Approach is how you plan to solve a problem, which is composed of your Trait plus your Skill. This also determines how you can spend Raises when acting during a Sequence - any action you want to take that isn't covered by your Approach costs an extra Raise to do. The best way to define your Approach is think about why you're doing something, what you want and how you're going to get it, the game says. Any pairing works, though it may take some thought to describe how you plan to, like, do a thing with Resolve+Aim.

All Risks also have Consequences - stuff that can hurt or hinder you when you do it. You're running across a burning room? Catching on fire might be a Consequence, or revealing your secret identity due to your mask burning away. Once you've declared your action, you have to deal with the Consequences - no takebacks. Most Risks have one or two Consequences, but a really dangerous Risk could have up to four. Opportunities, on the other hand, are moments you can exploit based on your Approach. Maybe your tough stance means you can lock eyes with the pirate captain and force a one on one duel, or you spot a loaded pistol just as you need it, or spot a friend while running in a foot chase. The GM will tell you any available Opportunities when you announce your Approach, just like Consequences. Not all Risks have them, but a nice and very dramatic Risk usually has one, sometimes two.

So, in essence, the GM gives you your situation and asks what you're going to do. You tell them the GM your Approach - what you want to do, and how. The GM then decides if that's a Risk or not. If it isn't, you just do it, no roll. If it is, the GM tells you what pool you're using. You gather up the pool dice, plus any bonus dice you might have, and the GM will tell you the Consequences and Opportunities, as well as why what you're doing is a Risk. So let's say you want to run through a burning building. The Consequences here might be that you're going to take 2 Wounds, because of fire. But you have an Opportunity - you spot a documents on a desk containing useful secrets, but it's about to catch fire. All Risks have at least one Consequence, and may or may not have Opportunities, all determined before you roll. So here, you're going to need 1 Raise to cross the burning room, and you need 1 Raise to resist each Wound, and 1 Raise to seize the Opportunity and get the paperwork before it burns. Doing an action generally always costs just the 1 Raise - anything else is to mitigate Consequences, seize Opportunities or otherwise get extra stuff done. There is an exception: again, if you want to do an Action during an Action or Dramatic Sequence that is not covered by the Approach you're using, you have to spend an additional Raise to improvise.

So now you roll your dice. You want to add up the values on the dice to achieve sets of 10. Any set of 10 you make is a Raise. If you can't make a full set of 10 out of dice, they're useless. So, let's say you roll 10, 7, 5, 5, 2, 2. The 10 is 1 Raise. The two 5s can be grouped as 1 Raise. And the 7, 2 and 2 make 11 - enough for 1 Raise. So 3 Raises out of that roll! You get no special benefits for having a set that's larger than 10, but it counts as a Raise still. So now I have to choose - I spend one Raise to get across the room. I can now spend the remaining 2 and take no damage but lose the paper, or take 1 Wound and get the paper, as each Wound is a Consequence that must be resisted.

If you are making an Approach with a skill you do not have, you can roll as normal, but your pool is smaller and any action you take is going to cost an extra Raise. This can stack with the Improvising cost - so if you want to do something you have no skills in and it doesn't fit your Approach for the Sequence, well, that's 3 Raises total. If you make a roll and manage to get no Raises, something Interesting happens. You may not necessarily fail, but the scene changes. Maybe a new Villain shows up, maybe there's a dramatic shift. Regardless, the GM decides the outcome of the action you were trying, and you suffer any and all Consequences, and you miss all Opportunities.

As a note, when someone would take Wounds from Consequences, you may choose to interpose yourself and take some or all of them instead, by being close enough to help and spending 1 Raise per Wound you want to take in their place. The GM is strictly instructed to use Consequences only to make things more interesting and dramatic, and never to just screw over the party. That's not fun, and the GM's job is to ensure everyone is having fun. Don't just screw them and make them fail. Remember: at any point, a player may choose not to roll, to willingly just fail the roll and gain a Hero Point, taking any Consequences and missing any Opportunities. That's when the heroes should fail. Well, that and when they roll poorly and it makes the story more interesting for them. Gotta be fun, remember.

You may also spend Raises to create Opportunities for other Heroes. Specifically, you may spend a Raise to make an Opportunity for the next Hero to act. They're still going to have to spend a Raise to take advantage of it as normal, of course. But by making an Opportunity, you are basically writing them a permission slip to do something that otherwise couldn't be possible in that situation. You're giving them a narrative chance that didn't exist before you spent the Raise. Maybe you are fighting a guard and you spend a Raise to make an Opportunity by knocking the gun from his hand, causing it to skitter towards the jail cell where your friends are prisoners. They can now try to grab that as an Opportunity before the guard gets it back, and now they're armed in a situation they would otherwise not be able to be armed in. The key is that it has to make sense and be fun - interesting, not ridiculous or dumb.

There are also some ways to get extra dice: flair. There's two kinds of flair, and they can stack. First, the first time you use a unique skill in a scene, you get a bonus die. So the first time you use Brawl, you get a bonus die, but not the next time this scene you use Brawl. If you swapped to Athletics, though, you would get a bonus die the first time you used that. Further, if you give a description or quip as you act, or you interact with the scenery in a cool way, or otherwise make things more fun? Bonus die. These don't even have to be very long descriptions - 'I go for my sword and charge with a battle cry' counts, anything more than 'I'm gonna go with my Weaponry skill' or 'I roll Intimidate'.

There's one other thing you do with Raises: you can try to influence another character's actions. This is called Pressure, and is usable by Heroes and Villains. To apply Pressure, you pick your target, and name a specific action, like 'attack me' or 'run away'. The next time your target tries to do anything but that action, they must spend an additional Raise. The easiest way to apply Pressure is usually with social skills, even in ACtion Sequences, but if you're creative, nearly anything can work. However, once a character has been Pressured, no one else can Pressure them until the initial situation's been resolved and they are no longer under Pressure. (Note: the Pressure remains if they do what you told them to do. It will stay until the scene changes such that it's no longer relevant, or they spend the extra Raise to do something else.) Applying Pressure is an action like any other, with the same Raise cost as any other. However, a Villain may apply Pressure to all Heroes present in a scene by spending a Raise and a Danger Point, rather than just a Raise.

Hero Points and Danger Points are very important. A Hero begins play each session with 1 Hero Point, by default. You can gain them by activating your Hubris, choosing to fail rolls, following your Quirk (for a max of 1 Hero Point per Quirk per session), or by having the GM buy dice you were unable to use in Raises. For each die the GM buys this way, you get 1 Hero Point and the GM gets 1 Danger Point. Hero Points, besides activating Knacks, can be used in a number of ways! You can spend a Hero Point to add a die to your roll before rolling a Risk, one for one. You can spend a Hero Point to give another Hero 3 dice to their roll before a Risk by providing aid or moral support, but you can only spend one point on it and they can only get help from one person on a given Risk. You can spend a Hero Point to take an action while Helpless, acting as normal for that action. (Side note: if you choose to fail a roll? You get to narrate how you fail. You have total control, as long as you still end up...well, failing.)

The Danger Pool, on the other hand, fuels Villains. It begins each session with 1 point in it per Hero. The GM may spend Danger Points on several effects. First, a Danger Point can make it so that all Heroes must get a total of 15 for each Raise this Risk or for the entire Round in a Sequence. A single Danger Point will add two dice to a Villain's pool. A Danger Point can be spent to activate a Brute Squad's special ability or a Villain's special ability. And if a Hero is Helpless, a Billain can spend a Danger Point to murder them. The only one of these that can have multiple points spent on it is the dice adder - anything else, you only get to spend one Point at a time. The GM can't try to murder two people at once, or increase the total needed for Raises to 20.

Next time: Sequences, Wounds and Helplessness.

More Than One Thing Happening At Once!!

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: More Than One Thing Happening At Once!!

So, for a lot of times when it's just one Hero taking a Risk at a time, the GM just does that one Risk and moves on to the next. However, when multiple Heroes are involved, or when a Hero and Villain face off, or when timing is important? That's when you get an Action Sequences. A fight, an escape from a burning ship, a carriage race, boarding the enemy. These are often fast and confusing, so the GM has to maintain order without slowing down the action. These work by having everyone, at the start of the round, declare their Approach and make a roll using it, like a normal Risk. The GM then tells everyone what Consequences and Opportunities exist, if any, and when they will happen. Some may have time limits.

Now, you check to see who has the most Raises. That person goes first. If multiple characters have equal amounts, Villains go first, then the Heroes in any order they want. Once the first person acts, whoever has the most Raises then goes next, and so on, until everyone is out of Raises. You can spend more than one Raise at once, obviously, so you can often go from 'I have 5 Raises' to 'I have 2 Raises' in a single Action, what with Consequences and Opportunities and so on. Once you run out of Raises, you can't do anything else - Hero or Villain. When everyone is out of Raises, eithre the sequence ends or you go back to the top of the round and start over, depending on how things played out.

So, time limits? That's when Consequences or Opportunities either take effect or go away, respectively. So if you're in a burning ship, the powder room may explode at 2 Raises and deal 5 Wounds - so whenever the count hits 'okay, who's got 2 Raises?' and no one can say 'I do, I go now' as the next person acting, the powder room explodes and everyone takes 5 Wounds (assuming they haven't already bought down the Consequences or used their actions to get the hell out of the way by then). With an Opportunity, its time limit is 'you must use it by then, or it goes away.

Most things only cost 1 Raise to do, but again, you may have to spend extra due to being unskilled or acting outside your Approach, and of course you may spend Raises to avoid Consequences. One thing you'll often run into is that you may have to deal with Consequences immediately - so if you say you're running across the room, and that makes the Villain's minions fire on you, you have to spend your Raises to resist that Consequence now. You can't do it next time your turn comes up. If two characters are both trying to do the same thing, or to counter each other, you both have the option to spend as many Raises as you choose on that action. Whoever spends more is the one who gets what they want - but you have to do it all or nothing, you can't add more later.

So, let's tak damage. By default, you deal damage with Raises. When you make Raises during a Risk, you can spend them 1 for 1 to cause Wounds to your opponent. You may also spend Raises, 1 for 1, when someone spends Raises to inflict Wounds on you - again, 1 for 1, to reduce the damage you take. So if the Villain stabs you and spends 4 Raises on Wounds, you can spend 4 Raises to negate those, or 2 to negate 2 of the 4, or so on. There is one exception to this, though: guns. Guns actively raise the stakes, when in the hands of Heroes or Villains. (Brute Squads do not get a special gun bonus. They are Brutes, they just follow the Brute rules.) Anyone shot by a Hero or Villain takes a Dramatic Wound automatically, on top of the normal damage. While their target can spend Raises to reduce the normal damage, that automatic Dramatic Wound cannot be reduced. You can't dodge a bullet. However, it requires 5 Raises to reload a gun, though this can be done over multiple Actions.

When another Hero would take Wounds, you may spend your Raises to jump in the way and redirect damage to yourself, 1 for 1, even if it isn't your turn to act. At the end of each Scene, you recover all normal Wounds. Dramatic Wounds do not heal, however, until the end of the session or until you manage to get medical aid. Mundane healing is not cheap - it takes several hours per Dramatic Wound healed, and costs 1 Wealth per Dramatic Wound healed. Magical healing cannot be purchased with coin, though it does exist.

So, if you have four Dramatic Wounds, you're Helpless. A Helpless character is prone and can't stand. They may still roll dice for Risks, but must spend a Hero Point to take an Action - one point per action taken, in fact. A Villain may spend a Danger Point and declare that they are going to kill a Helpless Hero. They then spend all of their remaining Raises. This murder resolves at the end of the Round, after all other Actions. Any Hero may spend a Hero Point and all of their Raises to save the Helpless Hero, even if it isn't their turn. They describe how they get to and stop the murder, and the Helpless character is now safe for the rest of the scene, or until their savior becomes Helpless. If a Villain is attempting murder outside an Action Sequence, a Hero can spend a Hero Point to stop it, but that is the only action they can take.

The game also notes that there deliberately is no dodge skill. Just going 'I try not to get hit' is boring most of the time - it doesn't advance the plot or action, it just maintains the status quo. The only time it matters is when you're trying to delay a villain from getting to somewhere by interposing yourself for as long as possible - and in that case, be active with it. Use Weaponry to parry them and harass them, Athletics to dive around them and change the field, kick wax in their eyes with Brawl. Do things.

So what is a Dramatic Sequence? It's identical to an Action Sequence in most ways, except for timescale. Action Sequences are for things that are going to take only a few seconds - a fight, dodging immediate danger, escaping fire, that kind of thing. A Dramtic Sequence builds tension and takes time. It is a sneaking entry into a Villain's castle, seeking their hidden treasure. It's an interrogation by the city guard. It's a high society gala where you hope to find information, or an infiltration without getting caught. Dramatic Sequences use the same rules, but they're slower. There's more time to make decisions - they're just equally important decisions. The main difference is in pacing. Action Scenes are extremely high-paced, full of adrenaline and danger. Dramatic Sequences are slower, with questions of trust, resource and faith. They are tense and cerebral, but they're not high octane in the same way. The stakes are different. One type of Sequence can shift into the other and back - if you're sneaking, it's a Dramatic Sequence until you get caught, and then it's a fight - an Action Sequence. If you're dueling a pirate, that's ACtion...but if you decide to negotiate in the middle, even at swordpoint, now it's Dramatic.

Now we're into the GM section - and specifically, the rules on Brute Squads. Brute Squads have exactly one statistic: Strength. The number of Brutes in the squad is its Strength. Brute Squads don't really act the same way as other characters - they are a source of Consequence. When facing a Brute Squad, the Consequences are always this: take Wounds equal to the Squad's Strength. Only once all characters have acted does the Brute Squad get to do anything, normally. If it isn't taken out by then, it will deal its STrength in Wounds to a single Hero. Each Squad can only deal damage to one Hero at a time. Squads can, however, split into multiple Brute Squads of lower Strength. Brute Squads can reorganize this way at the end of each Round.

There are also five special kinds of Brute Squad, each of which has an Ability. The GM can activate this Ability by spending a Danger Point at any time. Guards can activate to forcibly retarget an attack made against a Villain onto themselves, reducing the Wounds dealt by that attack by 1. Assassins can activate to go before all other characters in the round, dealing their damage immediately, rather than going last. Duelists can activate to make a second attack, which can target a different Hero than their first one. Pirates can activate to abduct any non-Hero character from the scene. If they do, they reduce their Strength by 1, as one Brute escapes the scene with the abductee. Thieves can activate to steal any single item in a Hero's possession. If they do, they reduce their Strength by 1, as one Brute escapes the scene with the item.

Next time: Villains.

Bad Guys Are Crazy Strong

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Bad Guys Are Crazy Strong

Villains are, by design, much more capable than any single Hero. Villains have a fairly limited sheet, however. They have a Virtue, a Hubris, and then three stats: Influence, Strength and Villainy Rank. Strength is a Villain's personal capability. Any intellectual tricks, personal charm, sword skills, sorcery - that's all Strength. Strip away their money, their political power, their minions...what's left is Strength. A Villain's Strength determines how many Advantages they can have. Influence is the money, resources, minions, allies and political power. It's the power to change the world. Some Villains will have a lot of Strength and not much Influence, or vice versa. The really scary ones have both. Their Villainy Rank is their Strength plus their Influence.

Weak Villains tend to have Villainy Rank 5. This is your middle manager in the gang or your guard captain. Strong Villains - a mercenary captain or skilled assassin - woulld be about Villainy 10. Epic Villains - your generals or cult leaders - are around 15. And Mythic Villains, the best there are at hwatever they're doing? They're around 20. The reason for this is simple: dice. Whenever a Villain of any kind takes a Risk, they roll dice up to their Villainy Rank. Villains don't declare approaches - they just roll however many dice they want, up to their cap, and make Raises to do things. Villains do not have to use their true power if they don't want to - they may want to hide it from the Heroes. However, Villains only make Risks when trying to do stuff to the Heroes, most of the time. For most other things, they just spend Influence. And yes, this does mean that Villains are rolling huge dicepools and never have to spend Raises on improvising. Villains are nasty that way.

There are ways Heroes can weaken Villains. The big one? Undermining their Influence. Whenever a Hero acts indirectly against a Villain, such as by stopping their tax collectors or dueling their minions, or getting rid of their allies, that's going to reduce the Villain's Influence. Of ocurse, you do need to have some general idea of what you want to happen when you do this. Influence is a stat that changes often. As Villains complete their schemes, it grows. They gain underlings, kill rivals, bribe people and so on. As they are foiled, it shrinks - and with it, their Villainy Rank. It is much harder to reduce a Villain's Strength - that tends to be permanent. Unlike Heroes, Villains have larger Death Spirals, too. They can take Wounds equal to their Strength before taking a Dramatic Wound...so a Villain with Strength 10 takes 44 Wounds before they go down.

The main thing Villains are doing is Schemes. A Villain is always active. They're never just waiting for you. They want more Influence. A Scheme is a specific plot, crime, heist or other activity meant to increase a Villain's power. Villains must invest Influence into their Schemes. It's a bet - I bet you that you can't stop me this time. Villains cannot use Influence that is currently invested in Schemes, so that temporarily will lower their Villainy, too. Schemes always culminate in Action - if they're gathering information, they're going to have to rob a museum or kidnap someone to get it. Villains can be subtle, but they aren't timid. They don't just ask around - they grab you and rake you over the coals. Schemes are stuff like 'rob a bank' or 'rig the election in my favor' or 'murder the king' or 'steal this artifact.' Schemes are always active plans, not reactive, and they always result in action.

If the Heroes fail to stop a Scheme, the Villain gains double the Influence they spent on it. If the Heroes do foil the Scheme, well, the Influence spent on it is gone and nothing is gained. Whoops. Other stuff in the foiling may also reduce their Influence further, such as if you take out a minion they sent to accomplish the Scheme. That gets rid of their minion and foils the Scheme. Influence is good for Villains because it's currency. They spend it to get things - largely, recruiting other Villains or Brute Squads. Not that every Brute Squad or Villain you introduce is going to work for them. If the PCs piss off the cops, the cops are going to come after them but the Villain is not directly involved. If the Villain hires assassins, however, or bribes a judge to have the Heroes convicted - that, he pays for in Influence. It's when they're explicitly sending someone after you.

A Villain can spend 2 Influence per 5 Strength he wants to hire another Villain to serve him. He can spend 1 Influence per 10 Strength he wants to hire a Brute Squad. He can spend Influence equal to a Hero's Panache to get one of that Hero's allies to betray them. He can spend 1 Influence to bribe an official or to discover an NPC's true identity. He can spend Influence equal to a Hero's Wits to discover the Hero's identity. He can spend 1 Influence to find a secret location. And to get out of any scene without being killed or taken captive? Spend Influence equal to the highest Trait among Heroes present. Influence is obviously quite powerful, but what about Strength? It abstracts out all the stats that would otherwise be on the Villain's sheet. All Villains can have 5 points in Advantages, plus additional Advantages equal to their Strength. Any effect that would vary based on skill ranks or traits uses the Villain's (Strength/2) for those, rounding up.

Then you have Monsters. A Monster is similar to a Villain in a lot of ways, except that it's...something supernatural. They're all over the place in Thean legend. Vesten legends speak of a pack of wolves led by a telepathic wolf the size of a horse. Sarmatians speak of a creature whose fangs dripped venom and whose blood was purest shadow. Eisen legends have a ton of demons and monsters and vampires and shit. And you can say they're just stories. Most people believe that...except in Eisen, where they've always known better, thansk to the Walder being full of monstrous nightmares. Die Kreuzritter were founded specifically to hunt these creatures. Other groups, though, they say they're fiction. The real monster is tyranny, or ignorance, or heresy. They're wrong. The real monsters are Monsters.

Monsters are similar to Villains but only have STrength. Monstrous Villains do not have Influence, most of the time. Vampires or werewolves might, as they can pass for human and operate in human society, but most Monsters just have Strength. To make up for this, they also have Monstrous Qualities rather than Advantages, which give them powers that normal mortals couldn't dream of. Some Monsters also have Qualities that give them a Fear Rank. Anyone facing such a Monster loses 1 die on all Risks for each rank of Fear the monster has, barring use of special traits to get past it. If a Monster hunts in a large group, like a pack or horde, it's a Monster Squad - like a Brute Squad, but rather than having a special Type, like Assassin or Duelist, it has one or two Monstrous Qualities.

Monstrous Qualities
Aquatic: It operates easily underwater. If a Villain, it gets +5 dice while underwater to all Risks. If a Squad, it deals double damage while in water.
Chitinous: It's got a tough shell or skin. It can spend a Danger Point to ignoe all Wounds dealt by a single attack.
Elemental: It's made of elemental power. Pick an element. If a Villain, it gets +5 dice whenever exposed to or using that element in a Risk. If a Squad, it deals double damage when using that element. Also, no matter which, it cannot take Wounds from its element.
Fearsome: It gets Fear 1, plus 1 per 5 Strength, and can spend a Danger Point to double its Fear Rank for a round.
Nocturnal: If a Villain, it gets +5 dice to any Risk at night or in total darkness. If a Squad, it deals double damage in those circumstances.
Regenerating: Villain only. It can spend 1 Danger Point to heal all Wounds in its current tier (the space between Dramatic Wounds) and 2 Danger Points to heal 1 Dramatic Wound.
Relentless: Any attempts to evade or escape it cost 2 Raises instead of 1, and it can spend a Danger Point to just show up in any scene that it is physically possible for it to enter.
Shadowy: Any attempts to track or locate it cost 2 Raises, not 1.
Shapeshifting: It may spend 1 Danger Point to take on a new form, completely indistinguishable from whatever it is mimicking except for a single specific thing chosen by the GM, such as cat's eyes or fangs.
Swift: It can spend a Danger Point to immediately take an action, regardless of who would normally act right now.
Teleporting: It can spend a Danger Point to exit or enter any scene, even if it would normally be physically impossible, by teleporting somehow.
Tentacled: For every 5 Strength, it has one Tentacle. Tentacles are Strength 5 Monsters that are destroyed if they take a Dramatic Wound.
Unliving: Monster Squad only. The Squad can spend 1 Danger Point at the end of the round to return to full Strength.
Venomous: It can spend a DAnger Point at the start of the round. If it does, any time it deals damage this round, it also removes one Raise from its target.
Winged: If a Villain, it gets +5 dice if it has room to fly. It loses its ability to fly (and associated bonus) if it takes 2 Dramatic Wounds, lasting until it has time to recover. If a Monster Squad, any attempt to deal Wounds to the squad costs an additional Raise.

Lastly, we've got Stories and Corruption. GM Stories function very similarly to Hero Stories, but they drive the game forward. They have a Start, a Goal and some Steps. They should, however, be more flexible. You should always be able to shift the Goal to still be possible, regardless of what the Heroes end up doing. The PCs should never be penalized for not following your roadmap - just write the next Step and keep going, even if it seems like a non sequitur. Unlike a Hero Story, there is no definite reward attached to a GM Story. Rather, whenever the Story is completed, the PCs acan each select the reward they want for however many steps was done. You will usually share the Goal of your Stories with the players, but you don't have to, or can even tell them a false Goal...but the game warns not to do this much, as it can make the players resent you. Better to just give a vague or unclear Goal if you want to maintain the mystery, and to keep in mind what kind of style your players like in terms of information presented to them.

Also unlike Hero Stories, GM stories should have a few Steps outlined rather than just the next one. The trick is to start out early steps specifically, and be increasingly vague with later steps so you can go back and change them if needed. Only tell the players the very next Step, though - don't tell them your vague plans. The book defines a few kinds of GM Story: the Season Story, which is almost always five Steps long, takes place over several sessions and is meant to serve as a set of long-term story arcs for the big picture of the game, the Episode Story, which is a smaller arc that usually takes only one session, maybe two, to play out and is often only 2-3 Steps long, sometimes only 1 (though this should be rare - there's not a lot of useful one-Step rewards), the Character Story, in which you focus on learning more about or helping a specific NPC and which can vary wildly in length and Step number depending on complexity, and the Retroactive Story, which is where the GM goes 'wait, shit, I forgot to write down Story stuff for what we've been doing, uh, okay I'm gonna make one out of what we've done this session, the goal was achieved, now we just have to figure out the steps.' These are usually 1-3 Step stories, they're basically Episode Stories that were entirely unplanned.

Now, let's finish things off bad in this chapter: Corruption. Corruption is what happens when a Hero does villainous shit. You gain Corruption Points by performing evil actions. Evil actions are defined broadly as one of two things: 1. Intentionally causing unnecessary pain - not just temporary pain because you're doing something that hurts but is helpful in the long run, but...torture. Hurting the helpless. Any time you torture someone, that's an evil act. 2. Inaction. Any time that another character is in mortal danger and you could save them without risk to yourself...and you don't? That's an evil act. Heroes help people in need, especially when there's no risk to themselves. That's evil for this game - causing pointless suffering and not helping people. The first time you do an evil act, you get 1 Corruption Point. Second time? 2 Points. Third? 3 Points. And so on. The GM must always warn the PCs and give them a chance to back off from doing something that'd gain Corruption, but the GM is also the final arbiter on what gains Corruption.

Okay, fine so far. But whenever a Hero gains Corruption, the GM rolls a d10. If the result is less than or equal to the Hero's total current Corruption Points? The Hero is now an NPC Villain. You're not playing that guy any more. Done. And since, if you don't get rid of any, your 4th Evil Act will put you at 10 Points, total, well, goodbye character. The only way to remove Corruption Points is to do a Redemption Story - a 5-step Story which, the game says, must be completed before you can complete any other active Story. Do it, and you lose 1 Corruption Point. I would have far fewer problems with this if it wasn't a random lose-your-character button...and if some of the Sorceries, like Hexenwork or Sanderis, didn't play with the Corruption system as part of their gimmick. But because those are both true, this system suuuuuuuucks.

Next time: Sorcery.

I Cast A Spell On You

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: I Cast A Spell On You

Hexenwork is an exclusively Eisen form of sorcery. In much of Eisen, however, its use is illegal and punished by death. In others, however, it is seen as a necessary, if grim, tool to use against the monsters. Those who practice Hexenwork, known as hexe, use it to fight the undead...or for nefarious and disgusting ends. The undead, in this case, are defined as anything that was dead but no longer is. It doesn't matter how they got back up - if it died and started moving again, it shouldn't exist. When you learn how to use Hexenwork, you get the ability and knowledge to create an Unguent, a sort of greasy ointment made out of human corpses, various plants, poisons, monster bits and other gross and/or mystical shit. Unguents are used to help fight the monsters. However, due to the grisly nature of the components and the temptation to harvest those components from particularly fresh bodies, well...it can easily lead to evil. Those who practice Hexenwork must take great care that they focus on protecting others, and even then, some of the powers of the sorcery can ride up to just the edge of what is moral.

The game also literally gives this a content warning, because Hexenwork is fucking gross and heavily involves desecration of the dead and sometimes cannibalism. So...be warned. This shit ain't classy.

Every time you take the Sorcery Advantage for Hexenwork, you get the recipe to one Major Unguent and two Minor Unguents. There are seven Majors and 13 Minors, and this is deliberate - if you want all of them, your last purchase is going to be less useful than any of the ones that came before. Unguents always use something that came out of a corpse - blood, eyeballs, tongues - and sometimes also require rare herbs, venoms or blessed water or wine. Normally, Unguents decay at the end of each session and you can only keep one unused Unguent between sessions. However, they can be used by anyone once made, though using them in an Action Sequence requires a Raise. However, any Unguent made using body parts from a hexe are more potent. These produce double the normal amount of doses and do not degrade at the end of sessions. As a result, many Villainous hexe hunt other hexe for their parts.

To make an Unguent, you need at least one hour, and a kitchen or lab to make one in. You spend a Hero Point and combine the materials to produce one dose Major Unguent you have the recipe for, and two doses of Minor Unguents per instance of the Sorcery Advantage. You can mix and match these Minor doses as you please - all the same Unguent or different, in any mixture you want. So if you have bought Sorcery (Hexenwork) 3 times, each time you make one of your three Major Unguents, you also produce 6 doses of any combination of Minor Unguents you know.

Major Unguents last for an entire scene, unless otherwise noted.
Dead Man's Blood: A mix of blood from a fresh corpse, some herbs, poisons, roots and similar. If introduced into the body of an undead Monster - either by getting it to eat the dose or injecting it - then it renders the Monster Helpless for the rest of the scene. However, doses are relatively large - you can't just coat a blade in it and stab the thing, you need an actual full syringe jabbed in, or mixed in with a meal somehow.
Ghost Eyes: You make a paste out of a recent corpse's eyes mixed with mandrake and holy water, then smear that on your eyelids. You can see, for the rest of the scene, any and all spirits, ghosts and other Monsters that'd normally be invisible.
Corpse Tongue: You take the severed tongue of a corpse, soak it in nightshade and grind it to a fine paste, which you rub on your tongue. You may then speak to a dead body, asking it about anything it new in life. You get (Resolve*2) questions, and it must answer honestly. Once your final question is asked, you vomit and the corpse disintegrates. It cannot be questioned further, even with another dose.
Master's Bread: You take a dead brain and mix with some hallucinogenic herbs and mushrooms into a sort of dough, which you then dry and eat. Once you eat it, you can give a single command to an undead Monster Squad, which they must immediately perform, such as attacking a particular target or smashing a barricade. They cannot be made to attack themselves. If used against an undead Villain, it instead gives one free Raise to any social Risk against that Villain.
Spectral Prison: You take moss from a tombstone or mausoleum, boil it, and then mix it with salt and bone meal into a thick paste. You can then use that to make a closed circle or other geometric figure. As long as the figure remains intact and closed, no undead Monster may cross it or use its powers to affect anything on the other side of the line. They can take other actions, like speaking or shooting a gun across the line, but cannot use any supernatural effects across it. Further, no undead Monster may break the line by any means, though it can try to get someone else to do so.
Funeral Porridge: You take the kidney and liver of a corpse and mash them into a porridge mixed with sedatives and poisons. A living person that eats the porridge suffers an immediate Dramatic Wound. If they die on the same day as consuming the porridge, they arise as an undead Monster under your command within three days, and you pick what kind of undead when you make it. The monster treats all of your commands as if permanently under the effect of Master's Bread. Creating Funeral Porridge is always an Evil Act, as is feeding it to someone.
Wraith Walk: You grind up a human heart and mix it with herbs and sedatives. When you consume it, you immediately fall unconscious and your spirit exits your body. as a spirit, you can move freely and have perfect awareness of your surroundings, but cannot sense anything going on around your body. You can fly, move through walls and are invisible, but are subject to any effects that affect undead, and may be seen by any means that allow detection of invisible Monsters. Your spirit is very fragile, and if it takes a Dramatic Wound, you immediately return to your body and take an additional Dramatic Wound. If you do not return to your body before the next sunrise or sunset, whichever is first, you die. If your spirit suffers a Dramatic Wound but cannot return to your body for some reason, you die.

Minor Unguents last a single round, unless otherwise noted.
Revenant Venom: You take potent venom from spiders or snakes, and mix it up. Then you apply it to a weapon, which must remain sheathed until you want to use it. The next time the weapon is drawn, for one round all of the Wounds it deals to an undead Monster are doubled. However, it cannot be applied to dracheneisen - the two materials do not coexist, and the venom boils away on contact with the metal.
Reaper's Poison: A blend of batural poisons and [ure silver shavings. When you throw a flask of it at an undead Monster, you can spend Raises as normal to cause Wounds. If the Monster takes at least 1 Wound, it suffers the poison for the rest of the round, taking an additional Wound every time it takes an action. It cannot reduce these poison-caused Wounds in any way.
Scourgebane: A mix of herbs, poisons and communion wine. When you throw a flask of it at an undead Monster, you can spend Raises as normal to cause Wounds. If the Monster takes at least 1 Wound, the GM cannot spend Danger Points to activate any of its Monstrous Qualities for the rest of the round.
Tears of the Prophet: A mix of anointing oil and rare spices. You may apply it to a dead body that has not been affected by any other Hexenwork. The body cannot return to life by any means.
Mother's Mercy: A soup of wild vegetables and holy water. Drinking it removes all effects of disease, curse or deblitation caused by the undead. If someone who has eaten Funeral Porridge drinks this, they die immediately but do not return as an undead Monster.
Father's Fury: You make a holly-wood stake and smear it with a mash of herbs and natural poisons, then get it blessed by a priest. You may take an action to use this on a Helpless undead Monster. If you do, the Monster is utterly destroyed and can never be returned to life again.
Black Broth: You mix moldy bread with Monster blood and swamp water. You choose a single Monstrous Quality at the time of brewing. When the broth is drunk, it gives that Quality to the consumer until the end of the scene. Willingly and knowingly drinking Black Broth is an Evil Act, as is tricking someone else into drinking it.
Red Thirst: You mix rotten meat and berries, then boil them with some herbs and roots. You may spend a Raise in an Action Sequence to smear it on yourself. Any undead Monsters that attack must target you with all of their attacks this round.
Summer's Smile: You make a poultice of water from a fast stream and some sickeningly sweet herbs. When it is applied to a Dramatic Wound caused by an undead Monster, the Dramatic Wound heals at the end of the scene.
Winter's Scowl: You mix holy water, a rose stem and a few drops of hexe blood. The water then hardens into an impossibly thin and sharp ice blade. When you attack an undead Monster with this, you spend Raises as normal to deal Wounds. If you inflict at least 1 Wound, the Monster is stunned for the rest of the round and may not take any actions, though it can still spend Raises to reduce damage, if it's a Villain. After one use, the blade shatters.
Autumn's Sigh: You mix seeds of a rotten pumpkin with red wine and a teardrop. Anyone that drinks it will sleep soundly for the night, with no nightmares, either natural or supernatural. They will awaken normally to stimuli, but fall asleep easily and have idyllic, restful sleep.
Spring's Laugh: You mix fresh spring flowers, tree sap and rainwater into a thick syrup. Anyone that consumes it is immune to Fear from an undead Monster for one scene.
Widow's Veil: You take a wilted chrysanthemum grown on a grave and wash it with holy water, then get it blessed by a priest. Anyone who pins it to their clothing is immune to the first attack or supernatural effect targeted on them by an undead Monster. After that attack or effect is prevented, the flower crumbles uselessly to dust.

In 1e, Eisen's magic was, instead, Zerstorung - a sorcery that destroyed things via disintegration. It was also completely gone. The real power of Eisen was dracheneisen, which does still exist, but you can't start the game with any, and to get it you either have to find it or make friends with Die Kreuzritter and convince them to let you have some. We'll cover what it does in this version when we get to secret societies.

Next time: The Knights of Elilodd

Wait, There's Only 20 Of Them?

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Wait, There's Only 20 Of Them?

The Knights of Avalon are the sorcerers of Avalon, descended from the legendary knights of King Elilodd. See, way back when, the Sidhe promised King Elilodd that his people would have their blessing for as long as his line sat on the throne. Magic spread through the Isles, as the Graal sought out those most loyal and imbued them with power. The legends of those knights and their successors have been...well, stories, ever since. That is, until Elaine returned in the 1650s. When she took her throne, another pulse of magic spread across Avalon, giving the power to a new generation. Those who heard and answered this call gained power they never thought possible...but they were still beholden to the will of the Isles. The new Knights were bound by a code, the Knight's Gesa, and if they broke it, they would lose their magic. While all of King Elilodd's Knights were loyal to him, not all of the new Knights have sworn to Elaine, and in fact this has become something of a scandal and caused a lot of tension between Avalon Knights and those of the Inish and the Highlanders. (Also of note: Knights need not be traditional knights, and most are not. Modern Knights can come from any walk of life, even criminals.)

The Knights are not reincarnations of the old Knights. Rather, they have inherited their mantles, serving as Embodiments of the spirit of the old knights. When you first take Sorcery (Knight of Avalon), you select one of 20 Knights to be the Embodiment of. Only you are that knight's Embodiment - no one else can be. (I just have to assume the GM can invent new Knights if the base 20 end up not being enough, but frankly in practice 20 people is probably fine for any game.) Each Knight offers access to one Major Trait and one Minor Trait, which you can then learn Glamours for. The first time, you get one Major Glamour and two Minor Glamours tied to the appropriate traits, all of which start at Rank 1. Every time you take Sorcery after that, you may choose either to take a new Major Glamour and two new Minor Glamours at rank 1, or you can increase the rank of one Major Glamour and two Minor Glamours you already have by one. Glamours are directly tied to the five Traits, except for Luck Glamours, which every Knight may take, regardless of which trait they have as Major and which as Minor.

The Knight's Gesa have seven rules, which may not be broken. However, they are open to interpretation. Each PC must, when they gain the Sorcery, define how they interpret the rules to the GM, so the GM can decide what breaks them. These interpretations can't be formed on the fly - you have to know before you start going, basically. When you break a tenet of the Gesa for the first time, your mantle is put in jeopardy. It functions as normal, but you can feel it slipping. To reforge the bond, you must atone by finding a confessor - another Knight who is not in jeopardy or Queen Elaine. You confess your actions that broke the Gesa and why you thought it was justified. They then spend an hour in communion with the Graal and assign you the task the Graal gives. If they agree you were justified, they often will help you in the task. Tasks are often things like aiding a fellow countryman at some task, helping someone learn the value of one of the Gesa tenets even if they aren't a Knight, or getting something of value to someone else and giving it to them freely, no strings attached. If your mantle is not in jeopardy, you can be a confessor, for other PCs or NPC Knights. You work with the GM to determine what an appropriate task is, with the GM being the final word on what the Graal thinks. You can, of course, lie about it - but doing so is certainly breaking the Gesa.

The Seven Tenets posted:

Never raise your sword against a countryman.
Never abandon the fight before it is through.
Never break your word or help someone else break theirs.
Never be idle when there is work to be done.
Never let your passions rule you.
Never take something for yourself that belongs to another.
Always serve the Graal.

The Sidge granted Glamour to the twenty most loyal soldiers of Elilodd, who were with him when he gained the Graal. They were the first generation of Glamour Knights, and while the Sidge have always claimed that they weren't the first to have this power, they are easily the most famous. So who are the Glamour Knights?
Aesc, of the Forests: A man who preferred the forested lands to the king's palace, who would often commune with the natural and supernatural creatures of Avalon and bring their troubles to Elilodd's court. His Major Trait is Resolve, his Minor Trait is Panache.
Beorhtsige, Siegebreaker: The man who broke the line when Elilodd's castle was besieged by enemies. When he himself was besieged, he assaulted an entire army head on with but a handful of soldiers, and won. His Major Trait is Panache, his Minor Trait is Brawn.
Cenhelm, the Keen: A man who earned his name both for a sharp blade and a sharp mind. It is said that no one was faster of wit or blade than Cenhelm, and his tales often begin with his wit getting him into trouble and his blade getting him out of it. His Major Trait is Finesse and his Minor Trait is Wits.
Ceolmund, Knight Protector: Ceolmund made sacrifices. His most famous tale was his death - he stood his ground and took every blow for his friends, yelling at them to stay back. At last, he struck a mortal blow upon the enemy, and then died on the spot. His Major Trait is Resolve, his Minor Trait is Finesse.
Dudda, the Round: The comic relief, though no less a knight. He was a huge, fat man who enjoyed life more than most, and his stories are mostly about celebrations or feasts than combat. His Major Trait is Brawn, his Minor Trait is Resolve.
Dunstan, Outsider: Dunstan is often called on by Inish and Highlander Knights to prove that not all Knights must be Avalon. He came from a land where the sun never sets and the ground is of fire, and he had dark skin and hair, but was ne ver treated as less than a brother. His Major Trait was Brawn, his Minor Trait was Wits.
Eadburg, the Wealthy: It is said that on swearing to Elilodd, Eadburg gave up all worldly goods. He'd been a wealthy merchant, but took a vow of poverty and refused all payment he did not need to survive. His name is said to have reflected his spiritual wealth. His Major Trait is Panache, his Minor Trait is Wits.
Ealdraed, the Oldest Knight: Ealdread had been the sword tutor to Elilodd and first of his father's knights. He is not often in the stories, but when he is, he reminds Elilodd of his roots, encouraging him to find wisdom in the past. His Major Trait is Wits, his Minor Trait is Finesse.
Frideswide, the Knight of Peace: She was a knight who served for years before returning to the castle and throwing her sword at Elilodd's feet, swearing never to draw blood again. Elilodd instead gave her a task unheard of: only she could tally the knights to war. Her Major Trait is Wits, her Minor Trait is Resolve.
Godric, the Pious: Godric was the only voice that cautioned when the Graal was taken, saying that the Sidge were blasphemous and must be renounced. Elilodd was about to cast him out when the Sidge stopped him and told him that Godric was wiseest, for he asked why, and should protect Elilodd from darker deals. Godric's Major Trait is Panache and his Minor Trait is Resolve.
Hereward, Knight Advisor, and Hildraed, Knight Commander: That is two knights, but they need to be told of together. See, they never agreed on anything. When Hereward said to be patient, Hildraed demanded action. When Hildraed was cautious, Hereward would act. Thus, Elilodd was always informed of the best options for either strategy. They were also somehow related - depending on the story, they were bickering siblings, husband and wife, or star-crossed lovers. Hereward's Major Trait is Wits and Minor Trait is Panache, while Hildraed's Major Trait is Finesse and Minor Trait is Brawn.
Leofric, the Beloved: Leofric made the greatest sacrifice for the people. When the Sidhe Courts were overrun by the Unseelie, Leofric stood vigil and protected the people within from the Sidge rampage. His sacrifice turned the tide of the war and allowed the Seelie to regain their throne, saving all of Avalon from the Unseelie destruction.
Mildgyd, the Gentle: He was a giant - eight feet tall, or ten, or twelve, or twenty, depending on the story. However, Mildgyd was always gentle despite his giant blood, and almost all of his tales involve dealing with Sidhe misunderstandings of his nature, usually for comedic results. His Major Trait is Brawn, his Minor Trait is Panache.
Osgar, the Spear Knight: Osgar carried a spear when all others used swords. He was often teased for it, but when the knights had to face a giant boar, it was Osgar and his spear that slew it, and he was never teased again. His Major Trait is Finesse, and his Minor Trait is Resolve.
Paega, Forgotten: There are no tales of Paega or their heroics. No one even knows their gender. The only reason Paega's name is known is that it was carved on a place on table of Elilodd. Some say Paega betrayed Elilodd and was cast out, others that Paega was Elilodd's great spy and chose to be forgotten. Paega's Major Trait is Finesse and their Minor Trait is Panache.
Saewine, the Sailor: She was rarely seen in court, as commander of Elilodd's navy. Her tales are all of strange and foreign lands, of meeting allies and fighting enemy ships. She was the first female Knight, though not the last, and was said to be the match of any man on land or sea. Her Major Trait is Panache and her Minor Trait is Finesse.
Sunngifu, the Generous: When an old man came to town raving one day, the guards turned him away, but Sunngifu aided him. He asked her sword and shield to protect his farm, so she gave them. He asked her armor to protect his daughter. She gave it. When the guards mocked her, the man smiled, and revealed himself: the Wizard, who had come to see if the rumors were true, and so Sunngifu secured the most potent ally of King Elilodd. Her Major Trait is Wits and her Minor Trait is Brawn.
Wilfrith, the Knight of Will: She was captured and imprisoned by enemies for 15 years, but no torture or bribe could turn her. When her enemies grew tired of this, they tried to feed her to a monster, but somehow, she survived and returned to Elilodd, half dead and mad. Still, it took less than a month for her to heal and regain her senses. Her Major Trait is Resolve, her Minor Trait is Brawn.
Wulfnod, the Bold: Wulfnod was the first to fight and the last to retreat, and he was so good at it that the others forgave his rash nature. Stories of Wulfnod always have him breaking formation and pursuing a foe across the field. His daring often caught his foes off guard, allowing victory even in dire circumstances. His Major Trait is Brawn and his Minor Trait is Finesse.

Glamours can have rank from 1 to 5, and activating one costs a Hero Point. A given Major Glamour can only be used once per session, while a given Minor Glamour can only be used once per scene.
Luck Glamours can be taken for any trait, but Minor Glamours always apply to your Knight's Minor Trait and Major Glamours always apply to your knight's Major Trait.
Petty Luck (Minor): When you activate this, for the rest of the scene, after making a Risk using your Minor Trait, yopu can replace any single die with a die whose value is equal to (1+Rank).
Greater Luck (Minor): You may activate this to add your Rank to the value of any single rolled die. If this brings the die's value to 10 or more, that die explodes.
Heroic (Minor): You may activate this after a Risk using your Minor Trait. You may reroll (Rank) dice, keeping the new values even if they are lower.
Mythic (Major): As Heroic, but for your Major Trait, and you may choose which value to keep - the old or the new.
Mad Luck (Major): You may activate this to roll (Rank) dice. You may give these dice to other PCs, who may keep its result for all rolls for the rest of the scene, on top of the normal dice they'd roll.
Legend (Major): You may activate this to add (Rank) to your Major Trait for the rest of the scene.

Brawn Glamours (Note: You can only take Minor Brawn Glamours if your Minor Trait is Brawn, and the same for Major Glamours and the Major Trait. This applies for all further Glamours.)
Reduce the Brute (Minor): You may activate this to instantly eliminate any Brute Squad in the scene with Strength less than or equal to (Rank).
Stronger Than You (Minor): You may activate this to add (Rank+1) dice to any Brawn Risk.
Reduce the Villain (Major): You may activate this to temporarily reduce a Villain's Strength by (Rank) for the rest of the session.
Strongest There Is (Major): You may activate this to add (Rank) Raises to any roll using Brawn.

Finesse Glamours
Flash (Minor): You may activate this to take actions as if you had (Rank) additional Raises. These Raises are used only to determine when you take actions, and cannot be spent.
Vanish (Minor): You may activate this to become impossible to locate or track by any means for (Rank) hours. This will stop supernatural tracking or even learning your location from others. However, you remain visible, and this has no effect on anyone that can physically see you.
First (Major): You may activate this at the start of a round, before anyone rolls dice, to immediately gain (Rank) Raises. If more than one Knight wants to use this, the one with the most Rank in it goes first.
Sure Strike (Major): You may activate this after determining Raises for a Weaponry Risk. All of your attacks for the round deal (Rank) extra Wounds.

Panache Glamours
Sense Sorcery (Minor): You may activate this to tell if someone or something has Sorcery of any kind within (Rank*10) feet for the rest of the scene.
Mend Ship (Minor): You may touch a ship and activate this to instantly repair (Rank*5) Hits, but cannot repair any Critical Hits this way.
Resist Sorcery (Major): You may activate this when someone targets you directly with Sorcery. They still pay any costs, but the magic automatically fails. You may use this (Rank) times per session.
Subsume Ship (Major): When you are at the helm of a ship, you may activate this. You and the ship are considered one entity. When making any Risk of any kind while aboard, you get (Rank) Bonus Dice. This ends the moment you release the ship's wheel, and whenever you take a Dramatic Wound, the ship takes a Critical Hit, and vice versa.

Resolve Glamours
Pain Is Temporary (Minor): You may activate this to heal (5*Rank) Wounds, though you cannot heal Dramatic Wounds this way.
No Fear (Minor): You may activate this to reduce the effects of a Fear effect by (Rank) for the rest of the scene, for yourself only.
Endless Vigil (Major): You may choose a patch of ground when you activate this, no more than ten feet in diameter. Until (Rank) sunrises and sunsets pass, as long as you stay on your chosen ground, you cannot die, be crippled or become Helpless. You can still suffer Dramatic Wounds, but they have no effect on you until this ends. Leaving the chosen area ends this immediately, and when the effect ends, if you have taken more Dramatic Wounds than you would normally be able to, you die on the spot.
Reborn (Major): You may activate this when you are killed. At dawn the next morning, you return to life with all wounds healed and all harmful substances purgedf from your body. You then lose (5-Ranks) Resolve from the stress. If this would drop your Resolve below 0, instead this Glamour is permanently lost and the next time you die, you're dead for good.

Wits Glamours
Arrow Catch (Minor): You may activate this to automatically catch anything thrown or shot at you except for bullets from a gun. You must have a free hand to do so, and doing so causes you to take (Rank) fewer Wounds from the attack.
Summon Sidhe (Minor): You may activate this to call to the Sidhe for aid. The higher your Rank, the more powerful it can be. Unless the GM spends a Danger Point, a Seelie will answer your call and aid you as best it can...for a price. However, if the GM does spend a Danger Point, an Unseelie answers. The price for its aid is much harsher, assuming it doesn't just try to kill you. However, if you spend a second Hero Point, you can cancel this effect and force a Seelie to appear anyway.
Bullet Catch (Major): You may activate this to automatically catch anything thrown or shot at you, even a bullet. You must have a free hand to do so, but you don't take the automatic Dramatic Wound from being shot by a gun if you do. You may use this (Rank) tumes per session. (I would assume it also works as per Arrow Catch, but it doesn't say.)
Sidhe Circle (Major): Yu may activate this to create a ten-foot-diameter circle centered on yourself. No Sidghe can enter the circle. They are hurled away from you if they are already inside it when you activate this, and they may not use their magic on you or anyone in the circle while it lasts. You may maintain this for up to (Rank) sunsets. If you move from the circle, however, the effect ends, and anyone else that leaves the circle becomes vulnerable when they leave it.

This is much different than the original form of Glamour, which didn't have any ethics requirement in 1e and which mostly gave you a set of effects based on which hero you emulated, with there being several heroes per Trait. You could only have one hero per Trait, however. Overall, I'm pretty fine with the changes, though the ranks thing means that this is a fairly expensive sorcery if you want to be, like, good at stuff.

Next time: Dar Matushki, the Mother's Touch

Grandmother's Gifts

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Grandmother's Gifts

Dar Matushki, the Mother's Touch is a power all in Ussura know of. They come from the old woman of the woods, Matushka. Some seek her out to trick her, others ask for her aid. Always, the stories say, she offers them a bit of her power, touching them and demanding they pay a terrible price. These stories are not just faerie tales, though many think so. There is a truth there: Matushka will give you what you need, will teach you a lesson, but there will always be a price. You can only get Dar Matushki by meeting Matushka, generally because she's sought you out to teach you a Lesson. Maybe you had to learn to be kind to old women, or to be humble, but she taught you - and it came with a gift.

Every purchase of Sorcery (Dar Matushki) is a Lesson, which has two parts. It has your Gifts, two of them, and your Restriction - what you must do to not lose your power. As long as you maintain your Restriction, you can use the Gifts freely. Gifts cost 1 Hero Point to activate. If you break a Lesson's Restriction, you lose access to that Lesson's Gifts until you complete its Penance. The listed Gifts are examples, but the GM can come up with more in the same general theme.

Gifts
Command: Pick an Ussuran animal when you learn this, like a raven or fox or wolf or turtle. You may activate this to summon one of those creatures and give it any instruction you choose. If there are no animals of that type in travel distance, or if the creature cannot fulfill your command, you get your Hero Point refunded. If the creature would have to make a Risk as part of your command, it rolls 5 dice and you choose how it uses its Raises. It gets +2 dice if the command is particularly well suited to it, such as tracking for a wolf.
Illuminate: You can activate this to make the area around you perfectly illuminated, neither too dark nor too bright, with a magical ambient light. If you use this outdoors, it is centered on you and spreads out dozens of feet. All Undead creatures in the area take 5 Wounds immediately and roll -2 dice for all Risks while this is active.
Purify: You cleanse a room of all toxins, poisons, diseases and dirt. This renders the room perfectly and completely sterile, and affects all surfaces, even inside closed and locked drawers, as well as any food or drink in the room. However, all alcohol in the room loses its potency entirely.
See: Pick an Ussuran animal when you learn this. You may activate this to see through the senses of the nearest animal of that kind. While you use the animal's senses, you use your own stats for any Risks you make related to the perception, though if the animal's senses would be especially helpful, you get +2 dice, such as a cat's eyes at night.
Sew: You can touch an item and activate this to instantly and perfectly restore it to its original form. Any cracks are mended, jams unjammed, faded colors restored. It cannot, however, make an item better than it was originally or fix any defects present at its creation.
Storm: You can activate this to intensify or lessen whatever weather you're currently experiencing. You can make rain into a thunderstorm or a ray of sunlight into a clear sky.
Regeneration: You can activate this to heal from injury very quickly. Any missing or crippled limbs are entirely restored, any cataracts are cured, and broken bones reform. You also heal one Dramatic Wound.
Transformation: Pick an Ussuran animal when you learn this. You may activate this to take on the form of that creature for the rest of the scene. You retain all of your normal stats and knowledge, though some may be harder to use than others in your new form. If the form would be particularly helpful to a Risk you're making, you get +2 dice.

Restrictions are what you have to abide by. If you don't, you lose your Gifts for that Lesson until you do Penance.
Efficacy: You must never change your course of action due to fear. If you do, your Penance is that you must seek out whatever is the most terrifying for you and confront it.
Forgiveness: You must always show mercy to your enemies and may never hold a grudge against those that act against you. If you do, your Penance is that you must seek out the one you wronged and do whatever it takes to make amends.
Honesty: You must never tell a lie or mistruth, or obscure the truth. If you do, your Penance is that you must spend an entire month without lying.
Kindness: You must always offer aid to those in need - friends or strangers - no matter how desperate the situation is. If you don't, your Penance is that you must aid someone who wronged you.
Moderation: You must do all things in moderation and never overindulge yourself. If you do, your Penance is that you must submit to an act of fasting, never indulging in your most favorite activity, for an entire month.

e: In 1e, Ussura just had transformation magic, they could become various animals and partially transform and all that stuff. That is obviously no longer the case.

Next time: Porte

Thinking With Portails

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Thinking With Portails

Porte, practiced by the sorciers of Montaigne, is one of the most striking and spectacular magics you might witness. It involves bending reality, allowing you to travel great distances or pull objects to you across those distances. It is, in full, La Magic des Portails, the magic of doorways. It involves cutting bloody holes into the universe, which scream with terrible voices, bleed and chill the room they're in. And, of course, opening them also requires you bleed yourself. This is a magic that is quite literally in the blood. Scholars name the dimension that exists inside the doors 'the walkway' and it is a place as strange and potentially deadly as the Seventh Sea itself. No one is entirely sure what actually lives there, but it is never wise to linger long - you probably won't return if you do.

The magic follows bloodlines - anyone who has Porte got it from an ancestor who had it. The Montaigne strictly track lineage to try and keep it from ever going too far from noble blood, and while there have been non-noble sorciers, they either keep it secret or never learn to use it properly, because...well, because stories of black carriages showing up to drag off powerful peasant children into the night aren't just folklore. The first thing that a young sorcier learns is the Blood Mark, the power to mark an object's presence with your blood. A sorcier can feel the object's presence when near it and always knows what direction it lies in.

After learning to Mark, a sorcier learns to Pull the item, dragging it through walkway to himself. This requires bloodying your hands, opening a portal and reaching through it toward the Marked object. When you've gotten hold of it, you pull it through the portal to your location. However, an object to be Pulled must be something that can easily fit in your hand. If you can't lift it one-handed, there's no way you can get it through the portal. Having learning to do that, you next learn to Walk. This lets you open a portal and walk to a location or object you've Marked, but that can be very dangerous, as it exposes you to the walkway. However, it is alsp powerful enough to move across entire continents in moments. You just have to keep your eyes closed and not listen to the voices.

There is no physical connection with these portals - if you Mark something and drop it in the ocean, your portals will not shoot water out, though the pin will be wet whe you pull it back through. Similarly, if you try to Walk to an object that is somewhere you can't go, your passage will be blocked. You're going to have to find another Mark to exit at...which is not going to be pleasant. If that pin gets put in a jewelery box, well, you can't fit inside the box. You could definitely pull the pin to you, though. So, if you enter a portal and find you can't exit the other side and have no other objects to walk to? You're trapped. You're stuck until someone finds you and pulls you out, which could be a very long time indeed. This is why most sorciers create and hard Marked objects that can serve them as emergency exits, which they never reveal even to their friends or family.

To make a Mark, you must prick your finger and place a drop of your blood onto whatever or whoever you want to mark, spending a Hero Point. This Marks the thing. Smaller objects, which can be held in one hand, usually receive only a Minor Mark. Minor Marks can only be pulled to you, not used as exits. Major Marks are the only kind usable on anything too large to hold in your hand, like a boat, a chest or a person. You can Walk to a Major Mark and use it as an exit. You could also place a Major Mark on a small object, but that's less common than placing them on stable objects you can trust won't move, like buildings. Direct, single-step blood relations - that is, parents, full siblings or your direct children - always count as having a Major Mark on you at no cost. You may actively maintain only a few Marks at a time, besides the blood relative Marks. For each purchase of Sorcery (Porte), you can have 1 Major Mark and 2 Minor Marks. A Mark remains in place until something explicitly removes it, such as the Mark being discovered and purposefully washed off, or the object is destroyed. Incidental washing will not erase a Mark - it must be done deliberately. If you currently have your maximum Marks made, you may choose to sever the connection to one that already exists. This costs nothing but concentration - and a Raise, during an Action Sequence.

A moment's concentration will tell you the general direction and distance to any of your Marks, though again, this costs a Raise during an Action Sequence. You just pick your Mark, and the GM tells you the rough distance and direction. If you are within 100 feet of one of your Marks, you immediately know it, but cannot pinpoint it any closer than that. To Pull or Walk to a Mark, you must spill your own blood to open the portal. This takes rather more blood than Marking does - you pretty much open a vein, taking a Dramatic Wound. If this would cause you to become Helpless, you do so after you complete the Sorcery. If you want to open a portal during an Action Sequence, you must also spend a Raise. You can then Pull a Minor Mark to you, taking hold of it, or Walk to a Major Mark, exiting via a similar portal that opens within 5 feet of your Mark. If there's not enough space, well, it fails, and you must immediately choose to Walk to another Major Mark or become lost in the Place Between Worlds. At least you don't have to take another Dramatic Wound to pick a new Mark.

You can bring other people with you when you Walk. This costs 1 Hero Point per passenger, and the bigger the group is, the more attention it'll draw from the things in the Place Between worlds. But hey, you ask, what's that whole blessure business? Well, that's a thing Villains can do, not Heroes. Heroes take the pain of opening portals onto themselves, cutting and bleeding for it. They are surgeons, using a scalpel on the universe. Villains tend not to be. They wield the power like an axe, tearing open the world and letting it bleed to pay for it. These are blessures - wounds on the world. These are screaming, bleeding fissures in reality, and some Heroic sorciers see it as a responsibility to close them and to stop those who make them. It's not an easy task - to close a blessure, you have to enter it, and the things that live in the Place Between Worlds don't take kindly to trespassers, even benevolent ones. Opening a blessure is identical to opening a portal, but costs no Wound. Instead, it is an Evil Act, as the world itself pays the cost. No exceptions. It is never justifiable to open a blessure.

E: the main change here is reducing the number of portal tricks and making it costlier to use.

Next time: Sanderis

Bad Bargain

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Bad Bargain

Sanderis, literally 'bargain', is the art and magic of Sarmatia, practiced by the losejai. A losejas is someone who has forged a potent and binding contract with an otherworldly dievas. This is not for power, quite. A losejas forms the bargain in order to learn the dievas' full and true name, so that it can be destroyed. The dievas, on the other hand, forms the bargain so it can turn the losejas into a Villain. It's a path of mutual destruction. Because of the dangers involved, the losejai are strictly and rigidly structured, governed over by the Ratas, the Circle. All losejai are members, whether they want to be or not, and so are governed by its rules. Failure to abide by these rules results in being hunted down by the Valytuvas, the Purifiers, who are agents of the Circle whose only job is to eliminate rogue losejai.

Every losejas has their own personal dievas, who hears and sees everything the losejas does - and, in fact, much they don't. The dievas has perfect awareness of the losejas' surroundings, though it has no power to read their thoughts or feel their emotions. Every dievas has the same goal - get the losejas to void the contract and free them, and thus be able to make a new contract with someone dumber, someone they can manupulate and use. Every deal the dievas makes is in pursuit of this goal of either manipulation or freedom, and every price they ask is to further that agenda. For the losejas, the contract is a burden. You aren't partner to a dievas - you are a jailer, and both of you know it. But you don't exist in a vacuum, and you both have other goals. Yes, you want to keep your dievas in check and ensure it doesn't cause suffering and chaos. But they have power, and sometimes...well, sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil. Better the one you know.

Losejai tend to be very direct and clear in their language, aoviding poetics - this muddies things at hand. What matters is exactly what is written. This is known as Tiksli Tiesa, the Exact Truth. It is the letter of the law - not the spirit, the letter. It is not inferred - it is precisely what it says. The losejai are like this because they learned it from the dievai. A dievas is clever, very clever. It is, however, honest - in a way. It will abide by the exact terms of its contracts and agreements. It is also wicked, cruel and greedy. Its power is great, but that power is its only bargaining chip, too. Thus, a dievas always fulfills its promises, but only in the strictest and most literal sense. If it can, it will twist what you ask for. And thus, while the entire rest of the book tells the GM to be generous, here, explicitly, it tells both player and GM that in dealing with dievai - and only in dealing with dievai - the GM is encouraged to twist your words, as long as the agreement remains technically valid. These words cannot be redefined - but any inexactness in meaning can be used. Be clear and explicit when dealing with the dievai so they can't do that.

Every purchase of Sorcery (Sanderis) gives access to one Deal, and two Minor Favors chosen from any Deal you currently have access to. Any Minor Favors you have this way can be invoked with a Hero Point. You need not do anything more than ask for it. These are part of your bargain, included in the base contract. If you wish to invoke a Favor during an Action Sequence, it also costs a Raise. The Dievas cannot refuse these favors, and the price they can ask for it can't be much - stuff like toasting the dievas' name, or thanking them and meaning it, or giving them a friendly handshake with eye contact and a smile. Annoying but harmless. If you want to use a Minor Favor that you don't have purchased through Sorcery, you can still spend a Hero Point (and Raise, if needed) ot ask for it. In most cases, the Dievas will demand a minor thing return, usually to repay a debt to another dievas. Dievas spend a lot of time trading favors and plotting against each other, after all. These are things like 'next time you go to a specific city, find a specific person and give him something specific', or 'go to a specific city, access a specific place, and take what you find there to a specific person.' It isn't obviously dangerous to do, though it may in theory have consequences. And any time you ask for a Major Favor, well...the dievas can deliver. You spend your Hero Point and ask...but it knows you're desperate, to ask for such a thing, and the price will be high. Things like 'go to a specific place, find a specific good person, do something that ruins their lives or kills them' or 'find two specific brothers, convince one brother to betray another for power'. Even if a Major Favor seems like it's not evil, even if you find a way to do it without any Evil Acts, you always gain a point of Corruption from it, due to the power of wielding such long-reaching occult influence. This is on top of any Evil Acts that may be caused by the favor you ask for, or which you have to do to pay the price. If you don't hold up your end of a deal here, however, you cannot invoke any Favors of any kind, until you do. If the cost becomes impossible to achieve, the dievas will offer a new one - almost always one more difficult and more morally compromising.

So what, exactly, is a Deal? It is part of a dievas. When you get it, both you and the dievas become more powerful. Those who are not losejai do not realize why: the Deal is a piece of the dievas' true name. Each Deal is one part of the name, and when you get all of them and put them together correctly, you get the whole. Sanderis works by invoking the name of the dievas and channeling it. No one is entirely certain what happens when you get the seventh Deal and thus the entire name. Some believe that both you and the dievas are destroyed, others that only one of you is. A small number believe that you and the dievas merge, but the Ratas insists this is not the case. One legend says the dievas will finally fully enter the world as a physical entity when the Seventh Deal is made, and that you and they will be able to sense each other when you get close...and, most importantly, while the dievas may now act however it wishes, unbound by any contract, it can now also be destroyed, like any physical entity.

Darkness is the deal that manipulates shadows and dark. A dievas with it can see and hear through shadows, teleport through them, even give them physical form. Note that the Major Favors, for this and all other Deals, are just examples - Major Favors are very freeform. Minor Favors aren't.
Major Favors
Cause an eclipse, plunging an entire city or similar area into utter darkness.
Summon a beast of pure shadow to stalk and kill one creature of your choice.
Minor Favors
Make a room as dark as night.
Observe an area or other character via shadows, hearing and seeing everything as if you were standing in the shadow, with all your senses working normally.
Open a shadowy portal to instantly teleport to another shadow in sight.
Cause a creature to be attacked by its own shadow, suffering 1 Wound each time they take an action this round.
Wrap shadows around yourself and become impossible to detect, with any attempt to locate you by mundane means failing automatically.

Fire is the deal granted by dievas of living flame, whose bodies could melt stone and set wood ablaze. They create and manupulate fire, restored burned objects and summon rains of flame.
Major Favors
Create a firestorm that utterly destroys everything in a 100 foot radius around a central point.
Summon an unstoppable Monster of living flame that will attack and enemy or enemies in accord with a single command, though it will ignore qualifiers like 'without killing anyone' or 'but don't set anything on fire.'
Minor Favors
Create a controlled, contained fire the size of a bonfire or smaller.
Snuff out all open flame in a room.
Set another creature's clothes aflame, doing 2 Wounds each time they take an action this round. They may take an action to put the flames out, ending the effect.
Reconstruct a handheld object that was destroyed be fire, restoring it to the condition it was in before it was exposed to fire.
Wreath a weapon in flame, causing it to deal 1 additional Wound each time it is used to attack for the rest of the scene. The weapon melts or burns to ash at the end of the scene.

Cold is the deal granted by dievas of frost and mist. They can freeze water easily, freeze even an entire man and shatter him, or cut down armies with claws of ice.
Major Favors
Plunge a region into sudden, violent winter, killing all plant life, freezing lakes and streams, and causing torrential snowfall in an area of a half-mile radius around a center point.
Cause an avalanche, with all the destruction that would entail, large enough to completely destroy a moderate-size village.
Minor Favors
Cause a person or object you touch to be frozen solid in a thin layer of ice. While encased, the object or person cannot be harmed or destroyed directly.
Reform or reshape existing ice to a shape of your choice, as precise and detailed as you require. (For example, the key to a door, even if you've never seen the key to that specific door before.)
Cause still or slowly moving water to freeze solid enough to walk on in an area of approximately a hundred square feet.
Create a handheld object of solid ice, like a sword, which functions normally for one scene and then melts harmlessly.
Shatter a block of ice with a touch. You may choose to free anything within it harmlessly or have that shatter too.

Storm is the power of wind and air, granted by floating, unpredictable dievai. They can make tornados with their breath and lightning from their fingers.
Major Favors
Cause a storm, hurricane or tornado from calm weather, ravaging an area around one mile in radius from its center point.
Call down a lightning bolt during a storm to instantly strike and kill a creature of your choice.
Minor Favors
Create a steady wind that blows in a direction of your choosing for a scene.
Calm an existing storm, reducing it to a gentle rain, or empower an existing storm, turning a gentle rain into a torrential downpour.
Cause lightning or thunder for a scene as a distracting. You may cause a lightning strike or roll of thunder by spending a Raise during any Risk.
Summon a powerful updraft, allowing you to leap distances or heights normally impossible or to cushion otherwise deadly falls.
Throw a bolt of lightning to knock back a creature or squad up to ten feet directly away from you. If they hit something solid, they take 3 Wounds. Either way, they fall to the ground, stunned, and must spend their next Action getting back up.

Sea is the power of water and wave, goberned by dievai that look like water or sea creatures or other such things. They can drown you anywhere, call down tidal waves or command beasts of the deep.
Major Favors
Create a tidal wave capable of wiping out an entire coastal city.
Summon a Monster from the deeps to drag down an entire ship. It will not obey you, but will not directly attack you or the ship you are on unless provoked.
Minor Favors
Know the exact location of any ship within 10 nautical miles of you.
Calm raging waters to make them swimmable or navigable, or cause calm waters to rage and froth.
Become able to breathe water and see through it like air for a scene.
Cause the level of an existing body of water to rise or fall up to five feet, taking one minut per foot of change.
Remove any toxins, poisons or other harmful substances from a container of water up to five gallons, which becomes perfectly pure, clean and clear. This does not, however, desalinate seawater.

Knowledge is the power of dievai that resemble humans, but often hiding their faces. They can tap into the knowledge of all creatures, or even sever the mind and the body from each other, turning the body into a prison.
Major Favors
Sever a creature's mind from its body, rendering it alive but unable to move or speak.
Alter a specific memory in a large number of people, such as making everyone who saw you in the past 24 hours to forget your presence entirely.
Minor Favors
Answer a single factual question about past events with a yes or no. (Dievai cannot, whatever they may claim, predict the future.)
Find the precise location of any object you wish, with complete accuracy about the location and the description of the object itself.
Discover a single scrap of knowledge, even if it's otherwise lost, such as an ancient alchemical formula or a map to a hidden treasure.
Remove a specific memory from a single person's mind, such as making someone forget your face entirely. This can have grave effects on the victim's psyche, especially if they have reason to scrutinize the removed memory.
Temporarily restore an addled mind to full function for a single scene.

Love is power of the heart, and its dievai tend to be enticing and desirable, though also clearly inhuman.
Major Favors
Cause a person to fall madly, obsessively, completely in love with someone, to the exclusion of all else.
Cause every creature within 500 feet of you to go into a berserk fury, attacking anyone and anything around. They cannot be calmed, and must be knocked out or killed.
Minor Favors
Know the answer to a single question regarding the emotional connection between any two people, just by looking. The GM must answer the question honestly, but usually in five or less words.
Manipulate the passions of another creature, heightening them into a state of fight-or-flight or forcing them into a calm, docile state.
Know someone's single greatest fear, or the thing they love or desire more than anything else.
Discover if someone is lying to you, though this only applies to what they believe is true, rather than actual objective truth.
Push another person to give in to their base instincts, even if they otherwise would not.

Next time: Sorte

Pulling Strings

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Pulling Strings

Sorte, the fate magic of Vodacce, is exceptionally rare. It is found only in Vodacce, only among the properly sorcerous bloodlines, and only in women. Those who have it can see the connections of the web of fate, and with enough skill, even manipulate those strands. Vodacce men are famously lucky - for good and for ill. Vodacce women are even more famous for their curses and blessings, forcing the hand of fate. The cost is high, of course. But Vodacce women, on their deathbeds, often call for one last blessing for their children, and new mothers frequently bless their newborns. Likewise, enemies of the Vodacce try not to meet the eyes of their women, just in case. The wrath of the strega should never be underestimated, and many of Theah's greatest tragedies began with a Vodacce curse. Vodacce women that want to pass on a blessing or curse risk their own fates, of course, but the ritual is simple - look into the eyes of the target, speak their name three times, then kiss them. If someone interrupts that, well, there goes the blessing or curse.

Sorte contains a number of effects, each called a Tessere - a Weave. Each Tessere has both Minor and Major versions, and to get the Major, you need to know the Minor first. The first purchase of Sorcery (Sorte) gives access to Read, then two Minor Weaves and one Major Weave. Each purchase after that gives 1 Minor Weave and 1 Major Weave...except the fourth, final purchase, which gives only a Major Weave, there being only four Tesse. Whenever a strega uses Sorte, she spends a Hero Point to activate the Tessere she wants and gains at least one Lash, sometimes more. The more Lashes you have, the stronger your magic, but the higher the price you will need to pay. Fate takes its toll on meddlers. Having more Lashes will empower the effects of your magic, but it also has negative effects.

Whenever a strega with Lashes makes a Risk, the GM may spend a Danger Point. Any dice with value less than her total Lashes is unusable. By spending two Danger Points, the GM can instead have this affect a Hero other than the strega - Fate will have its due. So if you have 4 Lashes, any 1s, 2s or 3s rolled would be unable to be used to make Raises at all. There are two ways to get rid of a Lash. First, you can pay in blood. You take Wounds equal to your total number of Lashes, then reduce that number by 1. Second, you can choose to pay in luck. You add Danger Points to the pool equal to your total number of Lashes, then reduce that number by 1.

Using a Tessere in an Action Sequence costs a Raise, on top of any other costs in Hero Points or Lashes, and you can never target yourself with any Tessere. The Tessere are:
Read: This costs no Hero Points or Lashes, and has no Major version. You must use it before using any other Tessere in a scene. If you are unable to see for any reason, you cannot use it. Once you have used it, you can perceive all strands of fate present, as well as the Arcana of any Hero or Villain present, for the rest of the scene.
Arcana (Minor): You may spend a Hero Point and take a Lash to activate your target's Hubris or Virtue. If you choose Virtue, they immediately get their Virtue's benefits. If you choose Hubris, your target gets double the benefit of their Hubris if they activate it on their next action. You may use this even if the target has already activated their Virtue or Hubris this session, and they can activate it normally even after you use this. You cannot affect any character with this more than once per session.
Arcana (Major): You may spend a Hero Point and take a Lash to select a card from your Sorte deck and replace your target's Virtue or Hubris with the selected card for the rest of the scene. All other rules for Virtue and Hubris still apply - if they've used either, they can't activate the new one again. You may only use this once per session.
Blessing (Minor): You may kiss someone (chaste or otherwise) and take one or more Lashes to give them Bonus Dice equal to your Lashes. These Bonus Dice are kept until the end of the scene, when they go away if they haven't been used. All of them must be used on the same Risk.
Blessing (Major): You may kiss someone (chaste or otherwise), spend a Hero Point and take one or more Lashes to give them Bonus Dice equal to your Lashes. Unlike the Minor Blessing, these dice can be used one for one on any Risk at all until you run out, rather than all on the same Risk. Otherwise, they function identically.
Curse (Minor): You may kiss someone (chaste or otherwise) and take one or more Lashes to place a Minor Curse on them, rank equal to your current Lashes. The Curse remains inactive until you choose to activate it, which must be when they gather dice for a Risk but before they roll. When you activate the Curse, they lose (Curse Rank) dice from their pool.
Curse (Major): You may kiss someone (chaste or otherwise), spend a Hero Point and take one or more Lashes to place a Major Curse on them, rank equal to your current Lashes. The Curse remains inactive until you choose to activate it, which must be after they have rolled for a Risk. When you activate the Curse, they lose (Curse Rank) Raises from their roll.
Pull (Minor): You may take a Lash to grab one of the strands of fate attached to a target you can see and pull them toward you. Non-stationary objects, such as tables or chairs, will move out of their way. The target loses a Raise due to stumbling headlong at you, and those on balconies or bannisters may fall. If the target is on the other side of a movable obstruction, such as a table, or a breakable one, such as a window, they take 1 Wound.
Pull (Major): You may spend a Hero Point and take one or more Lashes to pull multiple targets. The targets each take 1 Wound due to the force of the pull, regardless of any obstructions, which do not cause a second Wound. You may target a number of Brutes equal to the Lashes you have, and if you target at least half the Brutes in a Brute Squad, the Squad loses its ability to act at the end of the round as they struggle back to their feet. Otherwise, this functions identically to the Minor version save that you can target two Heroes or Villains at once, and must take at least one Lash per Hero or Villain targeted this way. If they are on the other side of an immovable obstruction, such as a jail cell or a door, they slam into it and take 2 Wounds. On each of your actions, you may spend a Raise and take a Lash to hold such a target pinned in place, but only as long as you can do so by pulling them directly towards you.

The Arcana, as a note, are visualized as the Greater Cards of the Sorte deck. Unlike Tarot, these have no numbers. The Lesser Cards - the coins, cups, staves and swords - are used to visualize the relationships between people along the fate strands, with each suit corresponding to a type of relationship. The Greater Cards are used to identify Arcana, and each strega's deck is different, as tradition mandates that you may only use 20 Greater Cards in your deck, though far more than 20 exist. The colors of the Greater Cards appear as auras around people to show their Arcana - upright for Virtue, reversed for Hubris, usually.

The main changes here are that the Lesser Cards are not mechanically relevant any more, but strega can now physically pull people. Also, the mechanics behind longer-term blessings and curses are not present, but fluffwise they can still happen. I would just assume the lack of mechanics is because mechanically it's not very relevant to know that someone has story events turned against them because of fate witches.

Next time: Dueling

SWORDS

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: SWORDS

The Duelist's Guild consists of Duelists. Theah defines a Duelist as someone that has attended a Duelist Academy or otherwise studied under a swordmaster to learn the secrets of a dueling style. (Not that all of them use swords, mind you, it's just a title.) On graduating, the student is inducted into the Duelist's Guild and given a small steel pin with the image of a triskelion on it as proof of membership. Only a Duelist is permitted to initiate duels - and that's key wording. Only a Duelist can start a duel, but anyone can defend themselves. Duelists are expected to wear their pin at all times, but they need not do so openly. Many prefer to keep it on the underside of their lapel, so it can easily be flashed to an opponent but avoids attention.

When you take the Duelist Academy advantage, you get access to all Duelist Maneuvers and a Dueling Style. Thus, picking it up in play usually means finding a swordmaster to teach you and convincing them. You can repurchase the advantage multiple times to get access to new styles...in this book. In later books they realized this was actually, like, completely awful and not worth it, so a cheaper advantage was brought in for 'you have an extra Style'. This is because the main benefit of being a Duelist is the Maneuvers, not the Style. All Duelists have access to every basic Maneuver, and while the names are based around swords, they aren't literal - you can use Slash with a club just as easily, it's your main damage maneuver. To perform a Maneuver, you need to spend a Raise, just like any other action. You can perform only one Maneuver per action - you can't spend two Raises to both Slash and Parry. However, you can spend multiple Raises over different actions to perform different Maneuvers in the same sequence. However, you may not perform the same Maneuver twice in a row. You can't Slash, Slash, Slash - you have to Slash, then do a different thing, like Parry or Bash or an unrelated action, before you can Slash again.

Duelist Maneuvers
Slash - Deal (Weaponry) Wounds.
Parry - Prevent (Weaponry) Wounds. This can only be used on your action, and only immediately after whatever action dealt you Wounds.
Feint - Deal 1 Wound. The next time your target is injured this round, they take an additional Wound.
Lunge - Spend all your Raises. You deal (Weaponry+Raises spent) Wounds, which cannot be prevented or avoided in any way.
Bash - Deal 1 Wound. The next time your target would cause Wounds this round, they deal (Weaponry) fewer Wounds.
Riposte - Prevent (Weaponry) Wounds, then deal (Weaponry) Wounds. This can only be used on your action, and only immediately after whatever action dealt you Wounds. You may only do this once per round.

You may have noticed that all of these are much more powerful than the generic combat maneuvers, which are 'spend X Raises to deal X damage' and 'spend X Raises to prevent X damage, immediately, off-turn'. Duelists are much better fighters than normal people! So much so, in fact, that they had to patch the game with the Student of Combat advantage. What Student of Combat does is it costs 3 points, it gives you Slash, Parry and one Maneuver of your choice, and it lets you buy the full Duelist Academy advantage for 3 points instead of 5. It's a decent patch, IMO, but your mileage may vary.

On top of the Maneuvers, a full Duelist also gets a Style. At the start of each Round, a Duelist selects which of their Styles, if they have multiple, to be in and get the bonus from. As long as the weapon requirements are fulfilled, they get that bonus all round. You can change Styles at the start of any round but can only be in one Style at a time. Anyone that knows a Style can immediately identify an opponent using that Style the moment they take any action.

Aldana is the favorite fighting style of most Castillian Duelists, and it is one of the few in all of Theah that entirely forgoes the off-hand. Rather, it tucks the off-hand behind the back and narrows the fighting profile. It is meant for use with fencing weapons. It combined dancing and combat to produce unpredictable movements, as the Duelist moves to the rhythm of a song in their head, counting time in a way the opponent cannot know. The bonus is the Aldana Ruse. When an Aldana fencer wields a fencing weapon in one hand and nothing in the other, they can perform the Aldana Ruse Maneuver, causing the target to take (Panche) extra Wounds the next time they take damage this round. This can only be done once per round.

Ambrogia is a very popular Vodacce style that wields a sword in the left hand and a main-gauche in the right. It was invented by famous courtesan Veronica Ambrogia, and its focus on the left hand makes it hard for many to deal with. It emphasizes practical combat over high style - use whatever you need to win. It's the winner that tells the tale. Its special bonus is Veronica's Guile. While you have a dagger in your right hand and a fencing sword in your left, you may use either Finesse or Wits as the Trait for any Weaponry Risk, no matter what - and if you spend a Hero Point, you can use both at once.

Boucher is a Montaigne street fencing style, and it isn't seen as a style for gentlemen. However, it gets results. It wields paired long knives, mixing them in a series of confusing attacks to disorient the foe. It's one of the fastest styles in the Guild, and once it can get past a sword's superior reach, it becomes nearly impossible to stop. The bonus is the Boucher Step. While wielding a dagger or knife in each hand, once per round, you can perform two Maneuvers at the same time. You must still spend Raises as normal for both, you can't do the same Maneuver twice, but you do both Maneuvers before anyone else can act.

Donovan was invented by the most famous bodyguard in the world, Donovan Durant, and it was designed for protection. Durant only ever took jobs from those he believed needed his aid, and before his retirement, it was said that only one of his wards had ever died under his guard - the first. He swore never to lose another, and he never did. On retirement, he founded a dueling academy in Avalon, and the requirements to get in are very rigid. Every student must be personally approved by Durant himself after a rigorous interview, and he takes only those who he feels share his commitment to protection. The bonus is Donovan's Bulwark. When you wield a heavy weapon (such as a longsword or axe) in one hand and nothing in the other, your Parry is replaced with the Donovan's Bulwark Maneuver, which functions as Parry except that it can also prevent Wounds dealt to an ally within your reach. Also, when you use Donovan's Bulwark, you can spend a Hero Point to lock weapons with the attacker, causing you both to lose all remaining Raises for the round. (In 1e, this style also used a shield. It doesn't any more! I have no idea why.)

Drexel is an Eisen style developed by mercenary Kristoff Drexel, leader of the Blood Spirits. It is meant to adapt to unpredictable conditions and be flexible. It utilizes the Eisen zweihander (or similar weapons) and is very popular with mercenaries, as it has three different stances that each have different methods of attack and defense. The Drexel Stances are the style bonus. When you wield a heavy weapon in two hands, you may choose a stance each round. If you want to swap stances mid-round, you must spend a Raise to do it. The three stances are Bittner (Forward), Metzger (Back) and Gerbeck (High). While in Bittner, any Maneuvers that prevent Wounds prevent (Resolve) additional Wounds, but you can't use Slash. While in Metzger, you take all actions as if you had (Wits) extra Raises for the sole purpose of calculating when you act - you can't spend them. However, you can't use Parry. While in Gerbeck, all Maneuvers that would deal Wounds deal 1 additional Wound, but you take all actions as if you had 1 fewer Raise than you actually do for the purpose of calculating when you act, to a minimum of 1.

Eisenfaust is another Eisen style, wielding a broadsword in the main hand with an iron glove called a panzerhand on the off-hand. You deflect or grab incoming attacks, exploiting the openings you create that way to counter. It is primarily a defensive style, waiting for the foe to make a mistake before it goes in. Typically, enemies facing it grow impatient or angry as the defense is maintained. The style bonus is Iron Reply. While you wield a heavy weapon in one hand and a panzerhand in the other, your Riposte is replaced with the Iron Reply Maneuver, which functions identically, but prevents (Resolve+Weaponry) Wounds and deals (Brawn+Weaponry) Wounds. You still can only use it once per round.

Leegstra is a Vestenmennavenjar style, practiced for centuries before the Duelist's Guild was founded. It is an extremely aggressive style that wields two weapons at once, encouraging reckless offense. While the style is very old, it was only formalized around 20 years ago by Leegstra Eldsdottir, a woman who claimed never to have lost in single combat, and who has founded her own academy in Thorshofn. The style bonus is Leegstra's Crash. When you wield a heavy weapon in each hand - usually but not always axes or hammers - you may perform the Leegstra's Crash Maneuver. Leegstra's Crash is identical to Slash, but is not Slash. You may only use it once per round.

Mantovani is a Vodacce style popularized by a number of serial novels. It doesn't use a sword - it uses a whip, based on the tales of Vito Montovani. It favors misdirection and adaptability, manipulating the foe with whip movements and environmental trickery over direct attacks. Its bonus is the Mantovani Flay. While you wield a whip, you can use the Mantovani Flay Maneuver. When you do, you choose a Maneuver you know your opponent can use (such as Slash, Parry or a style Maneuver you know they have). They cannot perform that Maneuver on their next action due to you binding their weapon, stinging their wrist or otherwise controlling how they can act. You may use this only once per round.

Mireli is an Ussuran style invented by the dancer Katya Mireli, who traveled with various circuses. Her most famous skill was a captivating sword dance using a curved blade in each hand, and it became so famous that nobles and merchants would travel a hundred miles to see the famed Mireli Sword Dance. Her 'academy' is unique - it has no campus. Instead, you must find Mireli or one of her various students as they travel the world, generally with performers or circuses. They've maintained this tradition for 30 years so far. The style bonus is Mireli's Revision. When you use a heavy weapon in each hand - usually a saber, cutlass or hatchet - you may perform the Mireli's Revision Maneuver. This functions identically to either Bash or Parry, chosen when you use it.

Sabat is style developed by Mirek Sabat, a chessmaster who found the idea of transferring chess strategy to combat fascinating - along with just about every other part of his life. By 20, he was a grandmaster fencer and chess player, though his experimentation with unorthodox strategies means he doesn't win all the time even against inferior foes. His fencing style is defensive, allowing foes to exhaust themselves before ending things with a decisive stroke. The style bonus is the Sabat Gambit. When you wield a heavy weapon in one hand - typically a heavy saber - your Lunge is replaced with the Sabat Gambit Maneuver. It is identical to Lunge, but deals (Weaponry+Finesse+Raises Spent) Wounds instead.

Torres is a Castillian style originally developed for bullfights, using a rapier in one hand and a cloak in the other. It draws the foe in, then blindsides them. It's an extremely good defensive style, using cloak and sword as a wall against the foe, and its masters are some of the fastest and quickest-witted fighters in the world. The bonus is Matador's Flourish. While you wield a fencing sword in one hand and nothing in the other, and you're wearing a long cloak, you may perform the Matador's Flourish Maneuver. This prevents (Athletics) Wounds. You may use it only once per round.

Valroux is the favored style of many Montaigne, wielding a fencing sword and a main-gauche. It is technically a defensive style, in that the dagger is used only for parrying. However, its real focus is on calling attention to openings the fencer could've exploited, humiliating the foe and weakening them over time. It is meant to demoralize enemies, dizzying and dancing around them while hurling insults. The style bonus is the Valroux Press. While you wield a fencing sword in your right hand and a dagger in your left, you may perform the Valroux Cross Maneuver. It functions like Parry, but you may also choose a Maneuver you know your enemy can perform. If they attempt any other Maneuver as their next action, they must spend
an additional Raise. You may use this Maneuver only once per round.

Next time: Sailing

BOTES

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: BOTES

So this entire chapter is basically John Wick going 'actually, ships are extremely important, high seas piracy matters, the entire ocean matters.' Shipping is almost entirely by sea, and that means there's a whole lot of wealth on the seas for pirates to grab, and that means there's basically open war on the ocean between pirates and the naval forces of most nations. Sailing is now one of the most profitable and most dangerous professions in the world. You need to be strong, healthy and brave to be a good sailor, able to tie dozens of knots, repair canvas, have good balance and work even during cannonfire and storms. Any skills there that you lack when you sign on, you better pick up quick. Many apprentice sailors begin their voyages with essentially no knowledge of anything outside their village, and after months at sea, they are entirely changed. Most sailors become literate, for lack of anything else to do when the winds are dead, see wildlife they never dreamed of, like whales or sea monsters, visit foreign lands, learn new languages, suffer disease or starvation, learn math, become strong, and lose all their money to jennys. (That's Thean for prostitutes.)

Unfortunately, all the romantic life of sailors but has some issues. No ship's crew returns home whole. Some are lost to disease, to thirst, to accidents. All sailors' lives are divided into three watches of 8 hours each. On the sailor's first watch, they're on active duty, doing their job. On their second watch, they're eating meals, repairing sailcloth or clothes, doing carpentry or smithwork, or otherwise doing light work around the ship, perhaps learning a new position under the master's mates, such as learning to bandage wounds or peel potatoes. If there's time left over after all that, you can read or study or whatever. On the third watch, you sleep. A sailor's work is hard. They must handle rigging 50 feet in the air during 40-mile winds, to say nothing of the waves and rain. The food is usually rotten, the water filthy and the officers unforgiving. You want to avoid fights with the other sailors so you don't get knifed or shoved overboard, too. And if your ship has a fight? Well, your odds of survival drop significantly, depending on who the enemy is. If the surgeon aboard hasn't the tools to deal with your wounds, either, then you're likely to bleed to death. So why do it? Because at the end of the voyage, you're going to see more money than you've ever dreamed of. The pay from a single voyage is enough to set up a sailor with a comfortable retirement if they choose. Most don't - they tend to spend the lot on drink and whores, and have to sign on again to replace the fortune they just lost.

There are four broad kinds of sailor. Merchants are those who use their ships for trade and commercial activity. They're businessmen, fishermen, whalers and explorers...and also smugglers and bootleggers. There's more of them than any other kind. Naval recruits are those that belong to a national navy, serving as seamen or officers aboard a ship. They patrol waters, protect convoys, hunt pirates and fight other navies. Naval vessels are notoriously nasty to be aboard, though under a competent captain, there are notable exceptions. Privateers are essentially oceanic mercenaries. They hunt the foes of their employers, steal from rival nations and do the work that formal navies can't acknowledge. They also can be hired for missions or escort services. The most notorious privateers these days are the Sea Dogs of Avalon. Pirates, well. They're the wolves, the outlaws. They answer to no one but themselves, and are obligated to none but the profits they steal. Their lives are extremely dangerous, but freer than any other people in Theah. Because they're usually after cargo, they rarely sink ships, preferring instead to close with them and board them. They have few friends - pretty much all military vessels have orders to sink pirate ships on sight, and captured pirates are often hanged without trial. Despite this, not all pirates are evil. Famously, Captain "Gentleman" Gosse was renowned for his kind and gentle behavior, and the Brotherhood of the Coast has brought a kind of rough code of honor to pirates, as well as a sense of democracy.

Your ship's crew is led by a Captain, whose role differs depending on the kind of ship. On a naval vessel, the captain has total authority. On most pirate vessels, though, the captain's power is limited by the ship's charter, with some allowing them to act only as a general in battle, while others grant fuller authority. Often, the captain isn't the most experienced hand aboard, but usually is the best commander. He may have any number of lieutenants depending on a ship's size, often called mates, under his command. They assist the captain and carry out various duties on the ship. Under them is the Ship's Master, who answers only to the captain and lieutenants. The captain tells the master what he wants, and the master sees it gets done. The real duty of the master, though, is to navigate, and the ship's master is usually the most experienced and respected sailor aboard. Under the master, you have the Master's Mate (a sailor training to be a master), the Quartermaster (who organizes the steering of the ship), the Helmsmen (who are in charge of the ship's watches), the Purser (who manages ship finances, cargo and supplies and has command over anyone who handles supplies, even the cook), the Steward (assistant to the purser) and the Cook (who cooks).

Under the master is the Boatswain ('bosun'), the sergeant aboard ships. When the captain decides, he orders the master, who tells the boatswain, who organizes a mess of men to fulfill the order. The boatswain is the highest rank aboard that deals with non-officers, and is commonly in charge of discipline. When the men get out of line, the boatswain typically whips them with a cat-of-nine-tails. Under the boatswain are the Boatswain's Mate (who helps call out orders and gain attention via whistles), the Sailmaker (who repairs and makes new sails with canvas from the purser), the Master of the Tops (who is in charge of setting sails and working rigging and leads the topsmen who work in the rigging), the Master of the Forecastle (who is in charge of the front of the ship, the mooring and handling the anchor), the Master-at-Arms (who controls all small arms aboard the ship and has the key to the arms locker), the Gunsmith (who repairs the small arms) and the Carpenter (who is responsible for care and maintenance of all wooden parts of the ship, and usually has command over a carpenter's mate and a cooper to handle the barrels).

Then you have the Master Gunner, often just the gunner, who maintains and fires the cannons and commands the key to the powder room. The gunner must be a skilled mathematician to handle the aiming, and typically only commands the gunner's mate (a master gunner in training who is learning algebra and how to mix gunpowder) and the powder monkeys (untrained boys who ferry the powder about while learning other jobs aboard ships). Then there's the Surgeon, who handles general health and welfare. He commands the Surgeon's Mate (a surgeon in training) and the Loblolly Boy (a nurse and errand-runner who watches over the injured or sick). Then you've got the Midshipmen, who are officers-in-training and spend their time learning various positions on the ship. Then you have the Master Mariners, sailors who are widely experienced but not yet officers. They're the most valuable non-specialists aboard, and usually advise the boatswain. Below them are the Able Seamen, those with a handful of voyages done, and the Seamen, who can tie knots and not fall overboard.

Pirate ships, of coruse, have far smaller crews than most others. This list is a full complement, and few pirate ships can fill that out. They make do with what they've got. However, they also tend to have more master mariners than, say, any given naval ship, and the crew are generally more experienced and ready for combat.

Next time: Superstitions and Ship Rules

BORTS

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: BORTS

Sailors have plenty of superstitions. Some are bullshit, others are useful mnemonics, and others are true as hell. Your mnemonics are easy.
Ring around the moon, rain or snow soon. - Because a halo around the sun or moon indicates high altitude ice cryswtals, and typically means harsh weather within three days or so.
Rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning. - Because in the middle latitudes, weather travels west to east most times, and a rainbow appearing when your back is to the sun means you're looking at a rainstorm. So a sun in the east and a rainbow in the west means a storm is coming in the middle latitudes.
Clear moon, frost soon. If the sky is clear and the moon is visible, then the atmosphere is clear and Terra is cooling. If there's no wind and the temperature gets low enough, you're going to get frost on the yards and masts.
Red sky in morning, sailor take warning. A red sun means that there's dust and moisture in the air - which means rain.

Then there's the dead. Almost no ship will carry a corpse across the water - that's bad luck. When a man dies at sea, you wash him, dress him cleanly, wrap him in cloth and tie irons to his legs, then throw him overboard with a prayer. If a sailor's lost at sea, you should never dig a grave, erect a headstone or even speak of him as dead until seven years pass - digging a grave for the living asks for trouble. Sailors almost never speak of the dead, and when they do, the word 'poor' usually gets put in front of the name. Sailors respect the dead deeply - there's too many tales of ghosts and ghost ships not to.

The water is Mother Ocean, always. It's like Ussurans using the word 'Matushka'. The ocean is a jealous but protective mother, and she doesn't like her children to spend their time with those of low virtue...which is why taverns are never in sight of the sea. Sailors also know never to tell their families how long they'll be gone, where they go or when they'll return. A sailor's life is at Mother Ocean's whim, and none of those questions are his to answer. Likewise, everyone knows that those who fall overboard are claimed by the ocean, and those who try to save them probably will be as well. Thus, many sailors believe reaching over the side of a ship to save someone is bad luck. Of course, others don't and will do all they can to save a fallen sailor - but the risk of saving one is not worth saving two, is the point.

Now, let's talk ships. Your ship comes in one of several classes. Ship class does not affect mechanics, it's just about how your ship looks and feels.
Brigs are quite popular - two-mastered, square-rigged ships that are smaller than most but also faster. They tend to be good in a fight still, with anywhere from 10 to 20 cannons.
Brigantines are favored by pirates for their speed and maneuverability, and most are fitted with oars for when the wind dies.
Carracks are large, square-rigged ships originating with the Vodacce. They're cargo haulers - four masters, huge hull, long voyages. They have very few cannons, though, so they need protection.
Fluyts are similar to carracks, but of Vesten design. They have no cannons whatsoever, in favor of more cargo space and less need for crew. They're specially designed for a shallow draft so they can go up rivers or dock at ports rather than needing to anchor and send rowboats - a great advantage when loading and unloading cargo.
Frigates are small, well-armed hsips meant to take on larger vessels with their maneuverability and speed. They have ittle cargo space or room for crew, though, and the men are packed in like sardines.
Galleons are a Castillian mainstay, and the largest ships out there. They're three-decked, square-rigged triple-masters meant for long sea voyages, often relying on the protection of smaller vessels.
Man-of-Wars are battleship, heavily armed, not cargo haulers. A heavy frigate could be considered a light man-of-war, but most man-of-wars are much larger than that. While most ships are given feminine names, the man-of-war is traditionally given a masculine one.
Schooners are very small but very fast, able to travel in more shallow water than most ships and well able to run from a fight.

Your ship also has an Origin - the nation, region or area that it hailed from on its maiden voyage. This gives it various bonuses, which tend to be somewhat vague about when they apply. The GM has final say, but should be generous. When a bonus applies, however, it can only be used by a single Hero at any given time.
Avalon: Your ship is smaller and faster. It gets 2 Bonus Dice for any Risks involving speed and maneuverability, and is probably a brig, brigantine or schooner.
Castille: Your ship is slow but very tough. It can take an additional Hit at each tier before it takes a Critical Hit. It's probably a galleon or man-of-war.
Eisen: Your ship isn't notable - its crew is. The best marines in the world. You have 5 additional Crew, and your Crew can divide into up to 3 Squads rather than 2.
Montaigne: Your ship is beautifully made, and probably well-armed. When making a social Risk, such as negotiating with another ship, you get two Bonus Dice. Your ship is probably a frigate or schooner.
The Sarmatian Commonwealth: Your ship was "acquired" from some other nation, rather than made in Sarmatia, which has a small fleet indeed. You gain a bonus Background for the ship.
Ussura: Your ship was made for cold, icy water, and is quite tough. You get two Bonus Dice in extremely choppy waters, storms, dangerous waters such as reef-infested or icy seas, or when otherwise under environmental threat.
Vodacce: Your ship is meant for the long haul - lots of masts, big hull. You can carry 3 Cargo, rather than 2.
Vestenmennavenjar: Your ship is almost certainly a fluyt. When you raid another vessel for Wealth, you gain all the Wealth, not half.
Exotic: Your ship was made somewhere outside Theah - perhaps the Crescent Empire, Khitai or Ifri. You earn 1 more Wealth than normal when you sell foreign goods in Theah or Thean goods in a foreign port.

Backgrounds are like Advantages for a ship, but all have equal point value. They give your ship a history, aqs well, a reputation that makes more than just some boat. You may only have a given Background once. Every Hero with the Married to the Sea advantage grants one Background to the ship.
Beyond the Horizon: Your ship has been to the New World, Ifri or Cathay. You can spend a Raise or Hero Point when speaking about the cultures, customs or people of far-away land to be automatically believed, no matter what.
Broke the Mirror: Your ship has sailed the frozen waters of the Mirror, a feat matched only by the bravest Vesten, and so is known as isabrot, Icebreaker. You may spend a Raise or Hero Point when meeting a Vesten NPC to automatically have you, your ship and your crew be respected.
Captured by Pirates: Your ship was taken by pirates and sold. It has smuggling compartments to hold things of value. When you hide something in the smuggling compartments during a scene, what you hide cannot be found unless the person knows exactly where to look - such as being former crew. Just knowing you have smuggling compartments isn't enough. You can hide up to 1 Cargo this way; this doesn't mean additional Cargo space, just that you can protect it from detection.
Friend of Iskandar: Your ship has docked in Iskandar and is known in the city as a friend - a Sadiq Iskandar. You can spend a Raise or Hero Point when encountering a Crescent Empire NPC. They will be friendly until given a reason not to be.
Heroic Captain: One of the captains of your ship was known across Theah - and loved. Their reputation lingers. You can spend a Raise or Hero Point when you encounter an NPC sailor, old salt, retired naval captain or similar. They had a favorable run-in with your ship's captain and look favorably upon your ship and its crew.
Pirate Hunter: Your ship was used to hunt pirates. When your crew rolls dice against pirates, their 10s explode.
Prominent Battle: Your ship survived a horrific fight and has a rep for not going down. It can take 5 Critical Hits instead of 4.
Round the Horn: Your ship has a small, strange mascot from IFri - a monkey, parrot, runic totem, customized wheel or some other good luck charm. Once per game, one Hero on the ship can spend a Hero Point to reroll any number of dice in a Risk they just made, so long as they're aboard the ship.
Swallowed by the Triangle: Your ship has traveled the Triangle and landed at the strange shores of Kammerra. It may have been thought lost. You may spend a Raise when you encounter a strange magic, artifact or creature, such as a sea monster, giant bird or Kammerran shaman. You may ask the GM a yes/no question about the thing, and they must answer honestly.

Ships do not gain new Backgrounds, and neither do they advance like Heroes do. Rather, they gain Adventures, which are kind of like Achievements. The first time you and your crew accomplish the criteria for an Adventure in play during a session, the ship gains the ability associated with that Adventure. You only get it the first time - so if you get raided by pirates once, you get Your Gold Or Your Life!, but nothing if you get raided a second time. These bonuses, as a note, are on top of whatever is gained or lost just by the course of story events, and the GM can invent and design their own Adventures - this is hardly an exhaustive list. The general rule is that an Adventure should either be difficult, interesting and unusual, or evocative and fun.
A Jenny In Every Port: Make port in every Nation in Theah. When you make port in a Thean city, any Hero may spend a Raise or Hero Point. Whatever authority exists in the point knows of your ship and crew, and will treat you relatively well until given reason not to. They won't let you break the law, but may let you bend it slightly.
A Short and Merry Life: Convince a hostile ship's crew to join you, through negiation, coercion or intimidation. Your crew gains 5 Strength.
Adventurer: Accomplish 5 Adventures. Every Hero gains their choice of one of of the Able Drinker, Cast-Iron Stomach or Sea Legs advantages.
Drag Them to Their Doom!: Perform a successful boarding action. The first time each round that any of your Crew Squads would inflict Wounds on an enemy while at sea, that enemy takes an additional Wound.
Feed the Sea with Ghosts: Defeat 5 ships in naval combat. The first time each round your ship fires her cannons at an enemy, the enemy ship takes an additional Hit.
Gold Drives a Man to Dream: Earn 10 Wealth from selling Cargo in a single Voyage. You may carry 1 additional Cargo.
Hot Pursuit: Escape a city with the authorities at your heels. Your ship's crew may return to full complement after only 12 hours in port rather than 24.
"How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?": Dive a shipwreck, reef or underwater cave and bring back something valuable. You gain 1 Bonus Die for any Risks involving swimming, underwater navigation or holding your breath.
Off the Map: Make port in a city outside Theah. You get one Bonus Die in any social Risk against an NPC whose native tongue is from outside Theah.
Saved from the Deep: Rescue a marooned NPC. Your Ship's total Crew gets +1 Strength.
Shore Leave: Lead your crew in the singing of a sea shanty during shore leave at a seedy port tavern. Any Hero may spend a Hero Point to return one of your Crew Squads back to full Strength immediately. nly one Hero may activate this per session, and only once per session.
Tempting Fate: Transport an NPC Fate Witch from one port to another. At the start of each session, each Hero rolls one die. The highest roll gets an extra Hero Point. If the highest roll is tied, no one gets any extra Hero Point. Fate is fickle.
Thanks for the Backup: Save the crew of a sinking ship, when things look their bleakest. The captain and crew of that ship are now allies and can be relied on when needed for help. All Heroes gain the Connection advantage with that ship and her crew.
The Only Good Pirate...: Render a pirate ship Crippled. The first time each round you spend a Raise to reduce the Strength of a Pirate Brute Squad, you reduce their Strength by 1 more than you normally would.
Well Excuse Me, Princess: Transport a Thean royal from one port to another. You get one Bonus Die for any social Risks involving nobles.
X Marks the Spot: Find a buried treasure. Add 10 additional Wealth to your ship's treasury.
Your Gold or Your Life!: Surrender to, be Crippled by, or be succesfully robbed by pirates. The first time any Hero rolls a Risk against a pirate in a session, all Heroes gain one Hero Point.

Now, stats. Ships have a Death Spiral like anyone else. However, by default, a ship can take 5 Hits before it takes a Critical Hit. AFter 4 Critical Hits, it is Crippled. A Crippled ship cannot fire cannons or avoid attacks - it's a sitting duck, and may be freely plundered, have its Cargo stolen and its Treasury looted. The Crew must usually either row or swim ashore and hope for the best, take a place aboard the attacker's crew, or be executed. A Crippled ship that takes another Hit has been sunk. It can only be abandoned. If your ship is sunk, however, and you retrieve a meaningful memento from it, such as a distinct figurehead or custom wheel, you may put this on a new ship and transfer over its old Backgrounds and Adventures. This can only be done on a newly built ship, with no Backgrounds or Adventures of its own.

A ship has 10 Crew, which can divide up freely into 2 Squads, however you like. Two Squads of 5 Strength, one of 8 and one of 2, one squad of Strength 10. Whatever. Any Hero can direct the crew to act, but a Squad can only take a single action each Round, devoting all its Raises to that task. If the action is a Risk, they roll dice equal to their Squad Strength. Every Wound taken by a Squad reduces its Strength by 1 due to crew injury, death or otherwise inability to act. Whenever you make port for at least 24 hours, you can restore any lost Crew to full complement and reorganize your Squads.

A ship may carry 2 Cargo. Each Cargo transported from one port to another earns 1 Wealth. If the Cargo is taken an especially long distance, such as from Theah to the Crescent Empire, it earns an additional Wealth per Cargo. If the Cargo is particularly valuable to the people you're bringing it to, such as Khitai spices in Vodacce, each Cargo earns an additional Wealth. These do stack. Whenever you make port for at least 24 hours, you may sell off or acquire new Cargo.

When a crew earns Wealth, it is placed in the ship Treasury. The Captain typically decides how it will be divided, but a wise captain avoids mutiny by ensuring the crew gets paid. At the end of each session, the Wealth in the Treasury is halved, rounding down, to represent upkeep, repairs and pay. If the captain chooses not to pay the crew at the end of the session, whether because they don't want to halve the Treasury or because it's empty, the crew becomes Mutinous. A ship with a Mutinous crew causes a -2 dice penalty to all Risks taken aboard, and loses any die bonuses from Origins, Backgrounds or Adventures. The available Crew is reduced by half due to desertion and poor morale. A Mutinous crew paid at the end of a session returns to normal at the start of the next. A Mutinous crew that is not paid causes a Mutiny. The entire crew abandons the ship - so she can't sail and has no Squads. They also steal any Cargo and may even abduct people or other drastic action. Extreme circumstances may, rarely, delay or prevent a crew from becoming Mutinous, at the GM's discretion, but this should never reward greed or neglect. A ship that is successfully raided by pirates, whether by being Crippled, having its crew defeated, or surrendering, loses all Cargo and half its Wealth. A captain may sometimes negotiate a surrender or tribute, in which case, the amount lost in Wealth and Cargo is a matter of negotiation instead. Your Crew matters - the game is very clear on this. Being aboard ship means you're all in close quarters, on the same boat, for a long-ass time. You're kin, and sailors will make incredible sacrifices for their crew. A ship is more than wood and sails and cannon - its heart and soul is the crew, and all of them have a name.

Ship Battles function exactly as any other Action Sequence - the players choose Approaches, there are Consequences, Opportunities happen. The game gives some suggested things Heroes can choose as Approaches if they don't know much about naval combat, such as firing the cannons (usually a Brawn or Wits job, but sometimes Panache or Resolve to command crew or keep cool under fire, or even Finesse to reload quickly), manning the sailts to keep the shp out of range of cannon and grapple (usually Finesse or Resolve), manning the bilge crew to ensure the ship doesn't sink (usually Resolve, as it involves going into dangerous parts of the ship), running a boarding party (usually Brawn to pull a ship in or Finesse to leap across, sometimes Panache to command a Crew Squad) or assisting the ship's doctor (usually Wits). Consequences will usually be either Wounds to a Hero or Hits to the ship, and are avoided as normal. The enemy ship may also try to target key parts of yours as a Consequence, which could reduce maneuverability, speed or Crew Strength. Opportunities will exist to do similar to the enemy ship. Rolls are done as normal, Raises spent.

Sometimes, you'll face down a sea Monster. These things tend to be large enough to take on a entire ship if it matters enough for ship combat to happen, and this is treated as any Action Sequence. The monster may have any combination of Monsstrous Qualities and traits of being a ship - such as Crew Squads in the form of smaller spawn that cling to its skin. Like ships, sea Monsters tend to ignore normal-scale Wounds in favor of Hits and Critical Hits.

Next time: Secret Societies

The Chicken Illuminati

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Chicken Illuminati

Secret societies exist all over the dang place. Joining them can often be beneficial, but also comes with responsibility. They seek to make the world a better place, by their lights, and they often disagree on what exactly that means, but for the heroic ones? It's usually something good. Something better. What a member is expected to do is to work towards that. In return, the society grants favors, information and aid when needed. A Hero may join any secret society they've made contact with, either in game or in backstory, at no cost. However, you can only belong to one society at a time. If you want to swap or leave, you lose all influence in your original secret society and are likely to be treated with suspicion, though probably not violence as long as you left on decent terms rather than treachery.

The currency of secret societies is Favor, a representation of faith, trust and resources. You get Favor by helping the society and spend it on benefits. All societies have certain shared interests that will earn Favor. Selling information relevant to a society's interests to them is worth 2 Favor if it's not commonly known but isn't a huge secret - the history of failed businesses of a relevant merchant, say, or the name of a relevant privateer's wife. Aiding an agent of the society in their mission or saving them from danger gains 4 Favor. Selling a secret of extreme interest to a society is worth 6 Favor. This kind of information is closely guarded - the secret bastard son of an enemy count, the identity of an Inquisition assassin.

All societies also have certain things you can always spend Favor on. Buying information that is not commonly known but isn't a closely guarded secret costs 1 Favor. Requesting the aid of a society agent to save you or help your mission costs 3 Favor. Agents dispatched this way have Strength 6; more skilled agents cost more Favor at the GM's discretion. Buying a secret that is closely guarded costs 5 Favor. You will note that selling gives more than buying costs in each case. That's intentional - secret societies try to build good relationships with their members and have a network of contacts going. The best way to do that is to treat them well, and it means that dealing with them on equal terms will pretty much always be in your favor. They are good faith information providers - they won't hand out small, useless chunks of info to you to jack up the price by repeated buys, and likewise they expect you to do the same for them. Obviously, the things above are also not an exhausting list of what gains Favor or what you can use Favor on. These, and the ones for specific societies, are examples - things the GM can use to gauge how much things should cost.

The Brotherhood of the Coast is a society of ships, each with their own captain. The Pirate Queen Captain Bonaventura's own La Dama Roja is but one among the fleet that preys on ships sailing near Montaigne, Castille, Vodacce and the New World. Their organization is a bit of a paradox - they love freedom, but they are bound by a charter than none dare to break. The charter was written by the First Captains, and it is signed by every member of the Brotherhood, giving a very strict code of conduct. Sailors that see the Brotherhood flag flying know that if they surrender they won't be harmed, and often take the offer. Those who don't, after all, face some of the best sailors on the seas.

The Charter posted:

I. Every hand to have a vote in the affairs; equal title to the provisions and liquors, and may use them at pleasure, unless scarcity makes it necessary to vote to a rationing.
II. Every hand to be called fairly in turn, by list, on board for duty.
III. If any defraud the Brotherhood to the value of a Guilder in plunder, marooning shall be his punishment.
IV. No person to game at cards or dice for money.
V. All souls aboard a captured ship shall be set free and determine among themselves, by vote, the course they set once their hull is plundered.
VI. No member of a crew is to be harmed if she surrendered without violence.
VII. Every hand is to keep his piece, pistols and cutlass clean and fit for service.
VIII. To desert the ship or their quarters in battle is punished with death or marooning.
IX. No striking one another on board, but every hand's quarrels to be ended ashore with sword and pistol.
X. If in service to the Brotherhood any hand should lose a limb, or become cripple, he should have 600 Guilders, or 500 Guilders for limb, or 100 Guilders for an eye or finger.

The Brotherhood's primary interest is gold. They don't care for politics most of the time, except in the sense of wanting to know when large amounts of money are moving so they can steal it. Favor can be gained by the Brotherhood the normal ways. Selling information that leads to a ship they can plunder is worth an extra Favor, and they'll also pay 1 Wealth of the spoils to you. Aiding in the capture of a prize ship earns two shares of the prize, plus whatever Favor gains - generally, 2 or more Wealth. The Brotherhood can be called on to smuggle items into or out of a blockaded area for 4 Favor - though once the goods leave their ship, the Brotherhood declares it someone else's problem. They will drop anything or anyone smuggled out at the next reasonable safe port. For 7 Favor, they will blockade an area. That's not an absolute guarantee that nothing will get through, but it definitely makes things a lot harder and more dangerous. They'll spend about a week doing this by default, but may stay longer if there's good plunder.

Die Kreuzritter formed over five centuries ago, a small band of brave men and women at the age of the Walder. The forest was known to birth terrible monsters and dark powers, and the small fort eventually grew into a village. The Vaticine and the Knightly Order of Rose & Cross worked together to establish a guild there to protect Eisen from the forest monsters. The guild had no name at that point, but it would become die Kreuzritter, the Crusaders. At this point, they were known only by their symbol - a white star on a field of black. The locals came to know their village as Stern, the Star. The guild grew and expanded, and eventually its ties to the Vaticine became strained. In 1128, the Imperator of the guild, a devout Vaticine, convinced the group to march south, saying that the Church claimed the demons came to the Walder from the Crescent Empire. They found no demons - just people. The Imperator said that clearly, the demons lay further south, in Ifri. Again, they found only people. The Imperator said to turn east, towards Cathay, and this time, they rebelled.

The monster hunters turned on their leader and went home with new, foreign allies...only to find that Stern have been overrun in their absence, and what was left was taken over by the Inquisition. These crusaders had been banded traitors by the Inquisitors for marching on an unsanctioned Crusade and abandoning Eisen. The Imperator had never intended any of them to return, and had betrayed them all to the Inquisition. Knowing that they couldn't survive open war with the Church, die Kreuzritter vanished into the shadows, armed with their new experiences and knowledge. They decided to live in the dark and hunt monsters that lived there with them. They may be called traitors and heretics, they may be reviled, but they know the truth: there are real monsters out there, creatures that must be stopped. They have sworn to never again be used as a tool of politics or religion, but only to protect the innocent from what lies in darkness.

Die Kreuzritter are primarily concerned with inhuman monsters and evil magic. They want information on monstrous weaknesses, secret necromancers or weapons that can destroy the walking dead, among other things. Information on monsters, dark sorcerers or cursed/evil artifacts is worth 2 additional Favor after the creature or sorcerer is defeated or the artifact is claimed or destroyed. Getting ahold of dracheneisen is worth 10 Favor - it is easily the greatest weapon against monsters. Getting temporary access to a relic, magical artifact or dracheneisen weapon for a single mission (no longer than a session) costs 4 Favor. Refusal to return it is cause for being branded a traitor. Being given the location of a dracheneisen weapon you can keep costs 9 Favor...and you're still going to have to seek it out as part of a special Dracheneisen Seeker story, which must have at least ten Steps and be quite dangerous. As long as you are a member of the order, the weapon is yours to keep.

So what exactly is dracheneisen good for? Well, it is one of the rarest materials in all of existence. The means to make more of it has largely been lost in the War of the Cross, and almost all of it is either in private collections or the hands of die Kreuzritter. The material is, after all, the best there is for fighting monsters. Dracheneisen is usually made into melee weapons - mostly swords, but not always - and never into guns or ammunition. Jewelry, usually rings or pendants, also exist. Armor does not - there simply was never a time when that much dracheneisen was more useful as one piece of armor over multiple weapons. All dracheneisen items function as normal for an item of their type, but are almost indestructible, short of a volcano or other level of extreme destruction. A dracheneisen weapon can cut stone with the same time and effort that steel weapons can cut wood. Dracheneisen glows white if a monster gets within thirty feet of it. If a dracheneisen item is presented strongly in a Monster's presence, the Monster must spend two Danger Points to get the benefits of spending one until the item somehow leaves the scene. Weapons made from dracheneisen also deal 1 additional Wound with each strike if they hit something with a Monstrous Quality or the Sorcery advantage. (In 1e, dracheneisen armor was actually very huge and important and honestly kind of OP and annoying, given it let you ignore the swashbuckling themes. So it's gone now.)

Next time: Explorers, Collegians and Knights

An Explorer's Life For Me

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: An Explorer's Life For Me

The Explorer's Society was founded in 1598 by Leandra Souza, a Castillian scholar. They've been leading archaeological research for nearly nine years now, having unearthed Syrne city ruins as well as nearly 500 artifacts, and they have some of the most extensive maps in Theah. Members openly display themselves with silver pins and rings bearing the image of the magnetic compass. They have captured public imagination, and their fame rivals even that of the Rose and Cross, with many plays and stories written about them. Souza intended for them to discourage 'diggers' - essentially, ruin raiders who hunted for wealth rather than knowledge. The long coats worn by Explorers are often known as digger-coats, much to their chagrin. However, it has reached the point that the worst foes of the Explorers are Vaticine. See, the Third Prophet denounced the Syrne ruins as dangers to the soul, and while some Cardinals defend their activities, the Church has largely remained firm in believing that Syrneth ruin excavation is heretical and will get you killed - by them, if necessary, for the Inquisition. Since this proclamation, the Explorers have had to go underground. Their current headquarters is the Castillian city of Lisso, but they have regional HQs in Montaigne, Vendel and the Eisen city Freiburg. Members are required to grant hospitality to any member that needs it, including sanctuary from the Church if needed. There are Explorer way-stations across the globe, even as far as Ifri, the Crescent Empire and the New World.

The Explorers mostly care about ancient Numanari and Syrneth ruins, plus any texts or artifacts related to them. They want knowledge of the past. On top of the normal Favor gains, acquiring a relic or lost knowledge is worth 4 Favor if you turn it over to the Society or at least share it with them for study. Finding a new Syrneth or Numanari ruin and informing the Explorers of it is worth 5 Favor. They value knowledge more than they do relics. Getting temporary access to a relic (with effects chosen by the GM but otherwise functioning per Signature Item) for a mission costs 3 Favor, and refusal to return it when you're done is grounds for being declared a traitor. Access to an Explorer dig site costs 2 Favor - and only needs to be spent if you weren't actually supposed to be there, though they probably still won't let you remove any artifacts or relics outside extreme circumstances.

The Invisible College are a new society. For nearly a millenium, the Vaticine Church was a beacon of research and knowledge, developing incredible scientific discoveries. However, the recent rise of the Inquisition pushed that to the wayside, and funding for many universities dried up. None believed they'd go further - but they did. High Inquisitor Esteban Verdugo began hunting down scientists, declaring that all research and experimentation must cease in preparation for the Fourth Prophet, who he believes is coming soon. He doesn't want to tempt Theus by prying into the Creator's secrets further, and he's willing to hang or burn people over it. Church leaders are rather too preoccupied with Montaigne and the loss of the Hierophant to be able to get in his way. However, research must continue.

That's where the College comes in. They are hidden scholars that work to continue science while dodging the Inquisition. Without Church funding, though, they can only go so far. Thus, they also use their own assets and investments to continue their work, and have created an underground system of communication to pass on their data and evidence to other members of the Invisible College. So far, Verdugo has not discovered the true identities of any members, and the only papers he's been able to get are ciphered in a way he has not yet been able to crack. Members know each other only by pseudonymsm, and each knows only two others. Verdugo believes there may be as many as 24 members, but no one can really say - not even the College themselves.

The Invisible College cares primarily about gathering and transmitting information about scientific discoveries, and about restoring the Church to its old ways. Selling them information or secrets related to the Inquisition or its activities and agents is always worth 1 more Favor than normal, and saving important scientific knowledge from destruction is worth 6 Favor if you share that knowledge with the College. It costs 1 Favor to pass a message or small package through the College, which will reliably get it just about anywhere in Theah. Buying an dangerous secret costs 5 Favor - and by dangerous, we mean stuff like 'advanced formulas for gunpowder' or 'recipes for potent poisons and their antidotes' or the location a secret Church library containing controversial and extremely rare texts. The College neither knows nor cares that much about noble politics.

The Knightly Order of the Rose and Cross are a weird secret society, primarily because they aren't secret. In fact, so many stories are told about them that it's hard to know what's real and what's not. They are a gentle's society, devoted to seeking justice, righting wrongs and protecting the weak. Many of them are fourth or fifth children of nobles with few prospects, joining to gain a reputation or attract a lover. The Order has chapterhouses across Theah, open to any who hold membership. Some nobles buy nominal membership to support the cause and just to be part of the most famous knightly order. The Order is headquartered in Creux, Montaigne, and its leader is Aristide Baveaux, sometimes called the most beloved man in Montaigne. His fame has proven quite powerful for the Order's influence and prestige, and at the moment, l'Empereur counts five Knights among his bodyguards.

Joining isn't easy. Nominal membership just costs a lot of money, but these people cannot claim the title Knight. Instead, they are Benefactors, though they are treated with respect. Actual Knights must serve the Order for three years without question, often going on very dangerous quests. If they prove worthy, they are permitted to wear the Seal of the Rose and Cross and call themselves a Knight. The Order is very structured, with Knights gaining position and favor via acts of valor, courage, selflessness and generosity.

The main concern of the Knights of the Rose and Cross is being daring, protecting the weak and acting as a moral example. Recruiting a Benefactor is worth 4 Favor, though they must be more than just rich - they also must have a reputation for responsibility and caring. Performing a heroic Quest for the Rose and Cross is a Story in which you do what the Order asks you, and you gain Favor equal to the Steps in the Story. You may request funding from the Order at 1 Favor per 1 Wealth required, though asking for more than 5 Wealth will likely draw attention and require some additional service for whichever Benefactor is funding it.

Los Vagabundos began as a covert revolutionary sect in Castille, but they now cover the entire continent and beyond. A masked figure called El Vagabundo, the Vagabond, appeared in Castille's darkest hour to save the boy-king from danger, and his legend has spread ever since. El Vagabundo has saved Queen Elaine of Avalon from assassins and defeated the treacherous bodyguards of Jarl Auley Baldersen. Outside Castille, some use the name 'El Vago' which is incorrect but accepted. The organization supporting the vigilante began as Castillian patriots, and now works to protect the "good crowns" of Theah. Their goal is simple: monarchs have a lot of power, and if a hero has the crown, the people thrive. If a villain has it, the people suffer. Los Vagabundos work to protect good rulers and overthrow corrupt ones. They work in secrecy and hiding, as they have many enemies. Their numbers are small but often quite highly placed, with sympathizers all over the halls of power. Not all agents wear a mask, either - most are spies, informants or anonymous agents. Some outside the group put on masks and pretend to be El Vagabundo, but no agent would ever wear a counterfeit mask - it would dishonor the true Vagabundo.

The secret of El Vago is the same as it was in 1e: there isn't just one. El Vagabundo is whoever wears the mask. However, there are only five true masks. No more than that. Thus, there are only five of El Vagabundo. The masks are magical, as well - they give power and take identity. They demand much - sometimes too much. And so, only the most trusted are permitted to wear a mask, and when they do, they are strong...but they are not themselves. When they remove the mask, their memories of what they did while wearing it often dim, like dreams.

Los Vagabundos are vigilantes, and they care about stopping injustice. Any injustice. Injustice is not the same as crime, either - theft may be acceptable in some circumstances, if the victim is themselves corrupt or otherwise deserving, for example. Saving a Heroic noble from a Villain will gain 4 Favor - a good king is worth protecting. Defeating a Villainous noble is worth 8 Favor - the nobles, more than anything, have a responsibility to serve their people, and to betray that is to betray all. For 10 Favor, you may request a Mask of El Vagabundo. While wearing it, you get +1 to all Traits and all Skills. However, your Quirks and Hubris cannot be used to gain Hero Points, because you are not yourself any more - you are El Vagabundo. You may, however, still gain Hero Points from other sources. Requesting aid from an agent of Los Vagabundos costs 3 Favor, but because they are primarily lone operatives they are usually more skilled than others. An agent of Los Vagabundos is always +2 Strength more than an agent of comparable cost from another society.

Next time: Mociutes Skara, the Rilasciare and Sophia's Daughters

The Book Actually Has All Those Diacritic Marks But I'm Lazy

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Book Actually Has All Those Diacritic Marks But I'm Lazy

Mociutes Skara is a Curonian phrase meaning 'grandmother's shawl' and the group was born in Curonia during the War of the Cross. Originally, they were a group of women that headed into Ussura to provide aid to the war widows and orphans - aid of all kinds, anything they could carry, in fact. The small group grew over the course of the war, until it was a movement. The war is over now. The Shawl is not. They have no formal structure, no hierarchy, no membership dues. All you must do is care for and help others. When disaster hits, they are there. They run towards the fire and screams, to rescue. They are bakers, cooks, wives, widows, clergy - anyone that wants to protect. They've even protected accused monsters in Eisen sometimes. Their purpose is simple: first, provide aid for anyone that needs it. Second, stop wars. That's a newer goal, as more active heroes have joined the group. They want to use covert means to delay, stall and prevent warfare. They aren't pacifists, mind. They will use violence if it'll stop a war. They just prefer peaceful means - sabotage or blackmail are fine, for instance. Anything to prevent another War of the Cross from making another generation of orphans.

Mociutes Skara are primarily interested in disaster relief and war. They are there where people go hungry and want for shelter and medicine. Providing food, water or medical relief to a community in need is worth 5 Favor, regardless of where or who they are. Preventing an army from going to battle is worth 10 Favor - regardless of how it's done. All that matters is that you young soldiers are not forced to murder each other. Mociutes Skara has no unique things you can buy with Favor, but they have access to everything other societies offer that is not restricted and special information and materials. Everyone likes them, see. They can't get a relic or dracheneisen blade, no, but you want assistance or information from another society, they can get that.

The Rilasciare are extremely secretive. They have no true hierarchy or leader, and are very disorganized and chaotic, but they like it that way. Their creator is the legendary figure called Uppman, and he founded them...some time ago. Maybe centuries, maybe a decade. Some say he was part of the Numan Republic, others that he was the mentor of El Vagabundo or the founder of the Rose and Cross. It doesn't really matter what the truth is. His Code is what matters. The Rilasciare want to lead humanity to a better future - a place of total freedom and self-determination. No gods, no kings. Religion and monarchy, they say, are the Two Great Tyrannies, both made for the sole purpose of controlling others. And they must fight these with ideas. Their symbol is the stone and the drop of water, for that is how they fight. It takes generations, but water can wear down any stone. Killing a king or hierophant changes nothing. The crown remains. The idea must be killed, and only then will men be free.

The Rilasciare refer to this as mimeme warfare, from a Numanari word meaning 'imitation' - the same root as the word mime. They name their enemy 'slavery of the mind' or 'tyranny of tradition.' Doing things as they have always been done, because they have always been done that way, is what enslaves us. They question tradition as their sacred duty, and the gadfly is one of their symbols. They call back to old Numanari philosophers, who questioned the motives of the Empire and were killed for it. That is their tradition: questioning, attacking traditions, to replace poisonous mimemes with better ones. They recognize each other with symbols sewn into their coats, but because anyone can wear a coat, they also use a hand sign - the left hand, palm forward and fingers wide. If this is met with the same, they squeeze hands, and the first asks the second about his coat. The second says Uppman gave it to him, and the first replies that it looks like it would fit him. The second answers that it will fit all of his family, and the first finishes by saying he is lucky to be brother to the second. Then, they hug.

Uppman's Code posted:

Murder is the theft of the greatest gift and the villain's tool to maintain order.
Question everything, including yourself.
No man, woman or child should ever want.
Undo Dominion with its own words, deeds and fear.
Gather in no more than five.

There is no leader to the Rilasciare, and many even question if Uppman ever existed. That barely matters, though. They gather in cells of up to five members - never more. This is known as a hand. The hand votes on actions, meeting regularly to share information. There are no official ties to other hands, and thus there is no structure their foes can attack. Of course, it also makes the Freethinkers extremely hard to organize effectively, and while there is some communication between hands, each group is essentially on their own. Despite this, they have accomplish much if you believe all their claims. They have brought down powerful men and women, plastered propaganda across nations, had corrupt officials taken down and humiliated. They've replaced church hymnals with satires, sabotaged financial negotiations, waylaid diplomats. They've destroyed debtors' prisons and erased their records, redistributed taxes to the poor and even impersonated and discredited public figures. Each hand has their own goals, agenda and methods, but all agree: the Two Tyrannies must fall.

The Rilasciare are concerned with the destruction of authority and tyranny. No one should be king, they say, for no king is just. The world should be free of nobility, the church, politicians and governors. Every man a king, every woman a queen in themselves. Overthrowing a noble ruler is worth 6 Favor - any noble ruler. There can be no good king, for a king is a wicked idea. Thwarting a Villainous Church official is worth 4 Favor. While they'd like to bring down the Church entire, they recognize that you can be a good priest. You may spend 3 Favor to gather a Strength 10 Brute Squad of craftsmen and peasants with improvised weapons. For every 3 Favor, you can increase their Strength by 10. They will follow a single rough instruction, such as 'storm the castle' or 'dump all the tea in the bay' but after that you have no control over them or their actions, and the larger ones usually break up into chaos quickly, so the Rilasciare try to limit the mob's size most of the time. You may spend 2 Favor to name someone Uppman's Friend, given protection and aid by the Rilasciare. They will not be targeted for punitive action and will probably be helped if endangered. If they are a noble or church official, this costs 6 Favor instead. If an Uppman's Friend betrays the ideals or interests of the Rilasciare, they lose all protection and their sponsor loses all Favor.

Sophia's Daughters began as a subgroup within the Rilasciare, the primary subgroup within Vodacce. The wife and the lover of the Merchant Prince Villanova - Valentina Villanova and the courtesan Juliette, respectively - conspired to bring down their man. It began as just the two of them, trying to tear down the most powerful of the Princes, but the conspiracy has grown beyond both those two women and their original aims. While the Daughters have yet to truly undermine the power of the Princes, they have had small victories. They sponsor illicit reading circles to spread literacy among women, run strega-smuggling rings to get Fate Witches out of the country safely and provide sympathetic and highly trained bodyguards. They have at least a dozen agents in Vodacce providing secret protection to women - sometimes not even with the awareness of their clients. All members of Sophia's Daughters are women. A small selection of men have been brought in as advisors, but they are not considered full members.

The Daughters are mainly concerned with protecting and smuggling Fate Witches out of Vodacce, and otherwise supporting female authority figures in other nations. Smuggling a Sorte Strega out of Vodacce is worth 10 Favor, as long as you get her past the borders and to a safe haven. Undermining the plot of a Merchant Prince is worth 6 Favor, and they especially like if two Princes can be turned on each other. Requesting aid from a Fate Witch costs 3 Favor. These Witches are generally Strength 6, have Sorcery (Sorte) and roll 2 Bonus Dice on any social Risks to do with Vodacce court politics. Naming someone as Sophia's Friend has the same Favor cost and effects as naming someone Uppman's Friend.

Next time: The NWO and the GM Advice Section

NOM NOM NOM

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: NOM NOM NOM

The final secret society is Novus Ordo Mundi and they are not one a Hero can join. Ever. They are a society of secretive and ambitious Villains, bent on controlling the world. In 1e, they were hinted at and linked to the big-name villains...and a few randos...but never got detailed until nearly the final book of the line. Here, we get some info up front. The New Order's symbol is an eye with a seven-point star for a pupil. The seven points represent its seven members - never more, never less. There are always exactly seven members of NOM. The only way to earn your way into the society is to kill one of them and take their seat. If someone is strong enough to do that, the seat is theirs by right. This is why there are no Heroes in the Order - even those who might want to infiltrate it and take it down from within would not remain Heroes long. The sheer villainy needed to maintain the position is too much. Most of the Order are not public figures, preferring to remain in the shadows, unseen. They also tend to enjoy using Heroes to push their plots forward, referring to these efforts with food metaphors such as 'I have a stew brewing' or 'I have bread in the oven.'

Novus Ordo Mundi began in the days of the Old Republic of Numa, when seven senators decided to take over, installing a puppet Emperor. They killed him and replaced him with a puppet Empress when he became too hard to control, and did the same to her, and to the next, and the next. Eventually, the Empire fell. Some say that NOM was behind that, too. They almost never directly act in affairs, however. They use their extensive wealth to hire mercenaries, and put as many middlemen and as much distance between themselves and their plots as they can. This means they rarely have any direct control over their schemes, but also insulates them from danger. Most of them claim this is to maintain secrecy, but the truth is that most of NOM's membership is far too cowardly to do much of anything.

There are exceptions. They are the dangerous ones. These members are particular about their plans, and know the best way to get them done is to do them personally. However, to ensure secrecy, they alway eliminate every witness. Every witness. Occasionally, this results in mass murder, houses full of the dead...but that's the level of secrecy NOM demands of its members. The Order funds schemes voted on by its chairs, with majority devote dictating which schemes get Order time, labor and money to back them up. The spoils are then divided among the chairs. If a chair acts on their own, they must refund the Order for any resources used, with a ten percent interest added on top.

Very few know of NOM - they kill people that get too close, after all. They are not above using murder and blackmail to hide themselves, far from it. They've gotten quite good at it over the past thousand years. Each member takes a vow to never, ever speak of the Order with anyone except the other chairs. Breaking this vow means any other chair may kill you without repercussions. Otherwise, chairs are forbidden to interfere with each others' business. Only breaking the vow lifts this, and is cause for utter annihilation. However, despite their best efforts, rumors of NOM are everywhere. So far, no one has ever been able to prove their existence...but perhaps one day.

The GM advice chapter is surprisingly good, especially given, well, Wick. It's certainly arrogant in tone and rather pretensious, but that can be forgiven. It is very clear that having fun is the key thing, and that if someone's not having fun, that needs to be fixed. It treats this as the GM's job, primarily, but hey, traditional gaming. The GM's job, it says, is to entertain the players and to make sure everyone gets their time to shine. It talks about how to make stories that are fun and engaging, and how to improvise. Actually, I feel the improvisation advice is the best in the book - stuff like, say, if a player gives you a mystery of who killed their father, have five answers and go with the one that gets the best engagement out of the PCs when they meet them. Don't figure everything out in advance. Have multiple answers, and be ready to abandon any plan. Let the players tell you the answers.

Also it tells you to watch pro wrestling to get good at how to make a story pop quickly, and honestly I love that advice. It is also clear that communication with players is required, that you are adults and everyone has to talk to each other. It even talks about how killing characters is lame and boring because of how much power the GM has, and the real trick is hurting them in ways that make them want to act - rather than ways that just beat them down and irritate them. ...it still does cite the fucking 'player in prison for 20 years' thing, as part of the nasty things to do to players rant, because it's still fuckin' John Wick and his head occasionally slips back up his ass. Then it goes back to telling you to be on the players' side, to support them and not try to fuck them over or force them to worry about the 'best' choice over the most fun choice. Like, I have no idea, the advice is kind of schizophrenic at times.

It even has a thing about how the best thing to do with problem players is to...talk to them like adults, ask them to stop being dicks and, if that fails, ask them to leave the group because we're all entitled to respect and fun. I have no idea why the Play Dirty shit still comes up every so often. Also, it reminds us that Heroes never murder. They kill, but murder is the deliberate killing of a helpless person and that is always evil.

The End.

So - what do you guys want next from the line? We have, in rough publication order:
Heroes and Villains: 40 pregen Heroes and 40 premade Villains, ready for use as NPCs or PCs or whatever. Surprisingly well-written.
Pirate Nations: An exploration of the Not Caribbean, the Not Dutch East India Company's villainy, and the Devil Jonah.
Nations of Theah, Vol. 1: An exploration of Avalon, Castille, Montaigne and Vesten.
Nations of Theah, Vol. 2: An exploration of Eisen, the Sarmatian Commonwealth, Ussura and Vodacce.
Crescent Empire: The Not Middle East.
The New World: Not South America.
Lands of Gold and Fire: Not Africa.

Pirate Nations: Crossing The Seas

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

The ATC argument is persuasive, so...



7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Crossing The Seas

This book is all about the pirate lands and the Not Caribbean. It is all about freedom-loving sailors and villainous money-grubbers. Pirates are free, as no others are, bound only by the charters they freely agree to enter. Each ship a state, in fact, in a nation of pirates. For them, nation isn't land - it's people coming together for mutual benefit. This view is not one shared by most continental Theans, and it makes them dangerous. This book introduces six new factions. It's got Numa, which is Not Greece and was one of the earliest Thean civilizations, who now fight for their independence from the Crescents and Vodacce alike. It's got La Bucca, a Castillian island prison-turned-free nation of neutrality. You have the Rahuri of the Atabean Sea, who once lived in Aztlan, the mainland of the New World, but are now expert sailors that travel from island to island. It has Aragosta, the Republic of Pirates, which is the Not Libertalia created by the Brotherhood of the Coast. It's got Jaragua, a failing Montaigne colony taken over by the Atabean Trading Company with slave labor, who then revolted and became Not Haiti. And then there's the Atabean Trade Company themselves, the Not Dutch East India Company who run a massive, illegal slave trade between Ifri and the Atabean Sea to fund their empire of trade. And of course we get plenty of new magic, too - the blood sorcery of Charter Magic, the gifts of the Devil Jonah, Jaraguan Kap Sevi, the mystic Mohwoo tattoos of Aragosta, the Mystirios of Numa and Soryana, the ancestral power of the Rahuri dead.

We begin at the cradle of Thean civilization: Numa. Numa is a series of archipelagos that lies between the Sarmatian Commonwealth's ports and the Crescent Empire, near the continent of Ifri, sometimes called Alkebulan. It was the home of the ancient Numanari Republic of heroic myth, the birthplace of science and reason, and an ancient powerhouse. Key word: ancient. That was a very, very long time ago. The Numa you hear about in universities is not today's Numa. In more recent history, Numa has been the staging ground for countless wars for control of the straits. It is a strategic waypoint between Ifri, the Crescent Empire and Theah, and each wants to control it. Numa itself has been fighting for its own identity to resist these invaders for centuries, and not always winning. Still, no occupier stays forever. Sooner or later, the Numanari or some other nation drive them off. And still, the Numanari stand alone, remembering the old dream.

Every occupying nation has forced their culture on Numa, and you can see architecture from across the world in its buildings, fashions from many lands on its people, and skin tones of even more varying color than anywhere else in the world. All are Numanari now, bound by common spirit. After the most recent revolts against occupiers, a number of different strong leaders have risen in Numa, hoping to unite it as royals...but they've had a problem. They can't fight each other, or the other nations will come in and use the chaos to take over. However, conquest and struggle are the only real measure of a Numanarai ruler. To be free, you must fight for it. That is the Numanari way - all have the right to fight for their freedom, to pursue kleos - the incorruptible glory. Courage means nothing if no one is there to witness it, after all. Unlike most nations, the Numanari do not view their identity in terms of birth. Anyone can have kleos, and to have kleos is to be Numanari. That is the Light of Numa.

It was only five years ago that the Crescents and Vodacce had contested control of the islands, and the Sarmatians were trying to take control as well. They exploited the land, but the people of the islands came together for a common goal: free Numa. They saw an opportunity, with two nations fighting and a third preparing to fight. The revolution was led by Kucik Metaxas, a former naval captain who lost an arm at sea and became a silk farmer, who spoke of pride, honor and courage, of a united Numa. The Vodacce treated the revolt as a problem for the Crescents...and when the Crescent commanders chose to abandon Numa instead, the Vodacce were entirely unprepared for the united Numanari revolutionaries. Within six months, all occupying forces had been driven out, and for the first time in centuries, Numa was one nation. The Sarmatians immediately decided to seek peace rather than fight them, hoping to establish trade routes, and became the first to officially recognize Numa and support them. For many Sarmatians, Numa is the eleventh modern nation and an inspiration to those seeking democracy.

While both the Crescent Empire and Vodacce have both tried invading Numa to take the islands back, every attempt has failed spectacularly. The Numanari solidarity seems unbreakable. However, Numa itself remains in a terrible state, as the various factions try to take control without allowing foreigners to take over. It's not quite open warfare, but it's a cold war of lies and secrets that has each ruler trying to undermine the others. Subtle moves, stolen shipments, burned crops. Some still believe virtue will win out, but it's hard to win a war when both sides can't agree on the rules. The only common factor that binds them all is the three words that started the revolution: We are Numa.

Indeed, it's really all that most Numanari have in common. Numa's people are extremely diverse. You can find temples of all kinds in Numa - Vaticine, Objectionist, even polytheist temples to ancient gods and pagan rites in the woods. Sometimes people attend more than one of these at once. Numanari solidarity means you accept everyone, regardless of their faith or looks. Even foreigners inspired by recent events, though they took a bit longer to fit in until they helped to rebuild. Those who give of themselves for Numa are Numanari.

Numanari society is divided into two castes: warrior (haimon) and non-warrior (ergein). You choose your caste, and each strives for kleos in its own way. Children between ages 7 and 9 are brought to a Numanari Oracle, who speaks to the child privately. After that, the child decides their caste based on their self-knowledge and the Oracle's words. The haimon train to be the best warriors possible, and all they know is fighting from the time they enter the caste. Spears, shields, swords, hands - any kind of fighting. The ergein, on the other hand, work. They maintain the land, make the wine, manage the books and otherwise make the place work. They aren't peasants as other nations understand it - they are Numanari, after all. They take great pride in their labor, striving to be the best at whatever job they pursue. The Numanari see a great honor in toil - it is kleos, just as fighting is kleos for the haimon. Without haimon, the land is defenseless. Without ergein, there is no land to defend.

Numanari fashion is a mix of pretty much every nation out there. Senators, however, wear traditional Numanari garb at their official duties - white himations to show purity of spirit. Others sometimes also wear these togas at official events for the same reason. While the Crescent Empire had enacted sumptuary laws limiting what could be worn and by who, these have been revoked. However, most Numanari still prefer simple and practical clothes to extravagant ones. Numanari food is full of olives, zucchini and vinegar, as well as many spices which are grown on the islands and often sold elsewhere, such as pepper, thyme and cilantro. Souvla and souvlaki are two exceptionally popular local dishes - spit-roasted and spiced meat mixes. So far, no sailor has ever convinced them to part with their recipes for it. The Numanari also have sole control, as far as anyone knows, over mint, which only grows on the island Nuama and is the secret ingredient of Numanari cooking. No one has yet found a way to make it grow north of Numa, but they're trying.

Kleos is the most important Numanari concept. It derives from a word meaning 'to hear' and is a mix of reputation and accomplishments together - everything there is to know about a person. Kleos is all for most Numanari, and a single stain on their reputation can ruin it entirely and must be erased. The idea is that if your kleos is pure, all can tell - and if it is stained, like a white toga, they can tell just as easily. A stained reputation must be cleaned immediately with an act of courage. Many foreigners find the Numanari to be boastful and arrogant - because this is the public face, worn outside the home. Among friends and family, a Numanari uses the private face, a more introspective demeanor. The public face must be boastful and proud, as you must make sure all know of your deeds, of your ancestors' greatness and the foes you have beaten. You must identify problems and say how you'd solve them. It's part of kleos. Among friends, you serve kleos with introspection. Many Numanari have pet names only their friends and family know, and while you may briefly reveal your private face in public to show sincerity, this is rare. It is seen as boorish and patronizing if overused. Numanari never cry in public - that is for the private face. A senator might shed a single tear or even hide her face at a friend's funeral and be seen as sincerely breaking the public face with emotion too great to contain, but one who wept at a public speech would be seen as manipulative and insincere.

Agoge is another important concept. It was a method of training warriors in the polis of Lakedaimon, but it's become quite popular throughout Numa now, in various degrees. The best academies are still on Lakedaimon, of course, but there are others. Kings and queens have been known to recruit skilled instructors for the purpose of warrior academies. Agoge is brutal, violent and demanding. Both boys and girls are sent to learn it from the age of five to eight, to master warfare, stealth, weapons combat and pain tolerance. Those who can't take it are sent home, though not in dishonor - to even last one day is proof of courage. Agoge students also study song, dance, public speaking, courtship and history. Agoge is not just for warriors - it produces complete humans. The training, if withstood, produces some of the most disciplined fighters in Theah. During the occupation, the Crescents outlawed the academies, but the training continued in secret, and the agoge warriors rose up to help drive them out. The training's rigor varies by island, with none matching the Lakedaimon academies. Students at Lakedaimon are kept underfed deliberately, and shown where food is stored at night. Anything they steal is theirs - but getting caught means getting punished. Thus, they learn stealth in real conditions. They are also taught to hunt, and allowed to keep anything they kill, to prepare them to hunt their own food. They also quickly learn that if you hunt, you had better bring back some for your friends, which builds camaraderie.

Next time: Religion


Pirate Nations: GYROS

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - PiratE Nations: GYROS

Numanari music is an eclectic mix of cultural styles. The most popular instrument is the Numanari lute, the baglamas, which has become a symbol of the aoidoi, the professional bards of Numa. Aoidoi are masters of memorization, who may recite epic poetry at will for hours. However, the Numanari musical tradition is more than just aoidoi telling stories of their past. They adapt stories from all cultures and myths, and so are some of the most eclectic in the world. It is said that no story is truly told until told by an aoidos.

The Numan native faith is the Pantheon, and it's incredibly popular in the isles. The gods, they say, are always watching and even manipulating events. However, the Numanari do not actually see the Pantheon as entities, even if they treat them as it. They are symbols of truth, and a Numanari respects truth over all things. Just because the gods don't actually exist doesn't mean they aren't real. The Numanari see their gods as elements of the human condition. The Goddess of War and the Goddess of Wisdom are real in the sense that they live within the heart and mind of a human. They symbolize deep concepts that cannot adequately be described in language. Calling on the gods means calling on your own mental and physical abilities. The gods are you, and that is why they are real.

In ancient Numa, the citizens were told how to do the proper rites to the Pantheon by the hiereia. The hiereia still perform rituals today, but the focus has shifted. Instead of communing with the gods literally, a hiereus uses the rites to bring forth the gods within each person. Numanari temples are more like a private club than an open church. They are known as mysterion, mysteries - you experience the mysterion of a god. To attend, you must be initiated by the hiereia, which teaches you the symbolism of the god and the sacred truths they communicate. Once you are initiated, you are a mystai, one who has experienced the mystery. Mystai typically take vows of secrecy, as the secrets of the gods lose all power and meaning when communicated outside the bounds of ritual. Typically, a Numanari will have only one god as their patron, but seem seek the mysteries of several. The more mysterion you can master, the greater your glory, but you must maintain balance in all things - even gods.

Zendio, Father of the Gods, has few temples. He is a distant figure, isolated atop a great mountain. All of the other gods are his children by various mothers. The oldest tales say he is also father of humans, but not directly. He seduced the goddess Terra, and when he found her pregnant, she fled to Earth, and humanity rose from the soil as a result. The Numanari rarely call on Zendio, for he has a great temper and does not care for humans much, being more likely to curse than bless. Stories of his hatred and curses are legendary, wiping out entire towns or sending horrible plagues. However, he does have some priests, who know him as the Far-Off Father, and they speak of a time he was less hateful. They say he once loved unborn humanity and the goddess Terra, believing they could bring peace to his family's squabbles. However, he then had a dream of those children being restless, noisy and causing suffering. He cried out, and Terra awoke him before he could see the rest of the dream. He talked about caging or killing her children, and so she fled - and by touching soil, she doomed all men to be forever mortal. She has never returned to Zendio, preferring to watch over humanity. Thus, Zendio was driven to his current rage and despair, and while he might be able to return to kindness if he were to meet Terra again and convinced her to love him once more, he is not kind now. He is called on only when his righteous fury against tyrants and human destruction are needed.

Dithyrambos, God of Plenty is a beautiful young man in his prime, a lord of harvest and food and drink. For the crime of teaching humanity to make wine and cook, Zendio chained him to a stone that must ever be pushed uphill, killing him any time he tires. Every spring, he is reborn and begins again. His initiates learn that the stone represents the milling of wheat or the grinding of barley, and his yearly quest makes him the field itself, harvested and then planted. And the field is also the human soul, which must be cut down and replenished or rot in the field, unharvested. We must always strive to better ourselves and begin our lives anew, or we will just grow old and tired and dead of purpose. Celebrate, rejoice and cast off the old. All in nature does this.

Supati, Deity of Language and Magic, is sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes both, sometimes neither. They are a trickster that has told humans many secrets, giving wisdom in the form of a falcon or a snake or a beggar. Zendio does not approve, but cannot catch Supati. Their initiates undergo a ritual retelling of the punishments they received for their gifting humanity with three secrets: Song, the lever and language. Each gift requires a yet more severe penance, but Supati always finds a way to avoid the punishment or trickily rephrase it so that it is no punishment at all.

Potnia Agrotera, Goddess of the Hunt and War, is twin to Theonoa Dianoia. Where her sister is cold, Potnia lives for bloodshed. She is the warrior in the midst of battle, not the general or strategist. Her hair is the color of twilight, her body tattooed. She fights with a sword and has no shield. She takes only women as her lovers and her sacred bird is the raven given to her by her sister. Sometimes they love each other; other times they fight. Once, there was a great war between Tyrian and Lakedaimon, caused by their rivalry over a hero, Hypatia, who was raised by wolves and a mighty warrior. Theonoa wanted her as a general, while Potnia wanted her as a lover. Hypatia saw she was doomed no matter which she picked, so she chose Theonoa, leading Potnia to send her warriors to fight Tyrian in a ten year siege that Potnia eventually lost. In her fury, she personally slew Hypatia and dragged her corpse to Lakedaimon, her sister weeping all the while. Those initiated to Potnia are often made to play the role of Hypatia and forced to choose, taking part in a passion play until they are 'slain' and hurled into a coffin. There, they learn that Potnia made a deal with the God of Death, a secret bargain that is not spoken of in the public tales. Potnia gives up her own immortality that Hypatia may live again, giving up that which was most sacred for her love. The blood of Potnia runs in her initiates' veins, as does Hypatia's - the blood of a hero and the soul of a goddess.

Salacio is the God of the Underworld and the Sea. Every sailor that leaves Numanari ports makes two offerings before reaching the sea - fish or reed from a river, to remind that the journey is for the good of all, even those that remain, and ashes, bones or even a sacrificed animal, to honor the lord of death. Even the most daring sailor would never forget this, for fear of Salacio's wrath. His temples always bear his motto: To telos perimenei parakato. The end waits below. It is a warning and a prayer. Once, Salacio was not god of both underworld and sea - there was a goddess of the Underworld, with shadows for hair and fire for eyes. She walked freely, spreading pestilence and fire. Her name was Hecteba. She burnt down a village that was home to one of Zendio's lovers, and Zendio ordered the gods to destroy Hecteba. Each tried, but only Salacio's sea waters could drown her - along with large parts of Numa and thousands of mortal lives. The priests say she died, but rumor says Hecteba still exists, locked forever under the ocean's depths. None know if Salacio can release her, but Zendio does not often give gifts for partial effort - if Salacio defeated Hecteba, then he'd have also been the one to cage her. In recognition, he was given the Underworld, and now the rivers of Numa are passages for the dead. Funerals involve great barges piloted by Salacio's priests, the ferriers, who bring the dead to great tomb-shrines. Those who cannot afford or do not deserve such honor are burned on the water's edge, their ashes scattered on the sea. It is said that Salacio sometimes gives a boon to the pure of heart, and takes them to the Underworld himself, rather than leaving their soul to languish in the sea. Salacio is a mysterious god, however, his moods changing quickly. Once he is committed, however, nothing can turn his course. The spirits of the rivers serve him. His icons are the trident, dolphin and the long staff of the ferryman, carved with his motto. He is a wealthy god indeed, lord of all under land and sea, and he always demands tribute - a cautionary tale on the effect of wealth.

Theonoa Dianoia, Goddess of Craft and Wisdom, is twin to Potnia Agrotera. They were born after humanity, and Terra snuck back to heaven to see them and if they could restore Zendio's kindness. Potnia was formed fully of his rage, born in blood, and so Terra scooped up the second child and fled. The touch of mortality on her feet infected Theonoa, and she was born an infant, forced to grow slowly yet blessed from birth with a goddess' knowledge. Thus, she is a god of cycles as well as craft and wisdom. She was born, she aged, she died an old woman, and then she was reborn again, a child. Each cycle has made her wiser, kept her cool and calculating as a tactician and strategist. Her skills are plans and organizing, though she is no slouch in battle. Her statues show her three stages - infant, warrior and crone-general, always wearing a plumed helm. The death of Hypatia enraged her, and she no longer loves her sister and the suffering she causes. It has led Theonoa to withdraw, her sadness and fury calcifying. Her more militant followers are known to tear down the statues of Potnia, while more moderate ones merely belittle the warlike mentality of Potnia's followers. Theonoa's initiates carry spears and shields, dedicating themselves to both crafts and war. Her symbols are the eagle, owl and leopard, which are painted on her followers' shields.

Terra, Lost Goddess of Humanity, is the mother of Numa and all humankind. She fled Zendio to come to the earth, where humanity was born. She was once the goddess of light, but she gave that up for her children, who were born mortal once her feet touched the soil. She lay in a cave with her children, weeping in fear of the future, but she was visited by her sister Hede, and by Supati and Dithyrambos, who comforted her and promised their secret aid to humanity. Hede, the primordial queen of fire and hearth, swore that humans would never lose the gift of fire and protection against the dark, while Dithyrambos promised swore to teach them how to survive and Supati swore to teach them how to teach others. Only when these oaths were made did Terra emerge from her cave with humanity. She never returned to Zendio, and she still roams the world, it is said. Thus, she has no shrines or temples; her initiates wander from city to city, telling stories and sharing what they have. They are called the Perpetual Parents, the Wanderers and the Caretakers, and they are considered to be guests who must never be harmed, wherever they go. Anyone that harms a Caretaker is subject to the harshest possible punishment for defiling a pure and holy person. Their symbols are bags of earth, carried at the waist, and their homespun clothing. They carry no weapon - only a walking stick that can be used to defend themselves if they truly must.

Caledon, God of Medicine, the Home and Family, was born of the union of Zendio and the mute Hede after Terra fled heaven. He is the youngest of gods, a quiet patron and shepherd of men. He was beloved by all for his youth and curiosity as well as his empathy, and only he is able to bring Zendio some measure of peace in his rage. It is perhaps only this that has allowed Zendio to love him despite Caledon's closeness to humanity. Caledon convinced Zendio to spare mankind from total destruction by offering to teach them love, and Zendio relented, gifting his son the caduceus, a staff intertwined with two living serpents, who would serve to protect and advise him. Caledon took on mortal form and crossed Numa, spreading knowledge of medicine and domesticity, teaching that your family was a community, not just about your direct family. He taught the rules of hospitality favored by his mother, and of the bonds of family and fellowship that crossed all borders. It's no surprise he's one of the most popular gods. He is patron of medicine, the home, hospitality and family. He has temples in every city, which offer lodging to any who need it. Priests of Caledon can be from any background or gender, and they serve as physicians, counselors, teachers and mediators. They are battlefield medics and wedding officiants and all manner of things in between. Caledon himself is traditionally a handsome, tan youth with pale hair. His symbols are the ivy branch, the wedding band and the caduceus.

Hecteba, Goddess of Mysteries, Murder and Dark Magic, is not dead - whatever Salacio's priests may say. She once killed indiscriminately with fire and magma and shadow, and her battle with Salacio nearly destroyed Numa. The former goddess of the Underworld was defeated, cast into an undersea prison where she still sleeps now. Her dark dreams are not silent, though, for she retains her powers of mystery and magic. She sleeps, but her dreams sow the seeds of release, concealing her continued power. She recruits her initiates in nightmare, shaking their souls with fear and claiming their faith. Her followers are everywhere, despite the fact that her worship is illegal. They find each other by the sign they bear - the dreams of the woman with red pits for eyes and long black hair, her mouth eternally screaming. They whisper of their dreams and the secrets they learn in them from the voice that isn't a voice. These people exist largely on the fringes of Numanari society, the unlucky or outcast, and often those who sell murder...but sometimes, they are normal people, staring out to sea, touched by madness. All of Hecteba's followers know the joys of murder, eventually. Many are soldiers, mercenaries or assassins, and she often inspires them to leave her image on their victims, to remind Numa that her influence is not gone. Many dismiss them, but some know the truth - Hecteba is waiting.

Next time: Governments, plural.

Pirate Nations: Too Many Kings

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Too Many Kings

The Numanari government is a patchwork mess of different systems held together out of tradition rather than anything else. In practice, there's four different governments, all running simultaneously. You have the original democratic republics, the Crescent bureaucracy from the various occupations, the warlord dynasties and the new monarchies. None were meant to work together, but Numa's been managing. For now, at least. The Monarchies each claim a single island city-state, a polis. Each is separated by water and mountains, and the Numanari poleis grew to be quite different as a result, each with their own character. However, they do share some elements. Each has a ruler and a senate, though the powers of each are different by polis. There are dozens of poleis with their own divine patrons, but five are currently most prominent. These five tend to be at the heart of any polis conflict, usually using the honor of their patrons as an excuse to take out old hostilities and grudges.

Lakedaimon is the Sword of Numa, the polis of warriors. It is ruled by Queen Soteira, and often gets seen as a city-state of warmongers, though its people are no mere brutes. They believe the world is one of strife and conflict that must be overcome. Every citizen, adult or child, can wield a weapon - all of them, even the ergein. Their patron is Potnia Agrotera. The smallest influential polis is distant Ephyra, closest to the Crescents. Its ruler is the decadent yet influential woman Anfisa, and its patron is Dithyrambos, the Pre-Born. Its people are often seen as drinkers and revelers over all else, and Queen Anfisa is known to three week-long festivals at any excuse, keeping diplomats waiting months for actual business. Then there is Hylicia, sometimes claimed to be more Crescent than Numanari - though its people dispute the claim, though there's more mosques on the island than any other and they speak a creole of Crescent and Numanari tongues. Their King, Lysandros, wears a mask for reasons unknown. Some say it's due to a birth defect, others that it has magical reasons. Supati is the patron of Hylicia, and is a relative newcomer among the Pantheon.

Fourth is Kousai, wealthy now due its thriving ports. It is ruled by Queen Syntyche, whose pride in her people and their wealth is well-known and loud. Salacio is the city's patron - both as the lord of the sea and Underworld, and as the lord of wealth, which Syntyche never lets anyone forget. Some of her people claim Kousai was the seat of the Old Republic that ruled the world, and Syntyche encourages such claims, which she is building a library in the hopes of housing evidence for. Tyrian is the final major polis, ruled by King Polyaretos. Once, it was the most populous island, and it was here that the production of purple dye was begun, via an involved process using snails. The king takes his name from a famous Numanari hero - a trickster, not a fighter. The island's patron is Theonoa Dianoia, and Tyrian is renowned for its intellectuals and its prominent place in the history of philosophy and science.

The Warlord Dynasties rule over the smaller poleis for the most part. They've had little luck with stable royalty, and are mostly kept together by warlords or those determined to prevent anarchy in their homes. They range from benevolent dictators to cruel tyrants, and they're unable to agree on much of anything at all. They are often in conflict. Then you have the union of Magna Numera, a league of three city-states seeking to maintain their independence after the polis of Adamaradon declared its intent to annex the entire island chain under a its king, Milyptos. The city-states Akragosus, Libanuma and Bothrauton were closest, and they united to protect their people from Adamaradon, driving his forces back and routing them. They then formalized the alliance as a league of mutual defense and growth. While each city maintains its own government, they continue to work together. Akragosus is a representative democracy led by a senate and a popularly elected proconsul. Libanuma is a primarily Ifri-descended city ruled by a king chosen by its nobles and chiefs. Bothrauton has a dynastic queen, Calysto, who is daughter of a Vesten warlord who seized the place from the Vodacce. She remains in power for as long as she can keep the throne, having fought off six assassination attempts so far. While the trio of cities may squabble, they are united against other cities, and feel that their model is the best for the entirety of Numa going forward.

Nikiamara is another notable city, one of the oldest and on the southern tip of the chain. It was once a thriving city of scholars and warriors, famous before the many invasions as a gathering place for philosophers and thinkers of all kinds. It was home to three massive temples to Theonoa, Supati and Caledon, too. It was the most peaceful city of Numa, and that made it a huge target for Crescent raiding. The Crescent invasions destroyed the city, and it is said it was burned to the ground by a rogue general, Islandur, who defied his orders in order to prove to the Numanari that they'd all be destroyed. Its history was lost, and the Crescents rebuilt it as a victory monument. Since they've been driven, it has grown to be a monument to the fleeting nature of any conquest of Numa, and of the price of war. It is a city of ancient ruins under a thriving port, and historians and explorers cross the globe to petition its warlord, the ruthless pirate Galarus, for access to its labyrinthine ruins in search of treasure and lost wisdom.

Then you have the Kodjabashes, bureaucrat-oligarchs that ruled the isles for 300 years based on a Crescent system of inherited bureaucracy. The Crescents put governors on the isles to maintain order and collect tax, selecting these rulers - the kodjabashes - from local nobles to prevent violent revolt. The post was inherited, parent to child, though the Crescents could and did remove people from the post sometimes if a kodjabashis seemed too incompetent. The Vodacce generally left the kodjabashes in control when they took a region, as well. During the revolution, some of the kodjabashes helped to organize the revolutionaries, while others did not and were overthrown. While the royals of the poleis see themselves as the true rulers, the kodjabashes that survived have been left to maintain the infrastructure and bureaucracy of Numa. The kings and queens make decisions, but the kodjabashes are the ones that carry them out. They collect taxes, organize and count votes on local positions and maintain the postal service, which is easily one of the best in Theah.

While a kodjabashis inherits their job, most local governmental offices, like mayors, are elected democratically. Each city and village holds votes for open positions, with what positions and their terms varying by village. For some, there is only the dimarchos (mayor), while others have more. Typically terms are for one year, and some areas enforce term limits while others don't. Elected officials work closely with the kodjabashes to keep things running, though they also often have jurisdictional clashes, which usually have no clear solution. The winner is generally whoever has the most influence with the local king or warlord.

Numanari economics are essentially trade-reliant, though there are plenty of farmers, fishermen and craftsmen. Most Theans have a somewhat idealized view of a Numanari life, but the reality is that it's pretty normal, if wealthier than some other nations. Its central location makes it a popular hub for pirates to move goods, get repairs and find crew. Individual city-states treat pirates based on local custom, but everyone knows that without them, Numanari wealth would be much less than anyone likes to admit. While the nation is in a key trade position between Ifri, Theah and the Crescents (and, to an extent, further east), their city-state structure keeps them from growing very fast. Many philosophers believe a unified government would help the nation greatly, but tradition has kept it from happening. Most Numanari neither want nor feel they need a high king.

The most common Numanari currency is the drachma, which each island mints with their ruler's face. There are two denominations - 20 silver drachmas to one gold. Numa's the only real place left that uses silver and gold coinage, and while the Guilder hasn't affected local currency due to its inherent value, it is growing as a presence due to ease of use and foreign acceptability. Some Numanari resent this and refuse to use Guilders, but others recognize the practicality. Most are just slowly adopting the Vesten currency because their own is losing favor outside the isles. There are also some old Crescent currency in circulation, but most Numanari refuse to accept it, calling it vromiko nomismatos - dirty coin, a reminder of worse times.

There are also some places that are noteworthy besides the poleis above. Paestum is a town built by the Vodacce general Carmelo Baldassari, who had heard about agoge and liked the idea. The town was built around a hybrid agoge meant to train skilled haimon - and it worked. It worked so well that it defeated him. He'd spent on getting the best possible teachers in the belief that they'd teach Vodacce children useful skills...but as a result, the children often came to feel less patriotism for Vodacce and more for the unity of Numa. Just before the first graduating class got out of school, they staged a revolt and drove out Baldassari and his men. The students stayed in Paestum, settling it - including Baldassari's own daughter, Carolina. The agoge is still maintained today, now educating young Numanari instead of Vodacce.

Naucripos is, uh, the designated crime city. It is the city of sellswords and cheats, first made as a stopping off point for Numanari soldiers moving around the Old Republic. It was built in haste and barely survived the constant warfare of the Numanari past. At last, now that peace has been achieved, a good if rickety port city has been left for the locals. They set up a provisional council, and all was fine until the Red Hand League came. They are professional mercenaries, set up to give veterans a chance to use their skills for the highest bidder. The League is led by five Numanari war heroes, and they've made Naucripos their home port - and the port of call for anyone needing a hired killer. You can find just about any kind of mercenary for the right price now, as long as they follow the Red Hand code: Always keep a contract, never turn your back on a fellow Hand in need, and seek no quarrel but always finish one.

Next time: Notables.

Mlypnos

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Mlypnos

Numa has no standing army. Each polis has their own armed force, of course, but they tend to the small size. On the other hand, pretty much every citizen has some military training. The hatred of outside invaders that once united them has fallen to squabbling, with only a few seeking common cause to unit the poleis. But hey, opinions!

quote:

Avalon: A land of "legends." More like a land that traded its freedom for magical slavery. Every collar is a noose.
Castille: Fanaticism moved them from reason to blind emotion. Weakness. They were once great. Now, they are mired in a poverty of imagination, courage and compassion.
Eisen: A Nation of warriors who faced the ultimate test and lost. That doesn't bring them dishonor. One the contrary, they fought until the last of them. Never retreated, never surrendered. The Eisen are a great people...they've just forgotten how great.
Montaigne: The monarchy is blind. We have seen the chaos awaiting them. It seethes at the edge, waiting to drag them all down. There will come a time when the only diplomacy will be made at the edge of a blade.
Pirate Nations: A thief is a thief is a thief. Even if it's a thief you hire.
Sarmatian Commonwealth: The Sarmatians have taken a step in the right direction. But not all are equal, despite what they claim. Some are Heroes with souls of gold. Others are Villains with souls of vile darkness. Judge a soul on its worth and do not assume all intend the best.
Ussura: A civil war over which corrupt monarch will rule. The people of Ussura are superstitious, afraid of reason, afraid of technology, afraid of everything. They are proud but fearful. Halfway to being Heroes.
Vestenmennavenjar: Their people live for battle, live for courage, live for glory! But they are distracted by shiny baubles and false accomplishments. Gold is a means to glory, nothing else. Glory and glory alone. All else is vanity.
Vodacce: They thought they could control us. They though they could rule us. They though they could manipulate our destiny. They only delayed it for a while. We are united. And they are expelled.

Now we get some notable NPCs. Lysinnus is the consort to the Amazon Queen Artemisia. He stands at a historic crossroads, for he met her in the early days of the battles against Vodacce, and they fell in love. This bond between mand and woman is frowned on by the Amazons, so they kept their affair secret, even as she bore him seven daughters. After the wars ended, he asked to be allowed to remain among the Amazons, to be near his daughters. She has been putting him off for years. Lysinnus knows he might be able to reunite the Amazons with the rest of Numa, but he has no interest in these proud people losing their power and individuality. He is a skilled horseman and spends his time following after the Cyrene horde, watching for threats to the Amazons and his queen from outside.

Queen Calysto is the half-Vesten ruler of Bothrauton, a bloodthirsty and formidable warrior. She was raised by her father, the warlord Kokistos, and his foreigner bride. She has embraced the idea of kleos entirely, to overcome what she sees as the stain of her foreign blood. When her father died in the war, she took up his sword and shield, seizing the Vodacce-controlled city of Bothrauton and taking on the title of queen. She cannot live a life without bloodshed now, and she keeps herself apart from the people, especially after the last few assassination attempts by her rivals. She knows she needs an heir, and many suitors have come to court her. Most, unless they are very polite, are sent home in pieces.

King Milyptos is the disgraced ruler of Adamaradon. After his failed attempt to conquer Akragosus, Libanuma and Bothrauton ruined his army and created the Magna Numara right on his front yard, he slipped into madness. Now, he spends his nights wandering, speaking to something no one else can here, writing secret letters sent out by envoy. His court is disturbed, but has not realized the depth of his betrayal - he has made contact with the Vodacce princes, trading them information on Numa's defenses to back an invasion. This would be bad enough, but he has also fallen to the worship of Hecteba as well. He is a wild-eyed madman, killing any that openly question him, and many wonder how much longer his city can last.

Carolina Baldassari is the leader of the Paestum agoge, the child of a strict military upbringing and a passion for truth and honor. Her father, General Baldassari, enrolled her in his hybrid Vodacce/Numanari agoge, and while she resisted at first, she thrived there, embracing the idea of kleos and rising to be one of the most decorated students. It did not take her long to also embrace the idea of a free Numa, and when her father refused to support her ideas of Numanari independence, she led the student revolt that pushed him out. Once Paestum was freed, the other students nominated her as the leader of their town. She is a fair and just woman, and a show of the power of one hero in changing an entire nation.

Places! The Lost City is nestled between two mountains on the northernmost Numa island, and is one of the greatest mysteries of Numa. It is an ancient city of wonders, known as the Lost City of Gods in full. Haimon often dream of going there to prove their bravery, and it is the origin of a thousand myths of the past. No one knows how old it is or who originally lived there. Legend claims it was the home the gods made for Terra and her children when she emerged from the caves. Others say it was a city of giants whom the ancient Numanari conquered. Its architecture is certainly far too large to have been designed for mortal humans. Its buildings are four times larger than most, with moascis of battles long past, crumbling roads and a city that still, somehow, stands. No one knows what happened to its people, but elary explorers spoke of discovering it abandoned, as if it were left in a hurry. What was left behind were treasures of many kinds - including potent weapons and strange, glowing artifacts. The ruins, they said, were also home to strange monsters waiting to attack the unwary...but even that cannot keep away the fearless or the fools. Those who seek to make a name for themselves can take the high road up to the city in the mountain pass. They often do not return.

Aigosthena is the cliffside fortress that serves as home to the elite warriros who swore that future Numanari would always be ready for the next wave of oppressors. These vigilant soldiers name themselves the Myrmidon. Aigosthena is itself a citadel on the bluffs of the coast of one of the eastern isles. It was originally built by King Achelanus, whose polis Theloniki was prosperous until it was torn apart by the Vodacce. He and his court fled to an old military camp on the cliffs, where the paranoid and bitter king set about working his servants nearly to death to build an invincible citadel. He named it Aigosthena for the daughter he lost when Theloniki fell. His cruelty was legend, and it eventually led to him being murdered by his own steward rather than the Vodacce. When the local Numanari came to the fortress, they found the survivors of the court starving within. The haimon claimed the citadel as a launchpoint for raids against the invaders, and when the war was over, it seemed unclear how to repurpose it, given its location. Kucuk Metaxas himself found the answer. He knew that many of the most dedicated fighters of the war didn't want to go back to being workers, believing a standing force would help prevent later conquest. He charged them to settle at Aigosthena as the Myrmidon, the defends of Numa's spirit. And now, they do, using at as their base whilke they travel the land to fight dangers to their beloved nation.

Cyrene is a unique city-state - it has no set location, but rather ranges across a set of wilds, considering its territory to be wherever its citizens rest. This traveling 'city' is less a city than a horde of matriarchal haimon, who call themselves the Amazons. They long ago gave up sedentary life, and they do not allow men among their number. They are feared for their ferocity and military skill. The Cyrene horde began in ancient times, predating the invasions. Once, they had their own city, Agrotera, patroned by Potnia Agrotera. Their queen, Cyrene, was wise and powerful, sought out for advice by many, and even serving as a symbiotic ally to Tyrins. The Amazons would seek out men of Tyrins as their mates to have children, keeping the girls to raise and giving the boys to Tyrins. It worked well, until the vain warrior Hercules attempted to trick Cyrene into marriage by hosting a party and then attacking when the women slept, to enslave them. The Amazons fought bravely, but in the process, the city burned to the ground. Most of the Amazons died, including Cyrene herself. The survivors fled to the mountains, swearing never again to rest where they might be caught unprepared. Now, the horde travels as a chariot caravan, with horse-riding warriors escorting the small retinue of worker families. When they choose to settle somewhere, they rarely ask permission - they just set up their tent city as they wish, trading and offering recompense with labor and defense. Their camp covers miles when settled, full of their family standards and beautiful tents. The center of the camp is a large tent complex owned by Queen Artemisia, lineal descendant of Cyrene, and her seven daughters. She is controversial among her people, as all of her daughters are children of one man - the horsemaster and poet Lysinnus. Many worry she has grown too soft and long for the days of battle against invaders. In the meantime, they travel as they like, carrying on their traditions.

As a note: Numa didn't exist as a nation in 1e. Numa was just the name of the Not Rome city.

Next time: La Bucca

Pirate Nations: Prison, Pork and Power

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Prison, Pork and Power

La Bucca, the Isle of Temptation, was once the most notorious prison in Thean history, full of violent criminals and political prisoners. Now, it is a free nation, run by a mix of direct democracy and stern leaders. In theory, everyone is equal there. In practice, it gets complicated. The island's original purpose dated back to its discovery by Cardinal Alfonso Ordunez, whose ship was blown off course in a storm and ended up in an island chain west of Castille and Ifri. The crew named it La Palabra de Dios, as it had saved their lives. They spent some time provisioning while the Cardinal and his fellow Church members scouted the isle. There, they discovered a Syrneth ruin, with a single artifact in it along with a number of pictographic tablets that all showed various scenes that included a strange, tentacled monster. Ordunez would not realize the power of the artifact until the crew tried to leave a few days later. A huge creature, monstrous and potent, circled the isle as they set sail - the creature from the tablets. The ship was forced back aggressively, and while the crew wanted to attack it, the Cardinal decided the solution lay in the tablets and the artifact.

Within a week, Ordunez had a basic understanding of the thing's function. It could, in a way, control the monster's movements, directing it to specific islands. He refused to share this secret with any, not even writing them down, for fear that someone else would learn of it. He sent the beast to the opposite side of the island, allowing his ship to escape. A few miles out, he destroyed most of the tablets to prevent anyone else from learning how to use the artifact, hurling the shards into the ocean. However, he also became obsessed with the island and the artifact, envisioning it as a magnificent fortress. He ended up building that fort to keep the artifact under lock and key, believing it to be the key to unlocking the opportunities the island represented. He was not wrong.

Prior to now, public execution was common in Theah, despite the Church's objections. Cardinal Ordunez saw the island as a chance to change that, using the Church to urge the nations to save these damned souls by sequestering them away rather than killing them. At first, only Castille sent its worst prisoners to the island, using them to build barracks and guard houses. Soon, other nations followed suit...but instead of the hardened criminals Castille sent, they shipped off their political prisoners, who were more dangerous as martyrs than as exiles. Ordunez became the warden of this prison and its moral leader, as the Church put him in total command of the island. He brought a group of loyal guards and priests with him, hoping that they could convert the prisoners to a, quote, "philosophically minded lifestyle." The Cardinal wanted order from chaos, redeeming the souls of the prisoners. He saw them as his children, in a way. He also spent a lot of time studying and mastering the beast that lived in the waters.

This all worked out for many years, until one winter morning, when the prisoners revolted under the direction of a masked woman named Allende. (In 1e and, indeed, the core book, Allende was a man. She isn't any more.) They pretended illness, bringing what appeared a pus-laden corpse to the Cardinal's office - White Plague, the ancient disease that once wiped out a third of the Thean population in the 12th and 13th centuries. Allende said the man had been a water carrier for the guardhouses, and they were unsure how long he'd been sick. The water supply was probably contaminated. Within an hour, the Cardinal got all his men onto ships and set sail, leaving the prisoners behind. He'd hoped the plague would run itself out within a few years and he could then return. He had no idea it was all staged.

Allende immediately set up a representative government, with the prisoners electing leaders and herself serving as de facto president until everything was sorted. The biggest issue was the Creature, as they referred to the monster of the waters. No one has any real idea what it is, other than something that can sink ships and occasionally ate prisoners the guards felt were problems and wouldn't be noticed by the Cardinal. The Cardinal had a way to tame it, clearly, because it never attacked supply or prison ships, but any stolen ship would be sunk. The best Allende and her crew could manage was putting the thing to sleep using a single text Ordunez had forgotten to pack. Word soon spread of the White Plague outbreak on the island, and the Cardinal claimed that Theus had judged the prisoners unfit, and that he had left so he could save the island. By the end of the year, none dared to go near the place.

Two years later, the Cardinal returned, though it was hard for him to get ships to join him despite his payments of gold, and he managed to only get one Castillian vessel. The Vendel sent a ship as well when they heard he was going, hoping to beat him there and claim the isle. The Vodacce prince Vincenzo Caligari sent a third, to investigate the rumors of Syrne ruins. On arrival, all three ships held back, as they had seen each other and none wished to be the first to land and put their backs to possible foes - and to avoid attracting the Creature, which the Cardinal feared had become wild. The prisoners, meanwhile, had rallied behind Allende, fearing that the ships would invade. She had still not found a way to command the Creature, and knew that it wouldn't be long before someone called her bluff aboard those ships, so she sent out prisoners to swim out and wave makeshift tentacles, to keep the ruse going. For days, she sent out her decoys and struck at the food and water supplies of the three ships, which would neither draw closer nor leave. After a month, she knew the ships had run out of supplies and could not return home on what they had. She had her men prepare smoked pork and fresh water, sending emissaries to each ship to offer it and safety from the Creature if they would surrender. All three did. She prepared a contract, and gave each crewmember a choice: restorck and leave, or stay on as a citizen. The Treaty of Three Fleets was signed, and Cardinal Ordunez was among the ones who stayed.

Today, despite La Bucca's reputation, it has become a popular port. They welcome visitors, and the island is called La Bucca now after a Montaigne poet decided to name it for the smoked pork on offer. The locals refer to themselves as Buccaneers as a way to reclaim the name, not realizing that it'd eventually become a term used generically to mean 'criminal.' The place is known for being a place where you can buy anything - for a price. Its tentative democracy has also given it a sense of political freedom, drawing in ambassadors from across Theah. Every ship that enters is given a gift of smoked pork and water - the only thing they'll be getting for free, and Allende refuses to end the custom. She says it distinguishes the isle as civilized and a nation, rather than a repository for criminals. The Buccaneers are a diverse lot, but all of them are hardworking and loyal to Allende. Despite this, they do fight each other fairly often, and to maintain order, they have established the Chapters. Each Chapter has charge of some part of island life. Most don't belong to one - just the free life of La Bucca is enough for them. For members of a Chapter, however, they have a chance to protect that freedom and be part of something more.

When Allende took over the place, she had a grand dream of how to run it, with a representative government of the people. Within days of the Cardinal leaving, she held elections for guard master, commissary master and overseer, with prisoners being elected - some more honest than others. At the time, Allende wore a velvet mask as part of her prison sentence, and she promised not to remove it until a general election for president could be held, to remind everyone that she, too, was a prisoner. There were all kinds of nasty rumors about her true identity, but those who worked with her spoke favorably of her. The election happened a month later...with her as the only person running, and all votes going to her. She removed her mask, telling her constituents that she wanted them to feel free to speak to her about anything, but that she would wear it still for visitors, to remind them of the island's roots.

A general election is now held every year for Chapter heads, watch captain and president. Anyone can run, anyone can vote...and every year, every person runs unopposed. For all the claims of democracy, it's pretty clear not everyone agrees with Allende's system. No one dares run against her - which she optimistically believes means her leadership is just too inspiring - and threats and bribes run rampant around election day each year to secure the rest. Allende is not totally unaware of this corruption, but she has no idea how to stop it. She's managed to keep order so far and while she's aware of plots against her, she believes that if she's no longer in charge, the island will devolve into anarchy and crime...so she lets the corruption continue in order to maintain the loyalties of those who benefit from it.

She is not without enemies, of course. Primarily, these are Uwe and Greta Lehmann, a pair of Eisen siblings that came seeking fortune but were stymied by the Chapters. They decided, in the Buccaneer spirit, that if they couldn't get what they wanted, they'd take it from someone else who already had it. Allende is vaguely aware they want her power, and she openly reminds them they can run for president any year, but they see this is a threat and work in secret. The Chapter heads tend, instead, to want to maintain the status quo. They undermine Allende's efforts to get rid of corruption and actively work to keep her in charge, seeing her as a useful puppet. No one seems to get how tentative the government actually is, or that if any of the major players lost an election, it could send the whole thing to ruin. Outside the island, the story of Allende is one of rumor and legend. Few realize La Bucca is a democracy until they get there, and most only know of her as the leader of the island. Honestly, they tend not to know much, thanks to the rumors - Allende is a man, Allende is a dread pirate returned to the isle, Allende is an illegitimate child of l'Empereur, who knows. Some even claim she died years ago and one of her followers took up the name. The truth is a lot more fragile: Allende has only partial control of what she's made, but she's the only one willing to take responsibility for ensuring the island doesn't fall back to chaos or go back to the hands of its former jailors.

Next time: Chapters

Pirate Nations: Chapter 2

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Chapter 2

La Bucca's government has five Chapters - the Eye, the Tentacle, the Fin, the Scale and the Pint. All but the Pint derive their names from the Creature under La Bucca. Originally, these names were given to the people who helped Allende perform the rites that sent the thing to sleep, but they spread from the individual to the office itself, and eventually the Chapters formed from the offices. The Eye handles all communication and security within the island proper. Members wear a scarf bearing a stylized eye to show membership, and their most prominent role is the City Watch, made mainly of older residents of La Bucca. The current head is a man named Alesio, who is said to speak only when there is trouble.

The Tentacle handles travel issues, including maintenance of the tidal rope bridges used when the tide comes in and covers the beach arches leading into the fortress. They are in a lot of ways the guides of La Bucca's guests, and Allende is their official head, though she leaves the day to day business to her subordinates. The Fin handle foreign communications. All members must speak at least three languages, and they take care of all trade records for La Bucca as well as serving as harbormasters, customs officials and the authorities on who can and can't dock. They consider secrets and information their most important commodity - the only one worth trading. Their current head is the infamous Baron Victor Maison.

The Scale is in charge of residential issues and land usage for commercial enterprise. Residents are required to raise at least two pigs a year to support the smoked pork supplies, and the Scale tracks that as well as all businesses on the island. They decide on and impose the tariffs and taxes on foreign and domestic goods, and also control the island treasury to fund public works. Their leader is the Mother. Yes, that's her name. The Mother of La Bucca. The Pint serves to represent the entertainment industry - the jennys, taverns and musicians. They have kept the Vendel League out of control of the island's economy so far. Their head is former prisoner Gwyn Sharps.

There is a rumor of a sixth Chapter, a secret one: the Sirens, who ensure that the privacy of business deals are respected. The name comes from the saying that if you break that privacy, the sirens will come from the sea to get you. Some claim to have encounterd Siren agents who murder transgressors, but the Watch officially denies their existence. The truth? There are Sirens...sort of. When a breach of privacy protocols happens or there's a danger to the island, the Chapter heads may call on trusted Buccaneers as their agents of justice, with each of the five selecting a single Buccaneer for the team, which is given the mission of dealing with the issue. That's what the Sirens are - teams set up for specific jobs, not a Chapter in their own right.

The City Watch work to keep some semblance of order in the streets, despite the very free atmosphere of La Bucca. Even criminals look down on some crimes - mostly public ones. The Watch have the right to enter any establishment at any time, in theory to keep the peace. They break up fights and trouble, punishing those who fight too openly. The Fin prohibits them from boarding ships, however, with the explicit permission of the ship's captain. The Pint also tries to keep them out of gambling houses and taverns - typically via bribes. While crime is thriving, no one questions Watch authority openly. Everyone knows to do their business behind closed doors or risk punishment, and each Chapter supports their work, though Alesio and the Eye are their true patrons, who provide them the power they use. The position of Watch Captain is elected, and currently held by Lucia, a Fate Witch who came to the island five years ago. She keeps a tight rein on the Watch, forbidding its members to drink on duty and requiring that any bribes or monetary exchanges be approved by her. She's pretty much all that keeps them from just being another street gang, and so she has been given leave by the Chapter heads to organize them as she likes.

There is no nation quite as diverse as La Bucca, thanks to the fact that its original inhabitants were undesirables from all over. Some parts of the island are melting pots, while others are favored by certain groups...for a while. It's not rare for a Vesten district to be taken over by Castillians or vice versa, for example. The island's not quite cosmopolitan, but it's very diverse. Buccaneers tend see each other as uneasy allies, bound by an unspoken oath to keep things broadly civilized. This only goes so far, of course...and visitors? They're open season. Said visitors tend to be shocked at how many children are on the island. Many are nativeborn, but many more are orphans. No one's entirely sure how they all keep arriving, as new ones seem to show up daily. The Mother maintains a residential building for the orphans and takes special care of them.

Residents have also developed a complex system of symbols to tell the Watch things while strangers are present. Any offer to buy a Watch member "a drink of your choice" is a way of telling them you're in trouble but can't openly ask for aid, for example, with subsequent offers being code to narrow down the issue - rum means trouble at port, gin is kidnapping, wine means a Chapter head is in danger. Hanging your underpants out a window is another clandestine communication - white means a call for help, while black is a request to help move contraband or a corpse - and no matter what, the call promises payment.

To gain residency, you must pay a small fee and submit an application to the Scale. The Mother looks over each application herself, deciding who to accept or not, typically by considering if you can contribute to the island. Her decision is final. No one's entirely sure what she thinks a good application looks like, however, though she seems to value unique skills. Plenty are coming to visit, at least, since it's the only neutral market in the Atabean Sea - a key place for spies and diplomats, as well as merchants hunting for rare or illicit goods. The market is truly free in every sense - anything and everything can be bought or sold, from artifacts to slaves to art. Food, water and crew are usually reasonably costed, as the more money spent overall is better for La Bucca, and the Tentacle and Fin work together to keep the harbors open constantly. Various merchant ships make generous bribes to the Scale in order to set up stalls, and you can just show up at the docks to find work any time. Nothing is too illicit to discuss except, perhaps, espionage and assassination, and many shops or stalls offer services - and even some homes do, for a more personal touch. They even sell nautical charts at high prices - mostly because every nation considers them a national secret. No one's sure where La Bucca gets them, but diplomats do love to buy them up. After charts, entertainment is probably most in demand. The Pint doesn't bother with monitors, and only gets involved when money or crime becomes an actual problem. As a result, the entertainment availably is extremely diverse and often debauched, with as few questions asked as necessary.

The best markets, though, are the marche noir - the black markets. Even if it's not actually illegal in La Bucca, you keep some stuff secretive, usually in hidden coves or private rooms. The Pint is happy to sell privacy for coin or a promised favor. The favor, on La Bucca, is worth more than gold. This is called the grip economy - that is, handshakes. A Buccaneer that's given their word is expected to keep it until called on or dead. Those who promise favors and don't pay up...well, they get dead. Fast. Your word is sacred on La Bucca, and there are no second chances.

Because Buccaneers need something to do between contracts, the island's become adept in finding side jobs, and has a thriving secondary market in letters of marque. These offer royal authority to collect a percentage of plunder in service to a nation, and the Buccaneers have formalized it heavily. While in other places, this might lead to national tensions, La Bucca offers a level of separation between the crown and its agents. The Buccaneers get legal documents that say they're allowed to do the thing, and the nation gets plausible deniability. Everyone gets what they want, except for the folks being looted.

Next time: Places.

Pirate Nations: Island S

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Island S

Technically, La Bucca is actually three extremely close islands rather than a single one, arranged in a letter S shape, with two arched beaches that connect the arms with the central tidal island. Both beache arches are walkable in low tide but submerged at high tide. In the prison years, the central island was Cardinal Ordunez's HQ, with the northern and southern isles being the prisoner islands. Today, La Bucca is separated into four districts - Northern Arc and Sunrise Haven in the north, and Southern Arc and Sunset Haven in the south, with the central island covering both haven harbors.

The Northern Arc presents a sheer cliff towards the ocean, with onyl the inner crescent forming safe harbor. Dense trees cover most of it, and few people live on the far north shore, leaving it for the pigs. The south side has a large harbor and much of the merchant district, however. The Crown lies at the north tip of the island. One side is a natural wall of rock, guarded by a coral reef that stops larger ships from reaching the hidden caverns along the cliff. For those that can find these caves, they make excellent private spots for secret meetings. A few anglers also fish off the Crown, claiming to 'keep the Creature at bay.' On the beach side, there are embankments placed to allow the Buccaneers to climb up to the ten cannons nestled along key positions to fire on unwelcome guests in the north. It's not perfect, and the gunners are pretty inexperienced, but the appearance is probably more useful than the guns themselves.

Port Sacred is a natural harbor east of the Crown, a set of caverns only enterable by low tide. The cave is large enough for three ships, and few know where the entrance is, though rumor has it that smugglers and pirates use it as a safe haven free even from La Bucca's authorities. Others claim that the place is dangerous, full of monsters and dark magic. It's not - it's a safe port for political exiles. Allende uses it to meet people in the wee hours, smuggling them past the other harbors and providing false papers claiming they've been residents for years. The Mother works with her to set these refugees up safely without the other Chapters realizing. It also houses a rather nastier secret that even fewer know: it's where Allende and the others that took part in her ritual imprisoned the Creature and sent it to sleep. Gibbet Lake is named for the gibbets hung on the shores to punish prisoners for fighting guards. The Cardinal preached forgiveness, but the guards preferred to make examples. Today, the cages sit empty, aside from old bones, as a reminder of the island's legacy. Allende has forbidden them to be removed, as she feels La Bucca must never forget its history.

Sunrise Haven and the Hook are the names for the sheltered inner crescent of the north isle, with the Hook specifically referring to the bit that's on the middle island. It's a large natural harbor with room for a good 20 ships, and its name is because the harbor is sheltered from the sun in the morning. Piers have extended past the natural end of the harbor, to make room for up to 20 larger vessels. The Tentacle tracks all arrivals, renting out harbor spots for various lengths and handing out travel permits. At that point, the Fin shows up to force captains to fill out forms detailing their planned length of stay and crew occupancy. It's honestly pretty fast, as the Chapter reps hang out at the docks. The water is dark with oil and waste, and small rowboats crewed by children serve as taxis between ships for a small fee. Shops and stalls clog the dock walkways and the warehouse streets, and just off the main drag you can easily find taverns and gambling halls as well as more permanent shops.

Le Gros Vert is the most prominent gambler's hall in Sunrise Haven, a mere five minutes from the dock. Its namesake is the stuffed 40-foot crocodile that hangs over the door. The building is two stories tall and bright green, so it's hard to miss. The lower floor is for dice and card games, while the upper floor is used to watch and bet on boat races in the harbor. Behind the building is a boxing ring, in which fighters can pay a small fee to fight and try to win big. Betting on fights is also popular, with many having a favorite regular contestant whom they will buy drinks or food for when they get a chance. The owner is a Montaigne woman, Madame Murmur, who forbids all weapons in her hall, enforced extremely harshly. She has a reputation for never, ever losing, and it's said she won the hall in a game of cards, bluffing until the former owner had nothing left to bet at all - even his own home. She has remained owner despite regular challenges to cards or dice with the hall on the line.

The Brown Hall is in the Hook, named for its dark stones and darkened wood. Once, it was the prison chapel, and it's one of the few prison structures left intact. It is an octagonal building with three entrances and enough space inside to hold all residents of the Northern Arc. The benches have been removed, but the high windows and thick wooden shutters have not. Allende uses the Hall for meetings with the Chapter heads and to run elections. During election time, it is open to anyone running for office to make speeches at or campaign. For the rest of the year, the Hall is used to host public meetings or stage votes by the five Chapter heads. The Chapter symbols have been painted on the floor, and traditionally anyone voicing an issue stands on the most related symbol. Typically no more than one of these meetings happens per year and most heads treat it as a farce. The rest of the time, it goes unused. Allende encourages meetings, but getting folks to attend is ever harder. The best she can usually manage is public meetings with the Thean diplomats on the island.

The Free Balconies is the largest inn on the central isle, facing Sunrise Harbor and next to the Brown Hall. It was once a barracks and visitor house, and it's made of really nice wood, with one balcony facing each cardinal direction to catch the wind and keep the rooms cool. It has rope bridges to the Northern and Southern Arcs and a great view. It is extremely expensive and well-guarded by the City Watch, who pass it four times a day on patrol and often stop in for a chat. The owner, a fat and balding Avalon named Roger Gould, pays them to stop by often and offers them free drinks when off duty. The Guard is unaware that Gould runs as much illegal business out of the Balconies as he can, with his friendly policies towards them being an effort to keep them out of his inn when they look for criminals. Some suspect he's up to no good, but no one has yet been able to prove his kindness isn't genuine.

Jacob's Ladder is the largest tidal rope bridge maintained by the Tentacle, made to go from the Hook to the southern island, where msot Buccaneers make their actual homes. It is also used for illegal boarding of ships during high tide, in blatant violation of Tentacle procedure, which has meant that no matter who runs the Tentacle, traffic in and out is actually nearly impossible to police. West of the Hook is Deadlight's Island, one of the main strongholds of the Watch. It is used to store weapons and hold meetings, to avoid exposing their secrets to normal civilians. Allende has granted the Watch total control of the island and its comings and goings, but recently residents have complained of strange lights and noises coming from it in the middle of the night. The Watch denies all such reports.

Next time: South Side

Pirate Nations: Southlands

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Southlands

The Southern Arc is a much greener place than the Northern, full of jungle and fields and beaches, with a shallow bay in its inner crescent. Most of the Buccaneers live here, with the level land and cool breezes. Jenny's Jungle is the largest feature of the island. It's not an official name, but has gotten onto maps by virtue of there being no official name. It is rumored to have artifacts and ruins, but has a tendency to complicate any search for them more than it's worth...hence the name, as it is a jungle of ill repute. Deep within the jungle are, in fact, Syrne ruins. The stones used to build them could not possibly have been quarried on the island, and the Vaticine was never able to figure out hwo they were put together. There is only one formal entrance, but a collapsed wall has created a second. It consists of three rooms that lead to a central chamber with a dried out well. Few know of the ruins, much less how to get to them. These were the key to Cardinal Ordunez' control of the Creature, but he removed all artifacts and tablets he found, leaving only the ruin itself. Every so often, someone finds them and attempts to enter the well to find what lies below. So far, no one has ever found the bottom of the well, and each returns with rumors of a ghost in the ruins. It isn't actually that hard to find a map leading to them, but no one expects much to come out of any expedition any more.

St. Renee's Chapel is named for one of the several Vaticine patron saints of orphans. It is the only church still standing in La Bucca, with the rest having been dismantled for materials. It's small and some distance from the southern harbor, off the main track, but the view from it is amazing. Its only priest is Sister Scarlett O'Donoghue, known to the locals as Sister Scotty. She is in fact the only Vaticine priest still on the island - all the others that came with Cardinal Ordunez when he returned were driven off. While she's rather laconic, she is dedicated to saving the souls of the island, doing her best for any who visit. She's no fool, and the last to try and steal from her got his arm broken and the rest of him beat to hell and back for his troubles. She avoids the Mother, though she leaves the door open to any children that want a lesson or a meal. The chapel is often visited by various ambassadors as a sort of reminder of home. The Montaigne ambassador, Anaelle Cabot, lives right nearby and while she's not very devout, she finds Sister Scotty an inspiration and shows up to help regularly.

Sunset Haven is the bay-side part of the Southern Arc, facing north. Its harbor has room for nearly 40 ships, but the waters are shallow by comparison, so larger vessels must dock at Sunrise Haven. Typically, Sunset is used for passenger vessels and small cargo ships, plus the personal fishing ships and pirate vessels that make their home at La Bucca. Sunset's docks are more industrial than Sunrise's, and only merchants that cater specifically to ships tend to set up shop there - though the main shipwrights and building contractors have. Sunset tends to feel less festive and more dangerous than its northern counterpart.

Shanty Town, aka the Maze, is a labyrinthine mess that spreads from Sunset Haven all the way to the jungles, and it's the real city of La Bucca. Most locals live there, in a mix of permanent and temporary housing that mesh into a dense maze full of homes, small businesses and civil offices. Buildings often shift overnight as temporary housing is relocated or converted to more permanent structures, and newcomers often get confused. The locals are happy about that - they can charge a fee to get you un-lost. This is no place for tourists, even if the best and most affordable goods are found there. Strangers aren't particularly welcome without a local guide...and not all of the guides are anything more than con artists.

The Betting Barnacle is just beyond the Sunset Haven docks, and it's the gambling hall for the locals. It's lively, but lacks Le Gros Vert's high stakes games. Instead, it is the preferred hangout of spies and gossips, especially if they want to hire a local for something illegal or unethical. It is also home to the Ambassador Wall. Whenever a new diplomat or ambassador arrives on the island, their name goes on the wall. The locals bet on them - typically over how long they'll last, but some have death pools, sex pools or...well, anything that a bettor will lay money on.

The local tavern of choice is the Yellow Fin, and it's where Allende holds court. She keeps toughs around her for protection and conducts all official business out of the back room. Anyone who seeks her audience can find her there, but the locals are extremely loyal, so rudeness is quite dangerous. Allende tries to avoid violence, but her allies have no such compunctions. Once, a man tried to threaten her with a pistol, and every other customer in the bar - all 47 of them - drew their own weapons on him. No one's entirely sure which shot killed the man, and some whisper that the soul of Billy Bilgewater, the idiot involved, now haunts the isle, cursed to remain. Allende refuses to listen to such rumors, but does put out milk on the doorstep to commemorate his death.

Now we're into NPCs! With Allende being our first one. The truth? She was born Comtesse Marguerite Duchateau of Montaigne, the fifth child of a major noble family...and so without many prospects. She joined the military in the War of the Cross, but grew tired of seeing people fight and die as the nobles discussed fashion, so she began riling up peasant revolts as her unit moved through towns. Eventually, l'Empereur heard about it and decided it'd be best to silence her, but didn't want to martyr her for the revolutionaries. Thus, he had her drugged, kidnapped and shipped off to prison with a hood on her head and strict orders for no one to look at her face. The sergeant called her Allende when he handed her over and that was it. The prison gave her a velvet hood and told her never to remove it. At first, she was a troublemaker, shouting until the guards beat her unconscious, but she soon began to not speak at all. She was held for a year before La Bucca opened up and she was put on the first ship from Montaigne to the island. She refused to speak to anyone until she arrived, where she began restarting her revolutionary ideas. Most of the prisoners, being political ones themselves, were happy to support 'Allende' - the name she'd accepted as her own now - and helped sway the more violent ones. She spoke of freedom and democracy, and it began to appeal, even if the execution's not been great. She's spent a long time hiding her real identity to avoid l'Empereur taking his wrath out on her family, and she refuses to perform official business without her mask to this day. She reveals her face only to those she trusts, and her name to no one if she can help it. The past 30 years have worked mainly on force of personality, but she has a number of detractors now who will happily cause her problems. Few know her true name or associate her with Montaigne at all, and she's gotten rid of her accent. So far, the only person she's sure knows her name is Baron Maisen, and he uses that against her whenever he can. Allenda often comes off as brash and in-your-face, believing she can learn the most from people under pressure. She keeps her distance personally and has no time for small talk, but all the time in the world for people with real concerns. She never meets in public without her mask, and sometimes has her personal assistant, Leanne, wear the mask in her stead and pretend to be her while she listens in secretly. Leanne is well-versed in La Bucca's needs and problems and can play Allende quite well.

The Mother of La Bucca is known only as the Mother. She is always surrounded by children, the orphans of La Bucca, and she loves to help them out. They are both her family now and her spies, the best on the island. She supports Allende presently, though she cares about her kids' safety far, far more than La Bucca and its government. She has been on the island for as long as anyone can remember, but no one is sure if she was a prisoner or where she came from. She never seems to age, and has run the Scale with an iron fist since day one. Her true name was once Sophie-Angelique de l'Ecuyer, an accomplished Porte sorcier...but an accident involving a mirror trapped her in the space between worlds for nearly a century and even she isn't sure how she survived it. One day, she just woke up on the island, inside the Syrneth ruins, with a voice in her head. She remembers making a deal - in exchange for her freedom, she would bring children to the island. That was the price. Since then, she has used Porte to cross Theah, though her Porte is much different than any other. She can go anywhere...but only where she is needed. She hears a child crying out in her blood, and she goes to them. She has taught her children a secret Porte trick, lost to modern sorciers: whispering through the blood. Mother doesn't really know how she got to La Bucca or who she spoke to when she arrived. She hasn't aged in 50 years, and thinks it may be related to her magic or the time she spent trapped. She works to protect the island, and particularly the children she brings there. No one hurts a child without her coming for them. She prefers not to think about why she's bringing them to La Bucca. She speaks rarely, and while Allende doesn't really enjoy her presence or her mothering treatment, she is Allende's biggest current supporter. Many fear her, but she is kind to all she speaks to, even when collecting taxes. She considers herself mother to everyone on the island and acts the part, with no compunction about putting a naughty child in their place. Occasionally, she has flashes of memory of her old life, becoming lost in them for minutes at a time. She may even suddenly begin speaking Montaigne unexpectedly or confuse someone for a person she knew years ago. Los Ninos, as the children she cares for are known, are extremely loyal. Mother helped them when they needed it, after all, and most will never willingly describe how she brought them to the island or why she intervened.

Next time: Baron Maison, the Lehmanns, Lucia and more.

Pirate Nations: And Then There's This Asshole

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

marshmallow creep posted:

What about Ordunez? He should know how to wake it, no? He signed on with Allende in the treaty, I'm surprised he hasn't done something. Or did I miss where he lost the artifact?

About that...

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: And Then There's This Asshole

Baron Victor Maison is the leader of the Fin and calls himself the most recognized face in La Bucca. He says he has connections in every nation in Theah, can get into any party and can bring as many people as he wants. He deals in information and loves food and wine. He thinks he's the suavest, most charming person on the planet, cultured and popular. Everyone else is pretty sure he's a crude, sleazy asshole whose reach exceeds his grasp. Of course, saying so in his presence causes him to go into a vengeful fury. Some wonder why he's tolerated at all, given he's such an oaf, but others realize he really does know things and people. He's an excellent information broker with lots of blackmail material, and for all his bragging, he's not lying when he says he has those connections and abilities. And so far? He's been using them to help La Bucca grow. Commerce relies on his goodwill, and at a word, he could end it and close the ports. He knows it, too. He knows everything - who Allende is, who the Mother is, all the little secrets. His spies are legion, and the grip market was his innovation. His favors are worth more than anyone else's. He actually scares Allende, and she keeps him close so she can at least try to steer him. He sees himself as the true power of the island...and he's not far wrong. His pride is enormous, despite his penchant for malapropism and mispronunciation. He was a Castillian political prisoner, charged with trespassing on noble lands as a spy. (In fact, he just wanted to mingle.) He is actually quite friendly if you can put up with his buffoonery and arrogance...and his vengeful nature and love of blackmail.

Uwe and Greta Lehmann showed up ten years ago as refugees from the War of the Cross. They dismissed the idea of the Creature as madness...until Uwe stumbled into Port Sacred and saw the shadow under the water. He became obsessed with it. Somehow, he learned that Allende could control it and was keeping it asleep. Greta felt her brother's obsession was unhealthy and suggested asking Allende if he could see the Creature, but he wanted to control it, use it as an unstoppable force. Greta was terrified of her brother's mad ambitions, but she agreed to help, for fear of what he'd do if she didn't. For three years, they've been hunting for ways to control the Creature. Greta has tried to focuse Uwe on just taking over the island from Allende, plotting to remove him and rule it herself once he does. Uwe, meanwhile, seeks information anywhere he can. He has no idea that Baron Maison is aware of his actions, and he's nowhere near as subtle as his sister, ending up often having to kill potential witnesses. His body count is growing almost daily. Greta is far more practical, and has been hiding weapons for an uprising. Her problem is that she has few places to privately meet with her coconspirators - she's considered setting up somewhere in Jenny's Jungle, but her last try led to near death from pneumonia. If she can't find one soon, the Watch is likely to find her cache and blow the whole scheme open, or her brother will ruin it for her. She knows she has to get things started soon or it's all going to go out of control. Both she and Uwe hang out at Le Gros Vert. Uwe thinks he's the brains of the pair, but his obsession has made him so lost he can't even see the consequences of his crimes, obsessively reading arcane texts and trying to invent blood rituals. He constantly dreams nightmares of the Creature and will go to any length to control it. He cares for nothing except Greta. Greta cares for Uwe, and is unable to escape from her brother's madness, but refuses to join it. She actually doesn't dislike Allende - she just thinks being in charge will let her get out of her brother's insanity and end his obsession. She has no real idea how far Uwe's gone or what his plans for the Creature might be.

Lucia, Captain of the Guard, is a Fate Witch who's been constantly going from one bad situation to another. She left Vodacce to work for a noble in Castille, until he begged her to marry him. (She's a lesbian and was into his sister, but when she told him that, he banished her from his estate.) So then she went to Eisen, but decided she was sick of working for all these assholes trying to take over, so she left. Eventually she reached Montaigne and worked as a governess for some nobles. She liked her charge, wild as the boy was, but his father managed to fuck up in Montaigne politics...and rather than take the rap, he sent his heir into political exile, sending the boy to La Bucca. When Lucia found out, she followed, afraid for her charge's safety. There was no sign of the boy when she arrived, however, nor any trace of him in the weave of Fate. Unsure of what to do, she conscripted the Watch into her search for the child. The next year, she ran for and won the captaincy - the first time anyone had challenged an incumbent. Allende fully supported it, and many say that's why Lucia won...but others blame sorcery. Lucia hides her magic, however, to avoid being used by those around her. She still hopes to one day find the boy she came to help, and occasionally still looks for him. Beyond that, she has placed her old life behind her. The Watch is deeply loyal to her, and she doesn't put up with trouble. She likes La Bucca but has learned she has to be heavy-handed to get anything done.

The Ghost is believed to be Billy Bilgewater, mentioned last time. He is said to haunt the jungle ruins mostly, but has been spotted across the island. Most think he's just a myth to scare visitors, but he is not. He's real, if not particularly scary. He appears as a translucent humanoid figure concealed by a hooded cloak. Some say he isn't Billy but the ghost of someone who tried to harm one of Mother's children. He is neither - the ghost is Cardinal Ordunez. After his return, the prisoners wanted him dead, but Allende wouldn't allow it. Instead, she forced him to live in isolation, visiting him to try and gain the knowledge to control the Creature. He refused to help her, assuring her it'd be far better to leave it asleep and out of anyone's control. Eventually, he died of illness, still having revealed nothing. Allende has been unable to find his relics that were used to control the Creature, but is certain he retained them. Ordunez began appearing shortly after Uwe began his research and rituals. He's doing his best to stop Uwe, but he has limited ability to do things, because he's a ghost. He remains devout and sees his undeath as a chance to make things right that he did wrong in life. He wants to regain control of the Creature so he can destroy it, but he has no idea how to do that as a ghost. Until he can find someone willing to destroy it for him, he works to stop anyone from discovering the artifacts and rituals he used to control the Creature. Sometimes he will test people by giving them dangerous jobs to do before he'll speak to them, promising them lore and power. (He can't give that except for teaching how to control the Creature; he wants to see how they'll act and how skilled they are.)

Wynne Lynch is the son of an Inish nobleman, sent to Carleon at a young age to study at the university there. He was ordained by the Vaticine early and joined the Invisible College shortly after, studying the link between Sidhe Glamour and science. Wynne believes the Sidhe are the source of all magic, that they are trying to guide humanity and improve the world. His ideas were beloved by certain philosophical circles, which led to the Inquisition catching him and sending him to La Bucca on false charges to get rid of him. He didn't even get to defend himself. Wynne was crucial in Allende's efforts to control the Creature, and is the central contact on the island for the College at this point. He's been working to pass information on the Syrneth ruins and the Creature back to Theah - and more importantly, he's got a network among the dock regulars to ship scientific research across the globe from his relative position of safety. He is a Glamour Knight who spends most of his time in his lab in the Maze. He has an interest in training young scientists and has a Montaigne girl named Josette as his apprentice. he has not yet realized Josette is a spy for the Inquisition and a possible assassin. He doesn't realize how precarious his position truly is. Allende protects him, but he's not at home around criminals and pirates, and is rather reckless and headstrong in his ideals, which can easily get him into trouble.

Ambassador Maximo Zorita represents Castillian interests on La Bucca. He's very friendly, smiles a lot, and trusts no one. He's a thin, tall man with unkempt black hair and a quickly-growing beard. He's done his best to get in good with the power players, giving out information and work freely to those he thinks he can invest in. No one's entirely sure who he works for in Castille, but he can hand out Letters of Marque to privateers. Even he's not really sure who pays his salary. His contact at court goes by La Miria, the Blackbird, and communicates entirely by sealed letter. She gives him the Letters of Marque and plenty of bribe money, but never tells him why, or who she really is. His free gifting of things is an act to develop a network of agents he can call on, and he's begun to suspect La Miria is herself just a pawn in a larger game - or perhaps a rook, some other chess metaphor - and that this is all part of a plot to help secure Allende's power. The instructions he gets are always well-planned, but he's noticed a pattern over time that has him acting against Allende's enemies and working with her friends when possible. Maximo is sick of all the secrecy, and would happily expend what influence he's got to find out who, exactly, he is working for. He is always in the know and good at avoiding trouble, and he's always fashionable and slick, even when dealing with pirates. His good nature makes many look past his obvious status as a royal spy. He does trust his handlers enough to stay and follow orders, but he fears he's being used as a fool and catspaw. He wants certainty.

Ambassador Annabelle de Vitry is the Montaigne ambassador, in theory as a punishment for an insult she made at court. However, she also has a secret mission entrusted to her by the Comte de la Fontaine. His daughter, Josette, was sent as a political prisoner years ago, and he wanted to know if she still lived. Annabelle took the job with a sense of patriotism and tries to represent Montaigne well, even though no one really cares. She is the longest-serving ambassador so far, and has been working closely with Sister Scotty for three years now. She considers herself the Baron Maison's ally, using him to gather information on the other ambassadors. She suspects that Mother is a sorcier but is too intimidated by her to ask. She is known to be gracious, forthright and cheerful...and she's accomplished her mission. She knows Josette is working with a branch of the Invisible College, and has even joined it herself and used her political power and ties to the Baron to help the group. She remains entirely unaware of Josette's true mission and loyalties. Annabelle is relentlessly positive, regardless of stress, and never insults anyone. She works hard to support the Invisible College and to push Montaigne culture on anyone who's willing to sit still long enough. She loves teaching art and dance, and she actually does care about the Buccaneers, but she knows how fragile her place is and that they still see her as an outsider, even after three years.

Next time: The Atabean Sea

Pirate Nations: MONSTERS MONSTERS MONSTERS

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: MONSTERS MONSTERS MONSTERS

The Atabean Sea is the gateway to Aztlan, known to Theans as the New World. It is surrounded by a large island chain, which is home to the native Rahuri people, who tend to all that lives above and below the waves. Their legends hold that they once lived on the Aztlan mainland, but fled in fear of the wrath of a great god, heading out to the open sea. There, they founded a nation along several islands and made peace with the god. In return for their safety, they swore to tend to the sea and its inhabitants, regardless of what they were. It proved a very dangerous oath, because the Atabean Sea has a second name - a name that is, translated, 'the Sea of Monsters.'

The Rahuri history stretches back as far as anything written, and it is recorded both in legend and in the memory of the ancestral spirits whom the Rahuri call on for guidance. Even spirits have faulty memories, however, and the tales change in the telling. There is no single truth about the Atabean Sea, not at this point. But as it goes, long before any Vaticine existed, the people that became the Rahuri lived on the mainland, deep in what is now called Aztlan. Legends say that they tried to live in peace, but their leaders angered the greatest of Aztlan's protectors, the feathered serpent Apocoatl. They tried to use magic to find more fertile ground, in violation of Apocoatl's desire to keep his people isolated and protected. Thus, they were in danger of eradication by the feathered serpent. Then, a great water spirit came to them, leading them to a river and out into the sea, protecting them from tis dangers. They sailed for days before finding the island chain in the dark sea. There, they made a pact with Apocoatl.

The Rahuri swore that in exchange for their safety, they would become the custodians and protectors of the islands and their waters. They settled the ocean, naming it Atabea in honor of the water spirit that guided them. Over generations, they spread over all the islands, breaking into smaller groups and establishing trade routes. As they traveled, the spirit Atabea stayed with them, taking on a new name and a new job: Mama Yaya, the sea mother. When other nations arrived, they found a large network of Rahuri villages and tribes, sailing the ocean and expertly harvesting the fish and seaweed for food and trade, but also tracking and killing the larger creatures of the sea. This hunt became the center of their trade and diet, as a sea monster could feed an entire village for an entire season. They would then send the parts to other islands, creating a strong trade network that united the many villages into the united Rahuri Nation. Because of that unity, they controlled the sea for centuries. Smaller nations came, challenged them and fought, but that just kept their settlements shifting and moving. The central network remained, including its main center, the Rahur settlement Naca'an on the northernmost island.

From Naca'an, the Rahur lieaders, called caciques, gathered from the many settlements and chose one cacique to maintain the sea itself, as promised to the feathered serpent. No one knows the date of the first Great Cacique, but records indicate that since the first, there were 20 of them before the first sighting of a Thean ship. The first Theans to arrive in the Sea of Monsters were entirely unprepared. Storms rose from nowhere, reefs seemed invisible, sea creatures attacked in what appeared to be peaceful lagoons, tearing apart even the strongest ship. Others entered the passage now called the Devil's Strait and were never seen again. There are no records on how many Theans reached the Atabean after crossing the Serpent's Sea before the first officially recognized encounter, but tales of ships heading west and finding monsters and danger abound. These stories eventually reached the courts of Castille, who organized a fleet to cross the Serpent's Sea and find, once and for all, what was on the other side. They decided not to sacrifice their own for this, however, and instead supplemented three Castillian naval vessels with three hired privateers. Of the six, only one ever made it back.

Thgree ships were lost to monsters and weather before the Castillians could set aside pride and ask the natives for help. Privateer-explroer Alejandro Dantes and his ship, the Sydonia, made port at Borequen in Primus of 1533, making the first official contact with the Rahuri. While this went without any incident, the early relations were, at best, strained. The Rahuri distrusted the outsiders, a concern inherited from their Aztlan ancestors. Once the Castillians offered fair trade, however, they began to interact more. Castille offered technology and production methods from Theah, which intrigued Borequen's cacique enough to get him to open further negotiations. A meeting was arranged between Captain Dantes and the Grand Cacique at Naca'an in Nonus, 1543, though the Rahuri did send word to neighboring isles in case of treachery.

It is unclear from reports as to whether Castille meant to threaten the Rahuri or to negotiate fairly. It doesn't matter - no one ever found out, because when the Castillians arrived, they found two Montaigne ships (Cyrielle and Le Alexandre) and one Vodacce (Egress) already there. Apparently, word had leaked and the other nations had raced to find their own course. the Vodacce arrived first, led by Enrico Fontana, who made port on the central island Kiskeya, right near Naca'an, while the Montaigne sailed into the heart of the Atabean. Both delegations had taken heavy damage and needed to justify their expenses.Each wanted to open trade immediately, though records show the Vodacce had intended to just take the place over until they met a large and well-armed Rahuri contingent and decided to adjust their approach. The three Thean nations prepared to fight at the heart of the Rahuri nation, overseen by the 21st Great Cacique, Manicato. He ordered them all to sit and negotiate peacefully for travel rights, but...well, they didn't.

No one can say who struck the first blow - one account claims the Vodacce tried to bribe the Grand Cacique, which so offended him that he shut down all negotiations. Another says the Montaignes tried to poison the other two delegtions. Whatever the case, Captain Dantes wrote of being forced from his bed at spearpoint and hurled into the water. The Rahuri had apparently been so offended that they expected the visitors to swim back to their ships in monster-infested water. Most of the explorers never made it. They did, however, begin a massive naval battle against each other. The Castillian ships were unprepared and damaged, and the Montaigne tore them apart. The Egress rammed the Cyrielle, sinking both, and this stirred up the monsters. The Rahuri believe what happened next was just nature. The Sydonia's crew agree that something unnaturally foul came from the depths. Captain Dantes had pulled out of the harbor to escape the Montaigne cannons and turned back to see an immense, tentacled beast erupt from the ocean and tear the other ships apart.

Only the Cyrielle managed to avoid destruction in the harbor as the Rahuri launched their fishing boats to attack the giant squid and rescue survivors. Captain Dantes turned the Sydonia back and helped kill the squid, winning the Grand Cacique's respect. When the waters were again calm, hundreds were dead. The surviving Montaigne ship fled, leaving Dantes to negotiate for Castille. In the night, he met with the survivors of the Montaigne and Vodacce crews, who told him of deceit and treachery. Then, one of his own crew came forward, showing him a letter from the Castillian royalty. It revealed that man as a spy, sent to watch Dantes and, if necessary, "deal with the Captain in any manner necessary to ensure Castille's interests." Dantes, of course, was outraged. Rather than negotiate for Castille, he chose to negotiate on behalf of pirates and privateers everywhere, establishing an outpost on Borequen to serve as a Thean trade and travel hub. The settlement would be Castillian only nominally, controlled by a governor that had to be approved of by the Rahuri and entirely independent of official Thean influences.

Naturally, the Castillian diplomats were furious, but Dantes' heroism had earned him the respect needed to seal trade deals, and so he took them back out to sea, handed them to the first Castillian ship he saw, and returned to the Atabean. He never left it again, and lived out his life as the first governor of the settlement San Sancha, and was known to the Rahuri people as their forever friend. Later accounts from the Rahuri revealed that Dantes' actions had confused them very much. They had no idea how one people could be at war with themselves so, or why there was all this mistrust if they all came from one place, or what they intended. And, of course, that wasn't where things ended. Dantes and his crew spent time at Naca'an, explaining the realities of Theah, the many cultures and politics there. He taught many Rahuri to read and write in Old Thean, Avalon and other common languages, in anticipation of the next wave of delegates and diplomats. When they did come, the Rahuri were prepared, with a much deeper understanding of their politics and the history of the Vaticine. Thus, the Grand Cacique gathered the delegates at a high mountain village for a grand summit on harmony between Theah and the Rahuri.

For a full day, the Grand Cacique listened to explanations on anything from trade to religion to economics, from trade delegates to pirates to diplomats - any who presented themselves. And then the sun went down and red moon rose, and the Great Cacique laid out the laws of trade that he'd accept. This became known as the Declaration of the Ris Moon. The Rahuri would allow trade outposts, but would favor organizations and privateers over governments. There would be no other rulers in their waters but the caciques and their gods. Any attmept to change this owuld result in devastation for all Theans in the Atabean Sea. Since then, it's been hard for Thean governments to establish any permanent settlements. Only three large cities have ben made, and each time only with grudging acceptance from the Rahuri. The first, San Sancha, was ruled by Dantes until he abdicated and returned to piracy after the arrival of Castillian authorities in 1574. The second, Fortunato, was founded by the Vodacce in 1561, but after a fight, they were cast out and the port is now controlled by the Rahuri. The last major settlement is Sylviette, a Montaigne colony meant to bring the height of culture to the Atabean.

Tensions grow between Thean and Rahuri with each new ship and each now piece of ground taken. In recent years, they've had to cede many smaller islands to their neighbors or to Thean settlers or private interests. However, whenever the Rahuri pull out of a place, those who remain note a significant rise in attacks by sea monsters. Rahuri fishers are often hired to stay in "foreign" waters in the hopes of keeping the monsters at bay. It's worth it, many felt, to get access to the valuable exports. Sugar is the most common, but they also produce rum, molasses, indigo, coffee, tobacco, hemp and bananas. Gold, silver and bauxite are also exported, along with "whale oil" (read: opils extracted from the blubber of larger ocean monsters) and ambergris.

Thean respect for the Rahuri seamen remained until the coming of the Atabean Trading Company, which marked the beginning of the end for Rahuri control of most of the Atabean Sea. Their fleet insinuated itself into many ports as a trade partner and economic power. It wasn't long until they drove out smaller merchant groups, forcing most fleets to work with them or with no one. They then, having secured their powerbase, began imprisoning and enslaving native populations - particularly the Rahuri. Thousands were put in chains by the Company, who then brought in Theans to the cleared-out land and sold the slaves to them to tend it. Many Rahuri soon found themselves slaves in what had once been their own homes. The Great Cacique demanded that Thean diplomats act, reminding them of his promised doom, but each nation disclaims any responsibility for the ATC's actions. They also consider it far out of their jurisdiction, as an entity that is not of any nation but is funded, supplied and maintained by private citizens that live half a world away.

The Rahuri now cling to their three central islands by means of their indubitably dangerous fleet, but the Atabean is more and more Thean thanks to the Company. This is also quite dangerous for any local independent pirates, who must now face the Company's fleet and their influential friends back home. However, with the political danger comes monstrous danger, as the Sea of Monsters grows rougher and more unpredictable. The Rahuri have a special role in maintaining the ecological balance of monsters, and the loss of so many of them threatens to destroy that balance forever. The Company doesn't care - they can afford to lsoe a few ships in the name of profit.

Next time: The Rahuri

Pirate Nations: We speak for the sea.

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: We speak for the sea.

The Rahuri are the primary native population around the Atabean. They fled from the Aztlan mainland when their ancient leader, Locuo, angered the storm serpent Apocoatl by believing he could harness the power of the earth instead of relying on Apocoatl. He had, after all, been descended from a god himself, and legend says he created such terrible earthquakes that he ripped up enough land to piss off Apocoatl. The entire Rahuri nation would have been punished if the water spirit called Mama Yaya hadn't intervened to lead them into the Atabean Sea and make their deal with Apocoatl to become the sea's protectors and custodians for all of time. The Rahuri all claim descent from this single group of settlers, but their society is now spread out into villages over thousands of miles of water. The islands they live on consist of three large islands and many smaller ones.

Borequen is the island on the easternmost side of Rahuri territory and is the first stop for most Thean ships in the Atabean. The Borequen Rahuri are hearty and have integrated much from Thean visitors, particularly the Castillians. They now split their time betwen hunting the monsters of the Atabean and heading east, to the Serpent's Sea, to explore the lands that Theans come from. Borequen is densely populated and often raided by slavers, with fishers returning to find their villages razed and their families enslaved. The Borequen are thus the most vocal against the Atabean Trading Company their slaving. The term 'boriqua,' the common word for a Rahuri warrior, comes from the island's name, even if many boriquas aren't actually from there.

Kiskeya lies at the center of the Rahuri waters and is home to the Grand Cacique in Naca'an. It is a wild island, full of jungle as well as villages, and its central city faces out into a large bay on the shore. It is a monument to Rahuri culture, its main hall, the Great Bohio (or Roundhouse), is a huge structure made of carved wood said to be from the first Rahuri boats that made landfall. Here, Great Cacique Jibaro, lineal descendant of Manicato, rules as the maintainer of the bargain with Apocoatl and the keeper of the Rahuri peace. He is a strong, spiritual man with deep ties to his ancestors. The Kiskeya Rahuri are usually concerned with history, and have many storytellers and historian-elders. They view the ancient pact and their duty not as historic, but as very present.

Yamaka is the oldest Rahuri settlement, on the western edge of the Atabean Sea. It was here that they first landed after leaving Aztlan, and the mainland influences can still be found in the forests of Yamaka. The Yamaka Rahuri tend to be the most isolationist of the major groups, focused on maintaining their traditions and culture against outsiders. They are aggressive about borders, and their warriors often patrol the Sea to defend their people. They watch not only the Theans but the people of Aztlan, who often raid them. They also keep an eye out for signs of Apocoatl becoming angry at them once more, and prepare for the possibility of that day by training to be the greatest warriors.

The Rahuri believed that as long as they upheld their duty, they would rule over the Atabean. It kept their islands united for generations. However, the destruction of so many villages by slavers and the raids of their neighbors has destabilized their society, and now, they are arguing amongst themselves. The leaders, after all, still deal with the Theans and even the ATC despite their slaving. The caciques mainly negotiate with the ATC out of fear of open war, but the Rahuri are growing tired of waiting while their people are taken and their islands are stolen. A resistance, the Riroco, has come together to stop slavers and slave-owners, wherever they may be. So far, their activities are limited by numbers and equipment, so they can't just assault the Company. The negotiators try to stop the slave trade peacefully, but the Company has been ruthlessly hunting the Riroco and destroying any strongholds they can find. Without support and arms, they may be destroyed before they can really make a difference. However, the Rahuri have magic that may help them turn the tide - the power to bring their ancestors back to help.

Way back when the deal was made, Apocoatl created a home for the ancestral spirits of the Rahuri within the Sea of Monsters: Soryana. It is an island that exists mostly in the land of the dead, but a living sailor can find it if they look hard enough. The Rahuri had always revered their ancestors, and they believe that those who die merely go to "the other side of the island", waitig to be called on. If they need aid, they may ask their ancestors for advice, or even journey to Soryana and bring them back to help for whatever issue - monsters, slavers, sure. The process is always the same. First, you find a bohiti, a pathfinder, to take you to Soryana via a natural gate, usually found underground or in caves. From there, you and they must find and ask your ancestor spirit for help. If the spirit agrees, you then go before Locuo, King of Soryana, and convince him that the spirit is needed. If Locuo agrees, the spirit can leave Soryana for the length of time needed to do the task, or until the time Locuo says they must return by, whichever comes first. If the spirit tries to stay past that time, they go insane, becoming one of the Mabuya, the Lost, ravening ghosts that float across the ocean hunting for souls to drag into the depths.

Rahuri magic can be very startling for outsiders, who aren't used to glowing green ghosts being around. To the Rahuri, though, drawing forth a spirit is a simple and well-known task. The Rahuri as for ancestral advice or assistance for all kinds of important jobs, or even just to teach the young their future professions. Tiny frogs, called coqui, are the messengers of the dead. Jungles around Rahuri villages tend to be full of the things, which chirp in a sort of high whistle. If a spirit needs to send a message, a coqui will find the recipient and whisper the message to them. This is the only time coqui speak rather than chirping. They tend to hang around pockets of land that connect to Soryana and thus are good places to speak to the ancestors. Generations of Rahuri typically write the names of their dead ancestors on the walls and offer up sacrifices. Once you find the name of your ancestor, you put an offering of fresh water out and attempt contact. If the dead wants to talk, you then speak to them. Beyond the name caves, you find the entrances to Soryana, the other side of the island, where the dead live in villages that very much resemble living ones. They wait to be called on there, ready to help the Rahuri.

Among the peoples of the Atabean, the Rahuri are considered worm and friendly, as long as you respect their authority over the sea. Once a visitor proves trustworthy, the Rahuri share freely with them and include them in all aspects of village life, including monster hunts. Intermarriage is common, though if you remain in the community you are expected to raise any childred with strict adherence to Rahuri beliefs. Among Rahuri, you typically find multiple generations under one roof. Families are egalitarian and may be led by men or women, with the head of household being the wisest and most able to provide. Marriage is negotiated between families but requires consent from both parties. Same-sex couples are not unusual and are given full equality. Rahuri clothing and possessions are typically made from sea salvage. Their weapons and furniture are often bone, their candles made of whale fat, their clothes made of skins. Children are considered to become adult between the ages of 12 and 14, when they go on their first hunt. Traditionally, they are to bring back pieces of the kill to make into weapons and jewelry to gift to their relatives as thanks for their childhood.

After the first hunt, a Rahuri youth is considered a legal adult and may speak at gatherings and make their own decisions. Weddings, however, are not performed until they have settled down and learned a trade. The Rahuri language, Taiya, is the common tongue of the Atabean and has made inroads as a trade tongue for pirates and colonists around the Sea. The Rahuri also maintain a deep spiritual heritage tying back to their time on the mainland. They believe Mama Yaya led them safely to their new home, and it was her who forged the pact with Apocoatl and helped to create Soryana. They venerate her and numerous other spirits of water, air and other elements, which are her children, as are the giant, sentient monsters of the sea. Mama Yaya's symbol is the turtle, and her main children are the lobster, dolphin, shark and seagull. The Rahuri do not consider their belief in spirits to be faith, but rather common sense - after all, they see the dead walk and help the tribe, so why not other spirits? Priests and holy leaders are not masters of the unknown, but rather leaders that guide the people in service to the sea. They teach that the magic of the dead is a gift, not to be feared or venerated, but used as a tool to help the people. It serves the tribe, and must never be used selfishly, or else the spirits will be corrupted.

The Rahuri practical approach to magic and spirits has led to conflict with Vaticine missionaries. The Rahuri see the Vaticine focus on science and hatred of magic as a denial of a power that manifestly exists, and they question if the Church is more about control than belief. However, their societal politeness and desire to keep the peace have allowed the Vaticine priests ot build churches across the Atabean, and some Rahuri have grown curious. Converts tend to be seen as confused by other Rahuri, who laugh at them and wonder why they'd turn against their traditions.

Rahuri politics require an organized structure in order to maintain the Rahuri culture across so many islands. They are united not just by language and religion, but by the leadership zstructure of the caciques. Every settlement, even the smallest, has its own structure that answers to the central authority of the Rahuri Nation. They gather under a single cacique, whose job is to protect the community, listen to requests for aid, officiate ceremonies, mediate disputes and serve as judge. The cacique is a leader in both war and peace, and is in charge of initiations of the youth and approving those who wish to visit Soryana and bring back an ancestor. A cacique remains in office to death or until a challenger proves to be a better alternative before all adults in the tribe. When a cacique dies, a number of successors are chosen based on deeds, then selected by vote of all adults, who are advised by the ancestors that choose to get involved. These successors are often advisors or children to the last cacique, but that isn't guaranteed. The Rahuri require children of caciques prove themselves even more than others, as they are wary of dynasties.

An island may have multiple caciques - one for each settlement. Each answers to the Great Cacique in Naca'an, typically by sending an ambassador to live there and sit on the Council of Renown. These ambassadors negotiate on behalf of their settlements and resolve intertribal disputes. Diplomacy is a key virtue for the Rahuri, who wish to remain united, and they see war between villages a failure for all involved. Rahuri law is also fairly simple. A household must maintain order over its people, animals and property. A trespass must be negotiated based on what is best for the tribe. If two households cannot agree, the cacique steps in to negotiate. There aren't many formal penal codes. Theft or harm of property is usually repaid with money or debt service. A Rahuri that is violent to another is punished by having to serve the Great Cacique or the village, under careful watch by guards, with length of service based on severity of injury.

Murder's a bit more complex. A murderer must pay his victim's family, but also take a trip to Soryana and beg the victim's forgiveness. The victim then accompanies them on a task to serve the entire tribe - usually harrowing and often deadly to the murderer. If they are successful, they are made part of society again.If they fail, they are forever banished from the tribe. Mass murderers are executed by the cacique via drowning and being fed to the monsters, and then by having Locuo destroy their soul.

Next time: Important People and Monsters

Pirate Nations: Whaling On The Moon

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Whaling On The Moon

Great Cacique Jibaro is the grandson of Manicato, the cacique who made the first pacts with the Thean. He is nearly 70 and has been Great Cacique since the age of 14. Under his rule, the Rahuri have prospered, but the Atabean Trading Company has overrun much of their territory. Jibaro works hard to keep control and maintain peace, but with so many caciques near open revolt, he believes he has been too lenient with the Theans for too long. He intended to step down and name his granddaughter Tanama as his successor, but she ran off to lead the Riroco against the Company, and so he has no protege. He struggles now, in his old age, trying to save his people and find someone to carry on his legacy.

Tanama is the granddaughter of Jibaro and had been his presumptive heir when he thought he was dying. She was raised on Borequen and has been educated by both Rahuri and Castillian teachers. She and her wife, Risa, have raising two daughters. Tanama left for Naca'an to prepare to take the throne...but when she did, her village was attacked and Risa and her children were captured. Tanama was infuriated and demanded the caciques bring justice against the slavers. They proved no help, so she turned her back on the throne and took her fastest ship, the Tiburon, out to sea with anyone that would help. This was the birth of the Riroco. Tanama has become the glue that holds the guerillas together, leading them in the hope of saving her people and her family.

Yuke Merritt is one of the most famous navigators and monster hunters in the Sea of Monsters. He is the son of an Avalon pirate and his Rahuri wife, and was named for the white beaches he was raised on. He grew up watching his father go out to sea in his ship, the White Sands, coming back with tales of the monsters the Rahuri slew. One day, however, his father didn't return. Yuke and his mother found the White Sands nearly destroyed at the entrance to Devil's Strait, and the Rahuri salvaged the vessel and gave it to Yuke, who used it and its surviving crew to find the sea serpent that slew his father and kill it. Truthfully, it was essentially luck, but the kill built his reputation, and soon people were coming from all over to hire Captain Merritt of the White Sands to help solve monster problems.

Those problems are, in fact, everywhere. The Atabean is full of giant eels, whales, squid and sharks - and that's just the normal animals. There's far weirder things down there. Rahuri legend says that these monsters are the food of the feathered serpent Apocoatl, and they cull the ocean so he can come and eat at any time he wants. Everyone else just shrugs and says they're monsters. Pretty much all sea life in the Atabean is larger than normal and more dangerous. Fish and even normally gentle creatures are big and generally aggressive, while the predators are insanely large, often able to drag down whole ships. The sea is also far deeper than might be expected - it's clear near the shores, letting you spot trouble, but once you get out into deep water, it becomes dark and hides monsters well. The sheer size of the sea creatures does, however, make for excellent fishing. The fishers use long and sturdy nets to pull up fish, crabs and eels as large as a man - or more. One catch could feed a dozen people. Fishing on the Atabean is dangerous, though, given the other creatures around. The Rahuri deeply respect fisherfolk and sailors as warriors and providers. Anyone that chooses to go out and hunt monsters is doing the will of the gods. Theans on the sea know that anyone who faces down these creatures is worth a free drink and a prayer - many who go out never return. Funerals with a body are rare, and the sailors and fishers consider lost limbs a badge of honor - distressingly common one.

Besides the sharks, eels and squid, there are unnatural beasts in the waters. Sailors have spoken of sharks with massive tentacles, able to pull entire ships into their mouths, or of whirlpools that come from nowhere and pull down a ship, then disappear. Some nights they hear voices singing, or speaking to them in the voices of their relative,s calling them to jump overboard. Most sailors know - they probably won't survive. Those who do, however, become wealthy beyond measure by slaying monsters and selling the bits. Monsters are the lifeblood of the Atabean, and almost every local industry involves hunting, processing and selling their parts. When the Theans came, they were amazed at how the Rahuri used every part of the creatures in their lives, and they began to export whalebone, eelskin, giant fish - all kinds of stuff. An entire trade grew out of what is now called 'extreme whaling.' it's easy to spot a ship preparing for a hunt. By tradition and pragmatism, each has at least one Rahuri hunter or whaler aboard, who will mark the ship with long white stripes, to resemble the Atabean sharks. You only need to ask for the captain to sign onto the crew - they're always looking for more sailors given the high mortality rate. They get plenty every time, though - the rewards are too rich to give up.

Once at sea, the whaling ships follow schools of fish, watching to see if they suddenly veer away from an area. That tells them a monster is nearby. Seasoned hunters will often know of a particular beast's hunting grounds and will stalk it for days or weeks. The hulls are filled up with chum to lure the monsters upwards, sometimes even dragging entire carcasses behind them. Each ship also has many harpoons, nets, dive lines and harnesses. The sailors leap off the ship into battle, climbing atop the backs of the monsters, armed only with a weapon and a harness. These ships will hunt any creature, not just whales, and every season, some go down. But again, the payday is astronomical. They drag the beasts aboard ship with hooks, processing them on deck to reduce their size. Sometimes, they can't, and have to use immense rafts to drag the body home, which can draw in more monsters. Once the carcass is at port, it is chopped, cut, cured and sold - every bit. The captain and crew split the profits, and hunters claim trophies as needed. Every ship keeps one piece of the kill as a trophy. Most of these whalers are primarily crewed by Rahuri, and always have at least one Rahuri aboard even if Thean. Often, they also have Rahuri spirits on board to help - seasoned whalers seeking revenge for their own deaths. Dead names on a crew are marked by a star on the roster to indicate their unlife. Theans often find the idea of crewing a ghost ship scary, but they tend to get used to it once the hunt begins in earnest - the ghost that wants to help you is less frightening than the squid that wants to kill you.

While Theans have documented all kinds of monsters on the sea, there are two that bear special mention. Mama Tortue, the Giant Sea Turtle, is the size of an island, with plants growing upon her back. For generations, she has been told of in Rahuri story. She is the daughter of Mama Yaya, and spotting her is a sign of good luck on a long voyage. She is a sentient (and immense) sea turtle, and her kindness has saved many a sailor from death. Legend goes that when the Rahuri came to the Sea, Mama Tortue was found trapped in a reef. The Rahuri fishers spotted her and worked to free her. She was already ancient, even then, and she thanked them and pledged to return the favor. Ever since, those lost at sea or swept overboard are occasionally found on the back of a sea turtle that sings them to sleep and delivers them to safety.

Tiburon, the Shark Whose Maw Consumes, is not so benevolent. He is a gigantic megashark of great intelligence that likes to rise under ships, tear out their hulls and occasionally swallow the smaller ones whole. He is almost invisible under the waves, his dark hide broken only by pale white tiger stripes. He is ever moving, never sleeps. Despite his terrifying appetite, however, he is not just a monster. Legend has it that Tiburon can become a man, or take over the body of a man, to check on the Rahuri. He is their guardian, who can be called on for aid in the face of great danger. Three times - and only three - have the Great Caciques called on Tiburon to destroy their foes. Once, against Aztlan raiders, and twice against nearby nations' raiding parties. Each time, the entire fleet was consumed in an orgy of death. Young Rahuri often seek out Tiburon as a rite of adulthood, asking him for one of his many teeth. They must climb into his mouth ot retrieve it, but if he judges them worthy, he will let them leave safely. However, those who are unworthy or who cut themselves on any of the many teeth, will be swallowed. It is said that these lost warriors are reborn as Tiburon's offspring, the smaller sharks. Most Theans initially dismissed the legends around Tiburon, but now, most who know of them believe. They've had a chance to run into him. ...and, of course, to blame him for all kinds of accidents, lost ships and general mischief which he was not actually responsible for. He's become kind of a bogeyman.

Places! Soryana is the island that is in both this world and the next. It is the home of the Rahuri ancestral dead, and to reach it, you need to be on a mission to seek out one of those dead. You can spot it sometimes if you're not - but you won't get there. Legend has it that Soryana was created by Apocoatl's oath - that the Rahuri bound themselves to the sea even in death. Their ancestors lingered, restless and lost, many going mad and attacking their people. Mama Yaya took pity on them and made an island for them to live in peace on until they were needed. Soryana. It appears and disappears on the horizon without warning, and most pathfinders that seek it either use gateways deep in the earth or head out to sea with no heading planned. If their intentions are pure, they will find a way.

Once there, the dead great visitors with food and refreshment...and if you eat of them, you may never leave the island. You must find the person you seek among the thousands of dead souls, and the island is much larger than it initially seems, full of both modern and ancient villages. The Rahuri work and live there as they did in life, tending the sea and the ghosts of the monsters. On finding your spirit, you then go to the great roundhouse of Locuo, the king of Soryana, who sits upon a throne of ancient sea beast bones at the foot of the only mountain. He is the ancient ancestor of the Rahuri, who led them to the Sea, and now is king of their dead. He decides if your reasons for needing the dead are worthy and sets the length of their trip. Only once he accepts a petition may a visitor leave, either by walking back over land to the mountain or sailing into the night. This practice is considered so common among the Rahuri that most have been to Soryana several times and understand the rules implicitly. Foreigners are welcome to try, but theey're going to need a Rahuri pathfinder and also most prove that their goals are for the greater good of the Rahuri and the Sea. Making Locuo angry can get your soul torn apart by the dead and used as chum.

Then you have the Devil's Strait - the dangerous passage between the Serpent's Sea and the Atabean. It lies just south of Guare Island and is nearly five miles long, surrounded by misty cliffs. On a clearer day, you can spot the two mountains on Guare, where the Rahuri elders retire to contemplate. But most days, it's full of fog that leaves you open to running into reefs and getting caught by monsters - ferocious giant squid, carnivorous flying fish and more. At the end of the strait is Haakenssen's Lighthouse, built by a Vesten architect, which provides a signal that you near the end of the strait. 'Seeing Haakenssen's light' is now a metaphor for the end of a long or hard journey. It has two beacons - one red, one green - that line up properly only if you're on the right course. There are other, secret ways into the sea...but those are all guarded by pirates and smugglers. The Thean nations have long sought charts that show all of them, but so far, none have been acquired.

The two greatest threats of the Devil's Strait are the ghost-sirens and Wu'a, the mouth of the Sea. Any sailor heading into the strait learns to cover their ears if they hear voices in the water. Chances are they're the voices of the restless dead - dishonored Rahuri who refused to return to Soryana or who were misused and driven mad. And even they are wary when the waters boil and the lights come from the mist, because those are the only warning of the doom that is Wu'a, the charybids that haunts the STait. Any ship that follows the lights will be caught in a whirlpool and dragged into Wu'a's waiting mouth. Once it feeds, it moves on, leaving only shards of hull in its wake. Its name comes from the Rahuri word most often shouted when it's found - "Wu'a" means "no".

Thorindin's Spires are a small island chain on the far northern edge of the Sea, too small to be considered individually. Collectively, they are the spires - a range of undersea mountains whose barren peaks stick up from the water. The Rahuri never settled them because there was nothing there, so htey were left basically untouched until the Vendel pirate Erik Thorindin came. He saw the colonies appearing on the southern isles amd sought out a territory to use as a Vesten outpost. He managed to pick the Spires, which was a really dumb move. They'd been abandoned by the Rahuri because the area was full of bad weather, possibly caused by a cursed spirit, and because the islands have essentially no plant life and only a few springs of fresh water, and because each is little more than the top part of an undersee tower, with how much island is even there shifting with the tide, making them very hard to map. Oh, and the islands are also full of underwater caves that are revealed and hidden by the tides, which you can get pulled into if you dock too close when the tide goes out, or be trapped in when it comes in. This makes them terrible for actually living on, but they're excellent for secret meetings, hiding places for treasure and ambush spots for raiders. The Riroco hide their ships in the Spires, using the caves on the larger islands to house freed slaves until they can be smuggled to real freedom, and if you feel like braving the eye of the needle, you can go between the Spires to head north to the mainland of Wabanahkik...if you don't smash yourself on the Spires themselves.

There are also three major Thean colonies. First is San Sancha, high on the cliffs above Borequen's western shore. It was named for Alejandro Dantes' first daughter - the first Thean child born in the Atabean. Legend has it he tried to negotiate to have the entire island named for her but couldn't convince the Rahuri. The Grand Cacique was amused, however, and let him name the outpost that instead. It was his reward for being friend to the Rahuri - a retirement village for him and his crew, which blossomed into a trade center for pirates and merchants. It is mostly Castillian and is a welcome reminder of home for Theans. Dantes was the first governor, but had to flee when the Castillians showed up to arrest him. They tried to take over, but when warned that if they did, the Rahuri would seize the city, so they gave up. The settlement is now run by a board of governors - a mix of pirates and anyone that can bribe their way in. It officially swears to no flag, recognizing the Rahuri as owners of the land, and is a firm ally to the Rahuri Nation.

Sylviette is a Montaigne colony on the Ile de Sylviette, a wooded island that proved the first totally Thean settlement in the Atabean. It is now a bastion of Montaigne culture and society. It was founded by the disgraced Mariquise Sylviette du Morne, and is said to be the only place of "real Thean civilization" in the West. It is home to music halls, artists and estates in the latest Montaigne designs, with the locals wearing hgigh fashion and holding opulent parties, all on the back of slaves purchased from the ATC. The gilded exterior hides the truth, however - it is a military outpost with a party culture overlaid on top. It was built and operates under guidance from Montaigne top intelligence, with hidden weapons stockpiles under the estates and ships ready to fight for l'Empereur. Marquise du Morne was never disgraced - rather, the Marquise was dispatched forrty years ago by the Sun King himself. As the Marquise ages, it is unclear who will inherit the island, its slaves and its secrets. The court there waits uneasily, and the parties continue.

Last is Fortunato, a cautionary tale to colonists. It was first proposed to the Rahuri as a Vodacce outpost on a small island near Yamaka, a home for traders. The original settlers built a small Vodacce town alongside the Rahuri, but they brought a strong Vaticine presence with them. The Church saw Fortunato as a perfect base for missionary work, and even began to plan expeditions from it to Aztlan. Soon, there were tons of priests and emissaries there. The Rahuri were patient and amused at first when the pushy and insistent missionaries came to them, but the fire and brimstone tactics employed soon ended that. When the Vaticines began to call the gates to Soryana unholy and tried to seal the entrance to a sacred cave system, the Rahuri revolted. In three nights, they seized Fortunato in a largely bloodless coup. The civilians were not harmed - the missionaries, however, were driven into the jungles or put out to sea in small boats, most never to be seen again. Since then, the Rahuri have run the place with the aid of Sorello, a former Vodacce shipping clerk who helped negotiate the new peace. For two years, Fortunato was closed to all Thean traffic, but it has recently reopened for trade and settlement under Rahuri management.

Next time: Aragosta

Pirate Nations: Pirate Don Quixote

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Pirate Don Quixote

So, around a generation ago, a desperate group of pirates formed an alliance to defeat the all-out war declared on them by Theah and the ATC. Their only cause was survival, and their only allies were each other. That small band grew to become the Brotherhood of the Coast, and their holdings have expended to be the Republic of Pirates, with a theoretical center in Aragosta. Every ship a state, every captain a voice on the Council of Captains. The tiny island is mostly used for transfer of goods and for entertainment than any kind of governance, of course, but it and the Brotherhood are ruled by an elected king or queen. Most discount the Republic of Pirates as little bit a villain's haven...but on the other hand, almost no one can stand up to the naval power of the Brotherhood when they gather en masse.

The story of Aragosta begins with Vincenzo "Knobby Knees" Gatto, who was the worst pirate in the world. Not in the sense of being the most terrifying, but in the sense that he just wasn't any good at it. Vincenzo Gatto was an old, rich Vodacce merchant with romantic dreams of piracy and no skills whatsoever at either ship command or combat. He spent his fortune to live out his dreams, beginning as a hunter of Crescent shipping in the Numanari Approach. He lost three ships and their crews with them, and earned a price on his head from both the Crescents and Vodacce, so he headed for the Widow's Sea to hunt Castillian vessels. He lost three more very expensive ships. Fearing for his life and knowing he'd really have trouble getting another crew, he took what he had left and headed for the Atabean Sea in search of better fortune.

He found none. He attacked a Castillian merchantman and failed disastrously due to a frigate guarding it, which crippled his ship and forced him to land on a large but unpopulated island covered in crabs and lobsters. Gatto decided that he was probably going to die on that rock, but at least he wouldn't have to starve...except for one problem: the frigate chased him down to arrest him for the reward. Gatto and his crew boarded their ruined vessel for one last stand when a giant lobster appeared, attacking both ships. The two crews worked together and slew the massive beast, and in exchange, the captain of the frigate, Jacinta Irati Loida Vela, offered to spare Gatto's life if he swore to never again practice piracy. Gatto swore that oath on the Book of Prophets, to never be a pirate again, and Vela sailed off, leaving Gatto to find a new dream - specifically, becoming the great Merchant Prince of the Atabean.

Gatto declared the crab-infested island his new home, dubbing it the Porto di Aragoste for the numerous crustaceans, and declaring it safe harbor for all pirates and ne'er-do-wells. Most knew it then and now as Aragosta. If Gatto couldn't be a pirate, he reasoned, he'd surround himself with them in a haven unlike any that had ever existed. Which isn't to say he had any good luck. He started by building a large tavern on the shore and naming it Vela's Mercy. It burned in down within a year. So, he rebuilt it as Vela's Dream, and it burned down within five weeks. So the third time he just went with 'Vela' and it ended up as the site of a violent battle between two rival crews that left it burned out and covered in blood. When he began rebuilding again, one of the pirate captains asked why he was rebuilding that bucket of blood, and in frustration, he renamed it Seccio di Sangue. For some reason, it survived that time - along with the name.

Over the years, Aragosta achieved Gatto's dream - it became a safe haven for pirates and scoundrels, an island that sold whatever illegal goods youm ight want, thriving and protected by those who believed in the power of crime. Gatto was the de facto governor, but he never actually enforced any kind of law or order - no king, no lord, just the crew. This made Aragosta quite dangerous, but he wanted it that way. The Bucket o' Blood, as the tavern became none, still stands to this day, and Gatto never thought it'd be the site of the most infamous agreement ever signed in Theah - an agreement signed in blood.

In the years after the island's establishment, the Castillian and Montaigne nobles became quite upset about piracy. Normally, they would hire warship to protect their merchantmen, but even that wasn't reliable any more, so the two nations form an alliance against pirates. The ships they hired to fight piracy flew the colors of Castille and Montaigne, but with a black dot in the middle of the flag, to mark them as pirate hunters. These ships, the black spots, hunted and slaughtered pirates, stealing their ships to sell off to Vesten and Vodacce. The Black Spot Fleet nearly destroyed Atabean piracy.

Nine great pirate captains met at the Bucket o' Blood: Roberts, Reis, Aardig, Fevrier, Carrigan, Hupia, Vinter, Quijano, Cannonnaso and Gosse. They spent a week discussing, trying to unite, before finally agreeing on a single Charter to bind all the vessels they commanded. It promises mutual protection, annual election of captains, a council of captains that would meet at the Bucket, sharing of spoils for repairs and fleet maintenance, protection of Aragosta, the sharing of sea charts and information, and a vow to hunt down any ship that flew the black spot. As punishment, any sailor who violated the Charter would be branded with a black spot as the true sign of a traitor. When the Charter was finished, all nine captains pooled their blood in one bowl and signed their names with it. The Republic of Pirates was born. Gatto was present htat night, and out of respect, he was given the chance to offer up his blood and his signature. Finally, Vincenzo Gatto was the pirate he always dreamed of. He walked back home with the aid of his cane and servant. A few years later, he headed out to fish in a small boat. A wave of fog rolled in and his servants lost sight of his vessel. When the fog left, he was gone, never to be seen again.

Today, ARagosta has been transformed from a small, minor pirate haven to the de factor capital of the Brotherhood of the Coast. Its popularity and its infamy have attracted countless pirate crews and captains, many of whom have signed the Charter and joined the Brotherhood, and they have helped to build Aragosta into a bustling freehold of shipbuilding, trade and smuggling. Aragosta is a safe haven for all of the Brotherhood and those they ike, though the fact that it's open to anyone willing to sail there means it also has everyone that's ended hated somewhere else in the world - wanted criminals, dissidents, political fugitives. All are welcome. Aragosta is the lowest common denominator. But hey, the lobster's great!

Most of Aragosta runs on a barter economy, primarily because the only natural resource on the entire island is the lobster. Every transaction is based on some mix of Guilders, goods and services, and reputation. There are three main measures of the Guilder that the Republic cares about : 100, 500 and 600. A hundred Guilders is the pay the Republic gives for loss of an eye or finger in service. Five hundred for a limb, six for something horrific and larger in scope than that. That's your only reliable standard of value to hte Guilder. So the question is, how difficult is what you want, compared to the kind of job that'd lose you an eye or a leg? That's how you price in Guilders. Larger transactions, however, rarely involve coin - they're usually based on haggling over goods. Fine coffee, facy cigars, sailcloth, a boat, a door repaired, an enemy investigated, a leg broken. It means that buying or selling anything takes a lot of time, of course. But the most important of Aragosta's currencies is reputation. Pirates live or die by fear, infamy, adventure and story. An exchange can alter your reputation based on how fairly the other side thinsk you haggled, how pleasant you made the process, or what promises of futre deals you made. Thus, the most powerful are those with an excellent reputaiton. Frequent and fair dealings with many poeple, who will vouch for you, that's what makes an elite on Aragosta. Everyone wants to talk to you because you can spread their name into a reputation of their own. This is why it's very hard to get an Aragostan to give a fair, honest assessment of someone else. Anywhere else, that's just tavern gossip - people talk about each other, make jokes, tell tall tales. In Aragosta, the description you give of someone you deal with is money you give away. Spend your money wisely.

Aragostan buildings are mainly built form shipwrecks - Vendel mead halls made out of longships, fences made of ship hull, roofing of snapped mast and sailcloth. If someone says you're dressed like an Aragostan, it means your clothing is mismatched, if charming - every sleeve or button beginning life on another shirt, stolen from another person, yet tastefully and classily assembled. From an Aragostan, it's a high compliment. From anyone else, it is a deadly insult to your sense of style. Aragostan food is likewise eclectic - and as a result, it's amazingly good. They mix meats, spices and recipes from across the world. You might not find any specific ingredient you go looking for, but you can easily find a dozen that are quite similar. And of course there's the lobster. Aragosta has dozens of different and excellent recipes for lobster bisque. A chef can actually make an excellent living on the island - sailors off a ship love eating food other people make, and will pay heavily for it. The poor have to make do with seafood, nutritious but lacking in vitamins that are the great luxury - which is to say, fruits and vegetables to ward off scurvy. While in Vodacce, 'aragosta' on a menu means lobster, 'Aragostan' on a menu means 'whatever looked good and/or cheap at the market today.'

Aragosta is covered in small churches, temples and shrines, rather like barnacles. The average pirate tends to be a rather more spiritual person than you might expect, simply as a result of being so close to death so often. Houses of worship are generally shared - a small church may service Dinists from the Crescent in the morning and Jaraguan Sevites in the evening, with a weekly Vaticine service one morning, and an Objectionist one at nightfall. They stay friendly pretty easily, not least because of the threat of cultists of the Devil Jonah. Many Aragostans are so terrified of Devil Jonah that they've decided he's the only dangerous spiritual power to worry about. Vaticines may complain of Objectionists, Objectionists may complain of Crescents - but none of them are chopping each other's limbs off and hurling them into the sea for dark powers, so that makes them okay. At least, that's what everyone says Jonah cults do. Rumor has it that they perform violent, deadly rituals involving sacrifice of body parts in order to be rewarded by the evil spirit that is the Devil Jonah. Jonah worship is the only crime on the island that is punishable by exile or death, usually at the hands of an angry mob.

Aragosta has no formal government - just power players, those with enough wealth to control a district. The real power, however, is in the hands of the senior captains and the King of the Pirates. (Queen, these days.) The war with the Black Spots is long since ended, but now a new war is brewing against the Atabean Trading Company. Their recent creation of what amounts to private Letters of Marque against their rivals is a blatant attack on the Brotherhood...and the real knife is that one of the First Captains, Stephen Fevrier, is now a Company man. A pirate hunter. Company President George Rourke promised him the deed and rulership of all Aragosta if he can end the Republic and kill all of its successful captains. This betrayal is legendary, and it couldn't come at a worse time.

The King of the Pirates is the job no one wants, but someone has to have. It's a thankless, tiring job. The First Charter maintains that the King must stay on Aragosta to manage disputes and keep the peace. The First Captains agreed to this because none of them wanted the job and none of them wanted the others to enjoy the job. The Charter is vague on what it means, however, and each King has interpreted it differnetly. King Roberts continued to sail, returning once a month handle affairs. King Gosse was a more permanent resident, leaving the island once or twice a year for adventure. A few years ago, however, he retired after being maimed in battle by the Company, losing the use of one arm and requiring a cane. No one wanted to take the crown after him, so he announced that on the last day of the year, the last Captain to arrive and tell him they didn't want the job would be the one to get it. Every captain sailed in that day as quick as they could. It went long, the sun setting, until at last, Captain Morgan, Jacqueline Bonaventura arrived and was made Pirate Queen. The King (or now Queen) rules from Gatto's old mansion atop the hill by the port. It has a small staff, and receives 10 percent tax on all treasure obtained by the Brotherhood...but a gilded cage is a cage, and all three monarchs have hated it. The pirates hate following rules, but they must have a leader to survive.

Since the founding of the Republic, it has suffered two great betrayals, and each has shaken them to their core. The first was Captain Reis. She - yes, she - is one of the most feared pirates in the world, called the scarlet reaper. Why do so many on the continent think she's a huge man with a scythe? Because...well, she doesn't leave survivors, but the tale keeps opping up. Some believe the Devil Jonah made her leave some survivors alive, but that she has her first mate claim to be Reis to keep heroes off her scent. Others think some man is out there using her name and reputation and hoping never to meet her. Anyway, when the First Charter was formed, no one actually expected her to show up, but she did. In the first week, no one expected her to sign the First Charter, but she did. And no one expected her to keep to it...but she did. No one knew it then, but she was willing to help out and even to wait years to enact her true villainous plot. She is a very, very patient predator.

Reis was the one who suggested the Charter be signed in blood. She peformed the ritual that bound them all together, and while the others didn't truly understand the blood rite they did, or its implications, Reis knew. Everyone knew it was magic, but only she knew what it meant. She knew the ritual that tied them all - and when she went to the Devil Jonah and offered him the souls of those bound to her in exchange for immortality, the Charter let her do it on an equal footing to the most terrifying being on the sea. There was only one catch - Jonah would need to claim each captain's soul himself, at the exact moment of death. Jonah took the deal. The Captains weren't aware of this betrayal until Roberts was wounded and captured by a pirate hunter. As he lay dying, the Black Freighter appeared from the fog. The survivors said Jonah's crew attacked the pirate hunter, but that the Devil Jonah himself took the very soul from Roberts' body. After Roberts, it was Hupia, betrayed by his first mate and bosun. At the moment of his death, the Freighter appeared, and Jonah took his soul as well. And then Gatto vanished in the fog. A pattern became evident.

The Captains soon figured it out. Reis' betrayal has put her on every Brotherhood ship's hit list. The curse of the Charter should have struck Reis, but none of the other captains know if it did, or if the Devil Jonah gave her a way to avoid that fate. Any ship that has encountered the Crimson Roger since has not survived to tell the tale and answer the question. The First Captains are now all damned by the betrayal. The Devil Jonah haunts them, waiting for them to die so he can take their souls. The Charter holds, but it's only a matter of time now before Jonah comes calling.

Next time: The Second Betrayal and the major Captains.

Pirate Nations: Steve February

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Steve February

Stephen Fevrier was another First Captain that signed the original Chaarter - indeed, he'd been a quiet man who was among the first to call for an alliance against the Black Spots. Shortly after their defeat, though, his ship was caught in a storm that took him to the Seventh Sea and trapped him and his crew there for three years, dodging horrors from beyond reality. Eventually, Fevrier made a pact with an entity within the Seventh Sea that let him escape, but at a horrible cost. While 30 months had passed for him and his crew, 30 years had passed in the actual world - and now, he was bound to the beast and was slowly changing, growing to resemble his otherworldly master. He joined the ATC, giving them all the secrets he knew - names, places, ports, sea charts. He began hunting the other First Captains and the Brotherhood in general. The Company gives him crews and ships, but he still prefers the one he brought back from the Seventh Sea, crewed by men and women who were ex-pirates, as he is.

No one is sure why Fevrier betrayed the Brotherhood. Perhaps he believes hunting them down will somehow free him from the pact he made with the monsters of the Seventh Sea. Perhaps he thinks they betrayed him somehow, condemning him to his fate. Perhaps he's just gone utterly mad. Whatever the case, the Company has promised him Aragosta, if he can destroy the Republic of Pirates and shatter the Brotherhood. Fevrier is certain that, armed with his strange ship, his crew and the wealth of the Company - he can do it. He may not be wrong.

To join the Republic is easy. Many have done it, signed their own Charters and nailed them to the walls of the Bucket o' Blood. All you need to do is write your own Charter, sign it in blood and put it on the wall. The specific ritual used by the First Captains has been lost - only Reis knew it, after all - but others have mimicked its procedure and gotten lesser effects. What Reis and the First Captains did has been passed down in 40 years of oral tradition, and its purity has been corrupted. The sorcery just isn't as powerful now as it once was. Still, signing a blood Charter gives both a blessing and a curse. Those that abide by it get luck, those that break it get ruin. Of those First Captains, only five remain. Three of the original crew are dead, one is missing, and Gatto of course vanished as the tenth. They remain, however, notorious figures.

Morgan Jacquueline Bonaventura, the Pirate Queen is the third to hold the job. She is a literal bastard - she was born without a family, knowing neither parent. She was raised in an orphanage and apprenticed as a sailor on a Castillian fishing boat. Five years later, she was an officer aboard Gentleman Gosse's ship. She sees Gosse as her true father, who taught her everything she knows. Since taking her job as Queen, she's proven a progressive and dynamic leader - she wants to do things right, and has implemented improved communications using various magically talented pirates as well as developing new lines of trade to areas that aren't La Bucca. Her strict policy of solidarity has meant many leave the island marked with the black spot, but her improved defenses have prevented heavy losses during Company raids. Unfortunately, it's under her that Fevrier has come back. Both the Company and Fevrier have underestimated Bonaventura, at least, thanks to her youth. She's managed to keep the captains loyal and coordinated, but she's having trouble continuing to rally the entire Republic indefinitely. She needs to find a feasible end to her war before the coalition fractures. She has to defeat her foes, maintain her limited power, keep Aragosta out of Company hands and stop the Devil Jonah from taking more souls. To make it worse, it's not been a profitable war. Yes, they've captured newer, faster ships...but their losses outnumber their gains, thanks to Fevrier's pirate hunters and pirates choosing to break ties and leave the fight. Some think Bonaventure must be removed to make peace with the ATC, if she can't win soon. While Bonaventura doesn't want the job she's got, Gosse has trusted her with it, and she respects no one more. She is deeply frustrated, as anyone who meets her can tell. She is currently relying on the aid of her best friend, Madeline Dorman, and her sisters Chloe and Sophie, all skilled sorciers of Porte, who are running the communications side of the Brotherhood. The rest of her crew has moved on, but have all promised to rejoin her if she ever salls La Dama Roja again.

Michael "Cannonnaso" Gatto was never a great pirate. He had a crew, his ship didn't sink, he did pirate once. But he's always been better on land. He runs the longshoremen and workers of Aragosta. He's an older man, the son of the original Gatto, and has lived on the island his entire life. You want something done, you go to him. But you don't use his nickname unless you've earned it. You'll know when that happens - it's when you can use it and he doesn't have guys break your nose and limbs. He's called that because, yes, he has a big nose and lots of allergies. He's gotten used to it, insofar as he can. He's Bonaventura's right hand man, the guy who runs the island for her. He speaks Vodacce fluently and without accent but has never left the Atabean Sea. He hasn't a head for sailing or strategy - his expertise lies in shipping, scheduling and smuggling, and in finding people to delegate the things he's not good at to. He trusts capable people who will try new things. He's main gripe is organizational - he thinks that Aragosta needs more laws and accountability. Not a lot, but more. So far, every time he suggests it, he gets shouted down.

Konstance Vinter is gigantic. She's over six feet tall, with dark blonde hair to her shoulders. Her ship, Dame Dod, is a black frigate with black sails. While she's been running it for 25 years, she doesn't look a day over 30. When she speaks on the Council of Captains, her voice shakes the walls. She's made it clear that she wants to put together a giant fleet and just burn down Fort Freedom, the ATC's headquarters, once and for all. Bonaventura often reminds her that not everyone living there is part of the Company or even complicit, so she's been focusing on raiding Company hsipping near Vestenmennavenjar so that she won't be tmepted to act rashly. Still, her mind is always on Fort Freedom. She's still a hero - for now. She used to be a merchant with the Vendel League, who brought her wife and children to the New World to share her purpose...until they became targets of the ATC. Her wealth and power made her dangerous, so the ATC murdered her family and framed her for the crime, convincing the governor to ship her to Fort Freedom for her prison sentence, where they took all her holdings and used them to build up their slaving trade. She and few others ran a prison break, though of the 24 who started it, only 4 survived. Konstance became a pirate in order to fight the corrupt tyranny of the Company. She still remembers the screams, the torture, the labor, the hunger. She believes the only way to end her nightmares forever is to burn Fort Freedom down. As for why she ages slowly...well, one story says she was kissed by an Avalon Sidhe who gave her long life. Others say she found a fountain of youth in Aztlan, and another says she got a Vodacce FAte Witch to cut the black cord of death from her before she sailed for the Atabean. Konstance will never speak about which, if any, is correct.

Grace Aardig is the Old Dame now. Once, she was a beautiful young woman who had just taken her first prize ship - that was when she signed on with the first Charter. She's old now, knobby, has outlived two husbands, and she generally prefers to stay in the dry, warm climate of Aragosta where she can command her rather large fleet of ships from her armchair. They are, after all, run by her children and grandchildren. This makes Grace the head of the largest voting bloc on the Council, as all of her captains have signed their votes to her, and she attends every goddamn metting. It's no secret she's not a fan of Bonaventura, but she's busy enough with her own fleet to not worry about the whole Republic. She favors a more defensive strategy of wasting the Company's time and money...and because of her voting power, that's what the Republic is mainly doing. She can barely remember the old days, but they taught her hard wisdom. While she can no longer dance, she loves to listen to her grandson Ronnie play the fiddle, and she keeps tabs on her entire family. Her first great-grandchild, Emily, is a month old. She is in constant pain from arthritis and old injuries, but it keeps her sharp. She doesn't drink except for a dram of whiskey for the sharper pains, and while she is a cranky busybody, she's still sharp. Some think she's gone deaf; she lets them think this, and sees it as her job to keep others from making her mistakes.

James Dharr is the captain of the Lamya. Every time he comes into port, he's a conquering hero with exotic plunder and tall tales, host of an island-wide party that lasts days and ruins all productivity whenever he shows up. Bonaventura loses weeks of planning whenever he shows, and to her chagrin, even Cannonnaso and Aardig like him. He claims to be the bastard son of an Avalon Sea Dog and a Crescent princess. What's worse is how eloquent his speeches are at Council about going beyond the Atabean in search of treasure. Bonaventura would love if he really did just leave and never come back...but his charisma brings in more recruits than any other captain, and if he left, many would go with him. Dharr's most recent return sparked an eight day party on Aragosta thanks to the gold bullion and ivory he brought back from Ifri. He claimed to have married the daughter of a king and gotten it as a wedding gift before leaving the princess at the altar to sail away. He finds the entire Atabean political stuff exceptionally boring and thinks that the ATC is unable to catch any decent pirate, much less himself. He preferred Bonaventura before she was Queen and got all uptight, thinking that if she was like that still, the Company'd be done already. Problem is, he said something like that once too often and she's gone cold to him. For all his bragging and arrogance and vanity - he is a hero, through and through. Just, the kind that makes sure he's first there when anyone needs help, and makes sure everyone knows he was first there. Doing right is a principle for him...but he wants to have fun doing it.

Thomas St. Claire is the star of John Wick's second novel, Born Under the Black Flag, but that's not actually very important to his role in the game. He's famous as a captain for the Republic because, for almost 10 years, he was one of the worst scum on the sea, first mate under William Stroud on the Crimson Ghost. He was a heartless monster, like his captain, who would burn down a settlement and rot out a ship just for a few coins. But...something happened to him. He was caught by the ATC and sent to a "plantation." He spent two months there and then, on official record, he was hung until dead. He showed up shortly after as a pirate captain, hunting down the Crimson Raiders with the ruthless efficiency he'd had as a Crimson Raider. Two years later, his ship, the Hanged Man, made port in ARagosta. He walked in with a young girl at his side, nailed his Charter to the wall and threw down a sack of coins to buy everyone's drinks, as demanded by tradition. Then he left with the girl. So, the truth? He was a monster, yes. There's too much blood on his hands to get rid of. But as he hanged, he saw a vision of black fire under his feet, and a light and beatific face gazing down at him from above. Ever since, he's been a changed man. The monster is still there, but he's caged it. He's found new purpose - a new reason to get up each morning. That purpose? Kill the Crimson Raiders. Every last one.

Morgan Doyle is the classic Inish pirate - short, one-eyed, long braided red hair, knack for surviving just about anything. Rumor has it that he's survived more monster attacks than any other pirate on the entire Atabean Sea. However, he cannot remember why he came out to the sea. All he knows is that he has a locket bearing two pictures - his own and that of a beautiful woman - and that sometimes, he can hear Sidhe whispers in his dreams. He knows he's lost something but isn't sure what it is or where. The truth? He grew up in a small fishing village and fell in love with a woman named Cordelia. He tried to put her out of his mind when she was shipped off to Vodacce to marry a noble, but he met her again a decade later when she hired him to smuggler her out of Vodacce by night. They returned to Inismore to be married, but found their entire village had vanished. They set out to rescue their friends and family, to find the truth...but then, they ran foul of Unseelie, who stole Cordelia away and took Morgan's memory, dropping him off in the Atabean for his trouble. Morgan can't remember much of his past, but he knows he will fight for the poor and innocent, that evil wins when good does nothing, and that it's better to have loved and lost than to be cold. In his dreams, he hears whispers of something he should know but doesn't, feels a Sidhe hand stroking his face and drawing silver threads. Part of him knows he must leave the Atabean. If the right heroes show up, he'd love to return to Inismore and regain his memory, to find out what he must do to meet the woman he knows he loves, but whose name he can't recall - only the face in the locket.

Locations! The Claws are the two forts on either edge of Lobster Bay, the main bay on which the docks, quays, wharves and piers are built. They are armed with long guns meant to deter enemy ships. One of the Claws was built by the Republic, while the other is made out of an abandoned Vaticine friary. They're high, solid structures built decades ago, which is kind of a problem. Their square build is antiquated, wiuth modern ones using the Vodacce Star pattern to have mounted guns covering all angels of approach. So far, only the Company and some governments can afford star forts in the Atabean, though. Bonaventura would like to raise funds to rebuild the Claws, but she's had no luck. The bay itself has pure white beaches intersperesed with ship moorings and ships under construction. Aragosta's the place to get a new ship, especially a coastal raider. The best builder is Red Alice Stewart, an elderly Highlander whose name is not taken from her (black) hair, but from her undending sunburns. For ten years, she's complained of the sun and swore each project would be her last, until one of her friends put a sign up over her door - 'Red's Ten-Year Retirement.' Red's never taken it down - she just changes the number each year. (It is now 22.)

The Bucket o' Blood has been destroyed and rebuilt many, many, many times. Bona ventura and Cannonaso have finally spent a fortune transforming it into something amazing, hiring Augustin Hebert, an Eisen castle architect, to make a tavern that couldn't be destroyed. He took the challenge, using modern Castilliand and Eisen design to make a modular interior for easy replacements. The inner walls are coated in Charters, flags, fish, anchors and ship's wheels, all with a story the staff will happily tell. The food is expensive by Aragostan standards but quite good. The bouncer is Adetokunbo, a 40-year-old Ifrian mercenary who is said to have met the O'Bannon when he went to Inismore to fight the famous boxers there, and made the man smile just by standing there. The main floor is for the common pirate, with uncomfortable but sturdy chairs that make decent weapons, and tables bolted to the floor, designed to be too heavy even for Ussurans to lift after Herbert witnessed pirates flipping tables after games. The three walls that don't face the harbor all have their own bar, and two spiral staircases lead up to the balcony level, where the tables have tablecloths and the chairs are comfy. Dancers, musicians and jugglers are always working upstairs, and the customers are wealthier, with candles on the tables. The food costs the same, but the waitstaff expect much better tips for their wit and expertise. A few of the ladies were courtesans in Vodacce and expect the treatment they'd get at home from admirers. The third floor is all private rooms, mostly for meetings. Some are retained by the Republic in perpetuity. They're not as fancy as you might see in Vodacce or Montaigne, but are extremely large.

Then there's the Emperor's Boyfriend, which takes some telling. A decade after the Black Spots were defeated, the Captain Zwarte Hoop's shop, Angstrdroom, picked up a castaway on the eastern side of Aztlan. She spoke no known language, and even the Jaraguan and Aztlan crewmen were baffled by her appearance and clothes. When she was offered water, she stripped naked on the deck and revealed a skin covered, head to toe, in elaborate tattoos, which seemed alive in the sunlight, moving across her skin. Later, she impressed them by saving Hoop as he was dragged across the deck by a broken spar. She leapt from the deck to the ratlines to catch him, breathing air into his mouth for minutes while he untangled himself from the ropes underwater. When asked how she managed to mvoe so fast and hold her breath even longer than the best pearl divers, she pointed to her tattoos and said something that sounded like 'whoa sherr Whenshen.' Ever since, she's been Wenshen. Hoop became convinced the tatoos were magic, and asked for one in exchange for whatever she wanted (via a long series of hand signs and sand drawings). She agreed, and he took her to Aragosta, giving her a share of his loot. She mixed her inks, using a goldsmith's forge to make her own needles, and gave him his first tattoo.

Before long, she was in high demand. She learned Numanari, which she speaks with a heavy accent, and she doesn't give a tattoo to all the customers that enter her shop - that'd be the Emperor's Boyfriend, a name she says means 'miserable job' in her homeland's slang. She talks to her customers and often asks a task of them before she'll do the work, and she always gives you the mark you need, not the one you want. She also does mundane tattoos for cash, but she never lists prices - she charges based on what she thinks of you after looking you over, and each tattoo is custom. You never ask for someone else's. She has now trained several apprentices over the years, and she once told Hoop and a few others of her two terrible voyages and her trek across Aztlan. Most of her stories are tall tales of warriors leaping from tree to tree, fighting aerial monsters. Her favorite stories are similar to her own tales, but about Theah, IFri, Aztlan or the Crescent Empire rather than her own homeland. Her shop is right by the Bucket o' Blood, and she's been known to give a magic tattoo to someone who tells a particularly good story over particulalry good booze.

The Forever Reef...well, everyone knows Aragosta sits on top of an ancient reef - you can see it if you go swimming. Everyone just assumed there was more rock and coral under it, until Bonaventura hired a squad of adventurers to investigate Devil Jonah cultists. They discovered ruins under the reefs, which went deep, deep inside - below the sea floor. Chambers, tunnels, chutes, secret doors, ladders - all on top of each other in some kinf of cylindrical maze that went as far down as you cared to go. After a disastrous fight with the cultists destroyed the entrance, the captains decided to blockade the place...until the Explorers got wind of it and showed up. Expeditions are limited to low tide due to flooding, but they've discovered some things. First, the ruins appear to be Syrneth in origin, but some of the devices appear to have been modified and corrupted with the kind of devilish prostheses granted by the Devil Jonah. The upper levels of the reef are fully inhabited by cultists, outcasts, beggars and traitors, though just a few months ago they found a quick tunnel to move from one side of the island to the other as a shelter against hurricanes. It has also become a haven for thugs and assassins, known as the Forever Reef or the Aragostan Underground. It's dangerous even for the bravest heroes - ten times worse than surface Aragosta in its worst moments. The murderers openly ply their trades, without care for any rules of god or man. The deeper levels currently known are four to five stories under the island, with windows of glass or crystal that reveal the water beyond, and tunnels of seawayer cutting through and across. Locks and hatches would allow a diver, if daring enough, to enter the water.

The archaeologists have noticed a strange effect, however. The lower you go in the tunnels, the sicker you get. At first it feels like nausea, but the deeper you go, it starts to turn into madness, and before long you don't want to come back up. Those who go too low return saying that they saw things down there - people - and that the sea creatures clinging toe the glass spoke to them, saying true things. They spoke of dark shapes darting through the water, with trailing tails, whiuch carried weapons of coral and brass, with glistening eyes and ruined mouths in human faces. So that's fun!

Next time: Secret Societies on Aragosta, bad guys, and the Devil Jonah his own self.

Pirate Nations: Fifteen Men As A Dead Man's Chest

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Fifteen Men As A Dead Man's Chest

Aragosta is off all the major trade routes, so it's a pretty safe place for secret societies compared to Fort Freedom or the colonies. The Brotherhood of the Coast is based there, obviously, though most of the actual island's permanent residents aren't members. (Cannonnaso is only by virtue of having once captained a ship, briefly.) Pretty much the entire island economy runs on their piracy. Die Kreuzritter recently learned of the Devil Jonah when a member destroyed one of his dark gifts with a dracheneisen dagger. They're now wondering if dracheneisen would prove useful and effective against Jonah himself. The Explorer's Society is officially based out of Fort Freedom, regionally, but many who distrust the Company have decided to work out of Aragosta instead. Their new chapterhouse is in the Forever Reef. The Invisible College have a major contact in the form of the bartender Huemac, who is a member. Order the right drink, and he'll take you into the back and through a network of secret doors and staircases, to a sub-basement that got lost during all the rebuildings, which he's turned into a scientific lab.

The Knights of the Rose and Cross have no presence on Aragosta, and the locals wouldn't particularly like their moralizing if they did. Los Vagabundos have shown up, however. A few years ago, the Company hired an assassin to murder Queen Bonaventura, and she tried to shoot her at the bucket of blood. The masked vigilante El Vagabundo appeared in the nick of time, snatched the bolt from the air and chased the shooter down, defeating her in single combat, though the assassin killed herself rather than be captured. Bonaventura has been looking for more information ever since - she's grateful, but doesn't like knowing someone's watching her. Mociutes Skara operate fairly openly on Aragosta, and have a network of sympathizers who provide them with safehouses for refugees that have been extracted from various Atabean conflicts. The Rilasciare briefly and disastrously attempted to set up a cell in Fort Freedom, and have since headed for Aragosta. There's no nobles there except Queen Bonaventura, who barely counts, but that lack of activity means it's a good fallback point.

No,w villains. The big villain group (besides the ATC, who get their own dang chapter) is the Crimson Raiders. Once Reis betrayed the Republic of Pirates, she needed allies, and so she offered bargaisn and promises, and some say even made a deal with the Devil Jonah. The result is the Raiders. All who join make a blood pact with Reis and fly a red Jolly Roger. They swear to take no prisoners, show no mercy to enemies and to take anything not nailed down. They give up pity and fear, replacing it with violence. Now, if you see the red Jolly Roger, you know it's Reis' fleet, and your options are fight, flee or die. Reis has seven captains under her so far, each as wicked as she. She calls them her Seven Deadly Sins: Black Heart Spannagel, Jeremie Otto Oliverson, Andrej Vinicius Edwardssen, Maredudd Wallis, Ioanna Celso Mah, Jame Akelsesen and her favorite - William Stroud.

William Stroud is known as the Red Ghost of the Atabean. He's merciless and cruel, and he always wears fine silks, a black wig and a wide-brimmed hat. He's a dandy, and his accent's unplaceable but definitely not Avalon, despite his name. Maybe Eisen or Ussuran. His ship, the Red Ghost, never takes prisoners, and it is said that he cannot be killed by any weapon - not pistols, not swords, nothing. This is because, they say, his heart is hidden somewhere at sea.

Which brings us to the Devil Jonah's gifts. On a dark night at Backbreaker's Bay, on the north side of Aragosta, you might find a man and his mates. The man will bite down on a belt to stop the screams as the others cut off his limb or pluck out his eye. Then he will say a quick prayer to the Devil Jonah, using the true name of the Black Freighter: the Caroline. He will throw the appendage into the Devil's Spout, a blowhole at the edge of the bay, and wait alone by the shore ofr a gift from Jonah to wash up at his feet. The Spout's not actually required, either. Aynone who wants to can cut off a limb, say the prayer and hurl it into the water, waiting for a gift to return to them. Some do it out of desire for power, some to stay safe from the Devil, some because their crew won't take them unless they do. And some don't do it, but have the Devil himself board their ship and take their limb, leaving a gift behind. While the Devil Jonah gives the same gift to all, those who have it taken by force are less likely to be happy about using it than those who gave willingly. Gosse tried to stamp out the practice, but while many crews that follow Jonah's ways have been forced out of the Brotherhood, lone sialors and captains remain that have the gifts. Bonaventura has personally decreed that no further captains will be allowed into the Republic if they have the Devil's gift - she doesn't trust them. These gifts vary. Often, they are strange, creepy devices to replace a lost hand, leg or eye, but not always. They never work for anyone but the one that sacrificed to Jonah - and if you ever try to hurl your gift back into the sea, sell it or even give it away, it will return to your side by ther next fall of night.

The story of Jonah himself is told in-character by an old ghost to a serving girl named Jocelyn as a framing device. (A literal ghost, as it turns out, though not a Rahuri-style one.) But the tale goes like this. There was a pirate captain, Gonzalez, who was as good and honest as a pirate can be. His quartermaster, Jonah, was a black-hearted traitor, and while Gonzalez knew Jonah to be a wicked man, he thought there was good buried in there. There was not. Gonzalez also had a master gunner, a Vodacce woman with the gift of Sorte. The three of them and the other officers had, years ago, written up a charter, written in blood. Gonzalez' mother was Avalon, and there was magic in his blood - and in the gunner's, and in Jonah's. The Charter swore all to be loyal to the hsip, giving them a kind of magic no one had ever seen before. This was long, long before the First Charter and the Brotherhood ever existed.

The Charter gave each hand a vote, among other things, and to break it called down a horrible curse - a curse that could not be cured even by a Vodacce witch. Since the signing of the Charter, the ship knew nothing but clear skies and good hauls. They were happy. But one da,y Gonzalez saw a beautiful woman on another ship, and he became obsessed with her, seeking neither treasure nor glory - only her smile. He ignored wealthy galleons coming from the New World. He ignored Vesten ships laden with cargo. All he wanted was the woman, whom he could not find. The crew began to mutter, and Jonah whispered to them, poisoning hteir minds with it, but making sure the gunner woman never heard of it. One day, they saw a ship flying the flag of some Atabean plantation. The Captain said he was not interested, but Jonah called a vote, and the crew decided to take her.

There was no battle - on seeing the Jolly Roger of Gonzalez, the ship surrendered. But when the crew looked for treasure, they found nothing but illegal slaves. By the Charter, all slaves were to be released and given command of the slaver ship, abandoning the old crew on the nearest island. Jonah demanded they break with that, keep the slaves and sell them. Gonzalez refused - he reminded Jonah of the Charter's curse if broken, and so they followed it, and didn't even keep the ship to sell. And that was the last day Gonzalez was captain. When the moon rose, Jonah led the crew in mutiny, murdering all those still loyal. They reached the ugn deck, and Jonah's own blade pierced the master gunner's heart. She reached out and touched Jonah's face, her hands thick with blood, and she whispered a dying curse: "Vivere per sempre." Live forever.

He was unworried - a dead witch's curse can be cured by a live one. Then, the mutineers reached the captain's quarters. The two men duelled, but it was clear Jonah was neither so fast nor so good as the captain, and he ordered his crew to hold the man down. But it would not go so cleanly. Gonzalez fought them off, sword in one hand, Charter in the other. When he struck a traitor with the Charter, that man would burst into red and gold flames. They fought across the ship, and Gonzalez found he had no crew left that was loyal and alive. When he saw the gunner's body, his soul snak, and al lthe fight left him. Jonah and the mutineers overpowered him, but as they did, Gonzalez placed the Charter against Jonah's chest and drove his sword through the both of them. The Charter exploded in flame and the sword pierced Jonah's black heart. Jonah was hurled like a cannon shot, on the deck, chest aflame, and the captain fell overboard into the dark waters.

But though his heart was pierced, Jonah did not die. He was burned and bloodied - but the witch's curse kept him from death, and the Charter's damnation kept him from life. From that day, ever onwards, the Devil Jonah has been trapped between life and death. He is unlike any other creature, for his flesh rots off his traitorous form. And so, he must steal the flash and bones of living men, and he haunts the seas even today, captaining the Black Freighter, as any sane man now calls the Caroline, to raid ships and plunder their crews of flesh. When the Black Freighter comes - always by night, and now more bone than wood, its body repaired with the bones of sea monsters - the only escape is to sail like madmen until sunrise. Otherwise, you will be caught in its grapples, for Jonah never sinks a ship. He and his crew of skeletons will board your ship, and he will relish the fear and the hate, for he despises the living, he envies them. He will take limbs and eyes offered to him by the crew - and if you are unlucky, he will take those not offered as well, or even a whole person. He rarely touches passengers, unless they have been crew to a ship themselves. But the worst tales say that sometimes, if angered, the Devil will take all souls aboard, save for those who have previously given him an eye or limb.

That, incidentally, is why it is bad luck to board a free-floating vessel with no souls aboard. You walk where the Devil his own self once tread. But if Jonah meets someone who has already given him a limb, well, he thanks them personally. "One limb is all I require of thee, me hearty, but if you wish to donate more, I'd be willing to part with a fine gift from me hold," he says. The offer stands.

Next time: Jaragua

Pirate Nations: Rum, Tobacco and Slaves

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Rum, Tobacco and Slaves

For most of Jaragua's history, it was just Rahuri chiefs fighting over the rich fishing, mining and planting of the fertile island. A hundred years ago, however, Theans covered it in plantations, crowding the local Rahuri into the mountains. When the Atabean Trading Company seized those plantations by treachery and lies, they added the crucial ingredient to bring out Jaragua's real productive potential: slaves. Their greed led to working hundreds, even thousands of Ifrians and Rahuri to death in order to make the island their most profitable holding. And yet, these captives - the most vulnerable people alive - developed an unbreakable spirit that inspired daring escapes, the founding of runaway communities and support networks, and more. The Mawons, as these escaped slaves who turned to fight the Company were known, organized a revolution, using their superior numbers, excellent strategy and brutal determination to overwhelm Company security and seize Jaragua. They have turned it into a nation, a cultural mixing of Ifrian and Rahuri beliefs and a potential agricultural powerhouse, guarded by an army that has done the impossible. The Company doesn't want anyone to know about Jaragua and its history. They'd prefer no one believes their slavery exists, that there was no revolt, that nothing important happens there. But Jaragua is their biggest failure, and they will stop at nothing to tear it down.

Jaragua is the largest landmass in the Atabean Sea, right on the eastern edge, between Theah, Ifri and the Atabean proper. Las Alpes Azurees, a blue-tinged mountain range, bisects the island. The weather would be pleasant all year if not for the droughts, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes. The fishing is great, barring the sea monsters, and the farming is excellent. The forests are full of unique wildlife and also hidden seams of copper, gold, marble and limestone. The many natural resources led the early Rahuri settlers to establish five competing chiefdoms that fought politically and militarily over the fields and fisheries. By the time of the Thean arrivals a century ago, only the Mariana Chiefdom in the north and the Higuey Chiefdom in the south remained, having consumed the other three. Both sold the Castillians and Montaigne farmland in 1568, in exchange for Thean technology and crafts, in an effort to gain an edge. The Theans founded the port town Cap-Carrefour on the eastern cape - the first stop for Ifrian and Thean ships in the Atabean Sea.

Due to intrigues among the inhabitants of the island, Thean indigo, coffee, cotton, tobacco and sugar plantations infested the island. The crops provied profitable, but the heat, humidity and danger meant hiring and retaining workers was hard. When Vespasien de Vicquemare became governor in 1636, he had a solution: give the poor of Theah free passage to the New World, charging their fare with a term of indentured service on Jaragua. The system was illegal everywhere in Theah, but it worked well for Jaragua's planters. The hiring problem was solved, though retention was still difficult and they never had enough workers. Vicquemare worked with a Montaigne-based company, Rourke & Rudd, to be a local fixer and procurer, and arranged meetings betwen struggling planters and R&R lenders at a handsome fee.

Eventually, R&R became the Atabean Trading Company, and they intentionally crashed the market with cheap goods, buying up independent farms across Jaragua. Soon, the indentured servants were working side by side with the former poor farmers. The future, as envisioned by Company business practice, had arrived. The colonial period of Jaragua came to a sudden, brutal end when Vicquemare arranged a private meeting with the Higuey and Mariana Rahuri to discuss the division of the island. The Jaraguan Rahuri weren't idiots, and they fought hard against the Company security ambush, but after a short and bloody shootout, the Company captured both caciques. Security Chief Laerke Ulriksdottir assaulted the disorganized Rahurir settlements, driving them into the highlands, and the Company came to control the entire island (well, the parts they could plant, anyway, which was all they cared about).

They began improting Ifrian captives en masse in 1642. For the first time, the plantations were fully staffed and working at peak efficiency, as they could safely work slaves to death before replacing them. However, there was also a boom in escapes - the slaves had nothing to lose. Most traveled t les Alpes Azurees or the Mangrove Base, where the forests and terrain made recapture hard. Soon, hidden Mawon villages popped up in the mountains, offering asylum to escapees. Their guerrilla forces frequently raided the plantations for suppliues, arms and to free slaves. It all came to a head in 1649. After nearly two decades of operating a secret escapee network into Mawon territory, two heroic twins - Taiywo and Kehinde, who had been born into slavery on the island - met with Chaplain Nkansa and the chiefs of the Mariana and Higuey Rahuri at Mangrove Base. They proposed a revolution against the Company, a great marshalling of power towards freedom. Nkansa and the chiefs agreed - it was time to drive out the ATC.

At a night festival in the tradition of the Kap Sevi faith, they announced their defiance, their plan to take back the island not only for the Rahuri, but for the Ifrians and Theans who had been made into slaves. Their revolution would unite them all. Chaplain Nkansa organized her group of nganga priests as generals, with Chief Pablo de la Cruz becoming their drill instructor and teaching the rebels guerrilla tactics based on what he'd learned about Theans during his captivity. Chief Casiyuaya coordinated the naval support, stealing Company warships and harrying their supply lines by trading information to pirates and buying munitions. Kehinde used his resistance network to coordinate the rebels, using even small animals to send messages when humans were unable to. General Taiyewo led from the front, armed with machete and pistol plus her tactical genius. For eight years, casualties on both sides were high to the point where Laerke Ulriksdottir called in Thean mercenaries to defend the Company.

The final battle was at Cap-Carrefour, and the Jaraguans stormed it by night, striking at their foes with brutality and terrifying skill. Ifrians and Rahuri on the inside were prepared to help, staging a mock escape to distract the guards. With the defenders occupied, the rebels were able to scale the walls and seize the gun turrets, allowing them in and letting them cover the slaves already there. It was long night of vicious urban fighting, but as dawn came, the Company agents swam for their lives to the ships leaving harbor as Taiyewo dueled with Governor de Vicquemare, eventually sending him tumbling off the walls with the power of her machete. He was pulled from the sea onto a fleeing ship, bloody and beaten.

In the wake of the war, the rebels set up a profisional government, with Taiyewo running the military, Chief Casiguaya running the navy and Kehinde taking charge of domestic affairs, like the reclaimed plantations. Nkansa declined to join, saying that she hadn't had a day off in 15 years and just wanted to read a book on the beach. Chief Pablo del Cruz was not as happy as the others - he was shocked and upset that Higuey and Mariana lands would not return to their original owners, as the Ifrians had nowhere to go. Some wanted to return to Ifri, but not everyone could, and it would be easy for them to again become victims of slavers there...so why not share the land? But Chief de la Cruz was adamant - he wanted at least the Mariana land back, north of the mountains. The argument took all day, and no one could change his mind...so the new oligarchs sadly agreed to return the northern half of the island to the Mariana. It only got worse when the Mariana again began selling off the plantations to Castillian settlers. Again.

Now, the work's hard. The Jaraguan fighters must return to work...and often on the plantations they fought to escape, some converted to food production but others still working the cash crops. A new government must be established, and diplomats must go out to foreign lands and build alliances. The ATC's agents continue to lurk in the shadows, trying to foil them. In the north, a Castillian governor has built Porta Ozama, meant to serve the needs of Thean planters. While the ATC is banned from the isle, no one knows how many of the new planters are in their pocket. Worse, many of the Thean plantations in Mariana land still use slave labor. It's a well-kept secret and none rely on it entirely, for fear of the government's attention. Rather, they use a mix of free labor, indentured service and slave labor - a mix of Thean convicts, Rahuri and Ifrians. Paid workers are forbidden to discuss their pay, to keep slave identities unclear for as long as possible, and any workers who speak out will lose their jobs and possibly get killed.

Thean relations in the southern half of the island are going better. Eustache Dubois, son of former governor Alexandre Dubois, returned from Montaigne after the rebellion, bringing supplies and support that were desperately needed. As Eustache is half Jaraguan himself, he is already working to connect the Provisional Oligarchy with Montaigne revolutionaries as he travels between Theah and Jaragua. He's also built a chapterhouse for the Explorer's Society, inducting new members in the hopes of leading an expedition to the Syrneth ruins under the mountains. Despite hopeful signs, though, the darkness of the past seems to have outlived the revolution, and making peace now will be hard.

'Jaraguan' is a term that covers all ethnicities on the island. The ATC slavers deliberately targeted as many Ifrian ethnic groups as they could, to prevent any one group from organizing against them. The language of the island is Patwa Haragwen, a fast creole with a mix of Montaigne and West IFri roots. Most Jaraguans can slow their speech down and speak Montaigne for foreignters, however. They are extremely diverse, being a mix of Atabean, Thean, Ifrian and more. About all you can say is al ot of them have dark skin and dark hair, though even that's a stretch, as Crescentized Ifrians and Rahuri often have lighter skin. Hairstyles range all over the board, too, and figuring out social standing is intensely confusing.

In West Ifri, various cultural groups had caste systems - some had noble bloodlines, some warrior classes, some meritocracies or economic castes. However, the enslavement led to a mix of young, physically fit people with a handful of merchants and nobles, and pretty much all those distinctions vanished in the passage west. The Company encouraged a sort of slave meritocracy, with unskilled workers holding the least desirable field and sugar boiling jobs, and slaves with technical skills or training as house servants holding safer jobs closer to the Theans. They were more highly valued, sometimes even paid or tipped, and considered too useful to be worked to death. Flemming Rudd instructed the slavemasters to treat these "house slaves" as if they were better than "field slaves," to encourage classism and elitism among the slaves and distract them from their true enemy. It wasn't just envy and selfishness that drove the two classes apart, either, but fatigue and the need to pretend so long that some even convinced themselves.

The revolution has complicated this, but slavemasters generally found their 'devoted and loyal' house slaves shockingly quick to turn against them - and indeed, found too late that they were very, very well=positioned to kill slavemasters. In the wake of victory, however, the divisions have become something of a problem. Elite vs peasant, house vs field, Ifrian vs Rahuri. Many former slaves who worked in the fields have now been given opportunities they thought impossible, and it's been common practice to grant temporary control of the plantations to freed slaves, but all too often they find themselves relying on the old house slaves they never trusted, needing them to run the stables, keep the books and sell the product. The old distrusts haven't gone away.

Jaraguans use drumming for everything from communication to religion to social dances. Ifrian polyrythmic drumming is common, and drummers typically play in different time signatures with each hand. Dancers mix Ifrian, Rahuri and Thean traditions, but keep the steps basically simple and repetitive to make them easy to learn but allow extensive improvisation for experts. Ifrian artistic tradition has also survived mostly intact, as the slaves were able to pass their religious art as secular or even Vaticine symbols, though the most impressive were sometimes stolen by the masters for sale. Creatively decorated practical goods are common, as are stylized wooden carvings of human figures, many meant for export to fund the nation. One distinct Jaraguan style is the creation of sculpture and art from trash materials like scrap metal or driftwood.

The Company forced the Ifrian and Rahuri slaves to wear cast-off Thean clothes and rags, hoping to negate their ethnic identities, but the slaves made an art of swapping and recombining scraps to make eye-catching outfits...or camouflage. As the Mawons took the island, they also got hold of many ATC uniforms, and it's amused them a lot to wear them piecemeal, combined with other styles. In the wake of the expulsion, traditional Ifrian clothes have also had a renaissance - loose, baggy shirts, skirts, robes, trousers and colorfully patterned tunics with turbans or caps. Belts, shawls and scarves are used to augment this and carry things. Anklets, bracelets and necklaces of beads and cowrie shells are common. They don't often have tattoos, but some ethnic groups do perform ritual scarification on young infants to mark tribal affiliation.

Jaraguan currency for outside trade is leftover Company Guilders, but the Provisional Oligarchy is in the process of switching the island to an Ifrian-type shell currency, using quahogs - hard-clam shells marked with a national stamp. They're trying to keep a rate of one shell to one Guilder, with the help of the local Vendel League rep, Herlief Asgersen. He's an old man who volunteered to come to Jaragua 20 years ago because no one else wanted to. He was a terrible merchant, an excellent warrior and a willing helper to the revolution. He never liked slavery and was a small but important role in the success of the revolt by providing intel about ATC movements. He's tried to pass on word to the Vendel League about what really happened there, but the ATC has done its best to intercept or discredit his messages.

Next time: Government and religion.

Pirate Nations: Rum, Tobacco and Slaves

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Rum, Tobacco and Slaves

The Provisional Oligarchy has maintained the same leaders as it had from the start - General Taiyewo for the military, Kehinde for domestic affairs, and Chief Casiguaya for maritime affairs. Unfortunately, Chief de la Cruz was the most experienced actual leader of government among the rebels, and his recent departure has left them with little in the way of experience. Chaplain Nkansa has vowed to be done with leading and is no one's mentor, but the work frequently drags her back, and many believe it's only a matter of time until she takes a more formal position. The current plan is to establish a new government of elected representatives from each district of plantations, but there seems to be tons of things that need to be done first. They need to organize the plantations, determine which ones to repurpose for food and which for cash crops, set up mines, and figure out what to do about the increasingly hostile Mariana Chiefdom and its Thean guests. The war, it seems, was the easy part.

The Oligarchy is also trying to reach out to other nations as best it can, but they lack much in the way of diplomatic staff or relationships to draw on. Despite their best efforts, the empires of Aztlan seem uninterested in them, and while both the Nahuacan Alliance and the city-states of Tzak K'an have received them as guests, they refuse to come visit formally. The Jaraguans are unsure why, but it appears to be traditional for Aztlan to ignore the Atabean Sea. However, one Jaraguan, Hangbe, has headed all the way south to the Kuraq Empire and reported that the Kuraq Empress was shocked by tales of slavery and sacrifice, wanting to establish formal diplomatic ties and sending gifts of gold as a token of esteem. Time will tell if this pays off. Some Jaraguans also want to contact the Brotherhood of the Coast as allies, given their common enemy - particularly Admiral Casiguaya. However, the Brotherhood are still pirates, and many think it's only a matter of time before Jaragua's shipments become prey too tempting to ignore. Plus, other nations wouldn't look kindly on them for making treaties with such brigands.

As for relations with Theah, well, that's a bit of a fiasco. After eight years of fighting, Jaragua is not a nation to most of Theah but a ghost story. The ATC has convinced most people that slavery in the Atabean is a myth spread by President Rourke's political enemies to smear the Company. The few former slaves that made it to Theah in the wake of the revolt either disappeared shortly after their first public appearances or nervously recanted their stories while under observation by ATC agents. The Company believes it can retake the island, which had been their cash cow, but they fear the Oligarchy will find allies among the Theans first. Slavery, after all, is illegal in most of Theah. But hey, if the ATC can just scare or murder all Jaraguans that come to Theah, well, maybe they can prevent that damage from being done long enough to take the island back.

To fight the ATC propaganda machine, the Oligarchy has deputized a number of Mawon officers to be a new kind of diplomat. They must be subtle and charismatic, disguising themselves as dandies and courtiers to infiltrate the elites of other nations and find those among the powerful who might sympathize with Jaragua. They dare not serve as open agents, for the Company is watching for that and would attack them. This secrecy must be even more intense in the Thean colonies on the Atabean. The Company has huge power over these settlements, even if they're starting to doubt the ATC's motives, and it will have to be seen if the Jaraguans can reach out and build the relationships they need to turn the colonies against the Company.

There are some Vaticines and Objectionists on Jaragua, along with a somewhat larger Rahuri traditionalist contingent and Ifrian practitioners of Crescent faiths. However, the most widely practiced religion of Jaragua is Kap Sevi. The various Ifrian faiths brought to the Atabean with the slaves were and are diverse, but the slaves found commonalities. Most had a single almighty god, sometimes a sun god, who is called Bondye in the Patwa Haragwen, and is often somewhat alarmingly and casually called Theus in discussion with Theans, Crescents and other monotheists. This god has little role in day to day life, particularly compared to the Lwa.

Lwa, Patwa for 'king', refers to an entity that is more divine than a human but less than Bondye or Theus. Some philosophers claim the Lwa are parts of Bondye's soul, while others refer to them as servitors, angels or devils, though that last is a compliment, not an insult. These and revered ancestor spirits live in a spirit realm close to the mortal one, and once were allies of priestesses who practice Kurwa, a religious ritual that petitioned for favors or knowledge in exchange for sacrifices - typically stuff hard to get in the spirit world, like tobacco or rich foods. However, as the slaves needed more power, they asked for new things, offering their own bodies as vessels for the Lwa to inhabit, and the Lwa responded. They would take on bodies as well as granting favors of wisdom or trickery before leaving. The practice has, since its arrival in Jaragua, become so widespread that those who can call the Lwa down to their bodies are known as Sevites, even if 'Kap Sevi' is an exonym derived from what the practitioners would say if asked their religion. There's no formal structure - every Sevite has their own technique to call down the Lwa and their own relationship with the Lwa they can summon.

When the ATC took the Ifrians to Jaragua, they made certain to sequester any holy people from the rest of the population, hanging them publicly to destroy morale and culture. The idea was to indoctrinate the Ifrians to servitude with suffering, and this, mixed with corrupt teachings from corrupt Vaticine priests on the ATC payroll made life very hard for the slaves. They didn't want to give up their faith, but it'd be hard to keep up under the watchful eyes of the Vaticine slavers. The answer came in the form of the mass-produced lithographs of Vaticine saints distributed among the Ifrian slaves. They adopted those saints' names as ciphers for Ifrian gods, as every slave had access to the saint names and images, and they could speak of them openly without being questioned. They might use the staff-bearing Second Prophet to mean Ahron, the psychopomp with a staff, or the fiery sword of the Third Prophet to mean Jakuta, the warrior-god of fire and storms. Thus, Kap Sevi merges Ifrian and Rahuri tradition with Vaticine imagery as a veil. Their traditions include animal sacrifice, sacred dance, trances and ancestral divination. It is practiced openly now, but the secret traditions are still spread by agitators through the ATC-controlled islands, so that even those who are still enslaved may worship their gods.

The Ifrian religions fractured as a result of slavery, and one of the more common traditions that survived was divination. Various kinds made the sea trip, some the province of only the trained, others more widely available. The easiest and most common form is throwing kola, the halved nuts of the cola tree (or equivalent, such as coins) on a tray or mat. Anyone can throw kola and read the results based on how they fall, orientation and which face is up. The predictions aren't hard and fast, just suggestions of what to meditate on, though ancestors can speak directly through the kola if they must. (The Rahuri find this last idea somewhat confusing, as their ancestors tend to just yell at them directly.)

A priest is called an nganga, and is also an herbalist and community leader in Ifrian tradition. A prospective nganga spends their life in obayi, the religious craft, learning many things from poetry to oral history to medicine and toxicology to therapy and meditation. It's become even more demanding because the Company used to murder anyone who openly used their nganga skills, and they've had to adapt to new and strange plants and animals. One of their first discoveries was an herbal poultice that could remove slave brands, a secret that was kept so carefully that many slavers came to believe that Ifrians and Rahuri could just recover from branding due to their darker skin. When the rebellion began, Chaplain Nkansa drew on the social authority of the ngangas as military leaders, given her rebels weren't soldiers, but angry people with machetes. Thus, the rebel strategies heavily used nganga skills - they poisoned supplies with herbal mixtures and toxins drawn from marine life, used herbal medicine to treat wounds and wielded envenomed weapons.

Chaplain Nsowaa Nkansa came to Jaragua at age 16. Her parents had apprenticed her to a priest-herbalist, but she was forced to become a soldier instead when her state went to war, which ended up killing her parents and condemning her to slavery. She survived the Western Passage, hiding her religious knowledge to survive until her escape, which was almost immediate. She assembled a team of competent, smart and brave slaves who would listen to her, gathered up some makeshift weapons, killed the overseer, hid the body and headed for the mountains. She and her team hid out in a mangrove swamp on the west coast, in the correct belief that the Theans wouldn't want to deal with the swamp. Mangrove Base, as it became known, grew into the strategic control center for the entire Mawon network, which would become the Jaraguan rebel army. Nkansa led them militarily and spiritually, though she never fought on the front lines. She was proud and angry, but not reckless. She led Kap Sevi ceremonies of victory and funeral, trained others as warrior-priests and practiced chemical warfare. While Taiyewo was the strong arm and Kehinde the breath of the revolution, Nkansa was its heart and its mind. She is now forty, but says she feels like sixty. She hates to mention it, but she's arthritic and has depression. However, with the departure of Pablo de la Cruz and the losses the Mawons took, she's the most experienced leader they've got. She needs rest, but they need her. She is tired now, lacking patience for most. She doesn't want to lead, and it would be terrible for her health. She'd probably do best getting de la Cruz back on board - she's the only one he really trusted, though she'd still need help proving that his interests would not be ignored. she is also notable as the founder of the Ko nan Espekte, an intelligence division she set up before retiring. They serve as Jaragua's monster hunters, as the undead seem to just kind of show up sometimes on Jaragua for no clear reason, and also as defense against ATC sabotage and espionage. They are detectives above all, keeping an eye out for hidden menaces.

Taiyewo and Kehinde must be spoken of together. They are the children of slaves - a Rahuri farmhand named Juax and an Ifrian carpenter named Olubunmi. They were born in 1642, the pregnancy concealed carefully from the slavers. While many infants born to slaves die, they did not, and the twins showed strange powers even as children. (Jaraguan twins are often believed to share a soul connection to each other, and will either be great forces for good or evil depending on how they are raised.) Kehinde could speak to animals and command them, while Taiyewo was a natural leader with a knack for chess and tactics even as a child. Their parents planned an escape for years once the twins were born, escaping under cover of a Mawon raid. However, once safe in a Rahuri village, the twins demanded to go back. They had a plan - they could use their age and size to move under the radar, helping the slaves in greatest need, like the sick, disabled, those who knew magic or lore, and other children. They could move them between plantations and eventually get them to safety. Their parents were terrified, but even then, they saw something special. Over three years, what had begun as a plan to free more slaves grew into a massive network of informants and saboteurs that relayed slaves to the mountains. The ATC could never catch them, for they never understood their organizational skill.

When Taiyewo and Kehinde fell in with Nkansa and the Rahuri leaders, the ATC was blindsided. The twins proved themselves in the fighting, with Kehinde's animals providing key intelligence and logistical support while Taiyewo fought on the front lines. Now, the twins are 26. They never got a true childhood, and they've seen violence for most of their lives. They've only ever really talked about it with each other, but they both kind of want a normal life. They expected Nkansa to lead the government, and with her bowing out, they don't know if they're up to it or if they can just keep their lives on hold for everyone. Taiyewo has been the rebel face - brash and inspiring, though inwardly unsure. She feels out of her depth now, fully aware that she's at her best when able to deal directly with a problem on a small scale - strategy was always Nkansa and logistics was Kehinde. She doesn't want to give up, and everyone expects her to lead - so she's going to fight to the bitter end if she must, even if she doesn't have what it takes. She's a hammer, and she's having to deal with not everything being a nail. Kehinde is an eccentric if optimistic man, who handles animals better than people. He's remained caring despite the suffering he's seen, and he's far too easily distracted by the beauty of nature, even in inappropriate situations. He genuinely cares about the opinions of anyone he meets, and he usually takes the time to ask them about them.

Admiral Casiguaya, Former Chief of the Higuey Rahuri, was born on a catamaran in the middle of a monster hunt. In retrospect, both his parents admit that they probably should've stayed home that day, but it was a fun story at parties. Casiguaya has herself always been most at home at the sea. Her worst time was when her father was captured by Governor de Vicquemare. In a bid to get him out of prison, she sent word that she, not he, was the true cacique, and would trade herself for his freedom. Vicquemare agreed, and she was soon imprisoned at the House of Sorrows over Cap-Carrefour. She lived in prison alongside Pablo de la Cruz of the Mariana Rahuri, who converted to the Vaticine faith in prison and became the chief of the prisoners. When Casiguaya masterminded an escape using some kind of device they'd found deep in a dungeon which set the stones on fire, de la Cruz came only reluctantly, to avoid burning to death. Casiguaya stole a Company ship in the escape, sailing for the mangroves, where she met up with Nkansa. In the revolt, she was their admiral, leading Rahuri flotillas against Company vessels by stealth and stealing them for use by the rebels. She even invited pirates in to harass Company shipping. She loves being the head of the navy now - much better than being a chief. She's not sure what to do about those pirates, though. The Brotherhood's been sending gifts to Kap-Kalfu, as Cap-Carrefour is now known, and wants to use the place as an outpost against their common foe. However, the rest of the Oligarchy aren't fans of the idea. It'll be too hard to make other allies, they say, and will give a bad reputation. Casiguaya has told the Brotherhood that they may dock, but only if they keep their allegiance secret. This will likely not last, especially after the new government is set up.

Next time: More people, and also places.

Pirate Nations: Bad Decision Time

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Bad Decision Time

Chief Pablo de la Cruz of the Mariana Rahuri remembers nothing before he had to leave his ancestral home as a young boy, making the long trek into the mountains to hide. His parents, the cacique of the Mariana and her husband, complained bitterly about needing to live among their enemies, the Higuey, and recited for Pablo a list of Higuey crimes the way other parents might tell bedtime stories. Pablo knew it was his destiny to retake his ancestral lands and beat the Higuey. While trapped in prison, he met with a priest named Diego Mendoza. Feeling cut off from the ancestors and desperate for hope, he converted and set aside his Rahuri name for a Vaticine one. He saw this as a method of survival, a way of learning the weaknesses of the Theans. But even when he escaped with Casiguaya in 1650, he was plagued by doubt as to the effectiveness of the rebel cause. He thought that the Company might not be beatable, even as he trained troops. The doubt never left him, and when the war was won, he saw his chance. Half the land, he insisted, was Mariana land. If the Higuey wanted to throw in with the Ifrians, well, that's fine. The Mariana wanted it all back - nothing less. They'd not take one seat at the table when they deserved half an island. The debate was long and hard, but the Oligarchy couldn't find a reason to deny his request. Over a month, the Mawons and Jaraguans vacated the north and the Mariana took the land back, at last. Shocking everyone, Cruz then opened it up to the Castillians - for a significant fee, of course. Now, there are as many Theans in the north half as they are Rahuri, with the Theans running most of the plantations and Captain-General Camila Abasolo in charge of Porta Ozama, their new city. Cruz suspects them of keeping slaves, but he is deliberately ignoring it. If he doesn't see it, it's not his problem, right? That means he doesn't have to make any hard choices. And honestly, that's what he wants at this point. He's a bitter, pragmatic man who was raised on hate. He hates the Higuey, the ATC and personally resents Casiguaya and the Ifrians on 'his' island. He's forced himself to choke it back for much of his life, but now he doesn't need to. He believes that by collaborating with Theans more reliable than the Company, he can secure his people's future, and he's probably wrong. He's given up hope that things can be better. He does remain friends with Nkansa, however, and on some level he knows that the Oligarchy is more likely to compromise with him than the Castillians.

Ex-Governor Vespasien de Vicquemare was once a lieutneant in the Musketeers. He was court-martialed for use of excessive force in breaking a riot - specifically, a riot in protest against l'Empereur, which shows exactly how excessive the force had to have been. Only his mother's noble line and extensive bribes kept him out of prison forever. Fortunately for him, the last governor of Jaragua, Alexandre Dubois, had just died - rumor said by murder, but that didn't matter. They wanted a new governor who could hold off claims by the young son of Alexandre, Eustache. Vicquemare's superiors and parents suggested that, perhaps, a trip very far away to the Atabean colonies might salvage his career, especially if he never returned. So he went, finding fertile land, valuable crops and criminally understaffed plantations whose workers were dead or quit. He revitalized a few with indentured service, tripling production, and drew the eye of the ATC, who moved to secure control of the colony from Montaigne. Vicquemare welcomed them with open arms, touring them through Jaragua. His amoral ambition earned their attention, and they offered to pay him to keep doing his job. Vespasien de Vicquemare became very, very wealthy, building Cap-Carreofur as a luxury vacation destination for wealthy Theans. His mask of succees cracked, however, when he realized there was an epidemic of escaped slaves. He brought in Company security to chase them down to little avail. The Mawons left false trails for them, sending them in circles...and then the rebels began attacking in earnest, and he was not ready. He was trained as a policeman, commanding the best and most disciplined warriors in the world, essentially. He was best at urban combat with elite troops. In the rebellion, he had to operate in the jungle with asshole washouts and dishonorable discharges like himself, and whose only saving grace was their utter ruthlessness. That made it easy for the rebels to draw them into ambushes, though, fueled by their bloodlust. Every day brought new losses, and it never occurred to him that he might even be enabling the rebel recruitment with his violence.

The Battle of Cap-Carrefour was the ultimate shame for Vicquemare. He was defending his home city with his best men, but the attack from inside and out set his troops into disarray long enough for the Mawons to get past the walls and take the western fort, which was linchpin for all his defenses. He and his elites fought hard, but at the end of the day, most of them were swimming for their lives, and Vicquemare only escaped death by purest luck. The ATC was furious. Vicquemare had managed to lose the most profitable island in the sea. Laerke Ulriksdottir hung him from a battlement at Rourke's Tower while Rourke told him that if he didn't find a way to take Jaragua back or otherwise produce return on investment, he would be fired. In a kiln. Now, Vicquemare operates as a spymaster out of a basement office in Fort Freedom, coordinating informants across the Sea of Monsters to try and stop the Jaraguans from gaining help and support. He's nearly 50, burly, and scarred in such a way that he seems older. He still dresses at the height of fashion, and barely speaks above a whisper. He can pretend at the old Musketeer grace at social functions or when recruiting new spies, but the mask cracks when he gets angry. He's a shadowy figure in the Company who rarely acts personally unless he has to, and even then, probably through a false identity.

Locations! Les Alpes Azurees are the mountains that split the island, running east to west along the center. The mangrove swamp sits on the west side, Kap-Kalfu on the east. North is Mariana land. The forests and valleys are no-man's land now, full of abandoned Rahuri villages and Mawon forts that are no longer needed. While dangerous animals are rare, venomous snakes are not - their bites just aren't very fatal unless you have an allergy. However, there are the boa constrictors, and of course the venomous rodents, the solenodons, which can grow to the size of a small dog. The area is a bit of a trade battlefield as the Mariana and the Provisional Oligarchy hunt for mining sites. Several valuable minerals are quite common in the mountains, including iron that's put the swordsmiths of Kap-Kalfu into business, rubies in a vein that runs deep through the Syrneth ruins under les Alpes, and gold. The fighting over these sites is frequently violent, as the Mariana hire mercenaries and the Jaraguans bring in Mawon troops to hold the best sites.

The Company also has a research station in a hidden valley, accessible only via underground caves. This the Buried Laboratory, and its isolation is required by its master, Doctor Oluf Karstensen, who experiments for the sole goal of controlling the undead wights and ghouls. Results have been...mixed. Karstensen and his sorcerer-scientists have found tools and potions that give them a limited ability to motivate ghouls in a general sense, but nothing that lets them work safely or closely with the monsters, which was the real goal. Karstensen's gone through a lot of attendants, mostly by having them turn into ghouls by accident. When the rebellion began, he just sealed off most of the exits to his lab and set his undead minions to guard the rest. He doesn't even know the war's over. His ghouls and wights have escaped over the years and currently wander the wilds, eating animals or people that they run into. Reports are frequently confused with zombie stories, and since no one outside the top of the ATC knows about the lab, the presence of these monsters is very confusing for the ngangas of Jaragua. They know how to ward them off, and it's not totally unknown for them to show up in Ifri or the Atabean of their own accord, but the sheer number and the fact that they wear Thean clothes is rather unsettling. The more that escape, the worse Jaragua's reputation becomes as an isle of the walking dead. Most outsiders who've heard of the ngangas believe the apocryphal rumors that they kill good people and resurrect them as ghouls via Ifrian magic.

The top port of the island is Kap-Kalfu in Patwa, Cap-Carrefour in Montaigne. It lies in a dormant underwater volcano's caldera, the Eye of Ulikun, whose sinkhole lagoon is said to lead to the underworld. Occasionally the Eye bubbles or belches flame from the depths, usually before an earthquake, and several believe this energy could be tapped if the Eye's Lwa could be contacted and placated. The buildings are close to each other in Montaigne coastal style, with a market that runs the length of the caldera. The huge senzalas at the port once held slaves off the boat. Now, they store sugar, tobacco, cotton and other exports. A huge arch between the two ten-story towers spans the mouth of the lagoon, and the Twin Princes, as the two great senzalas are called, double as lighthouses and defensive turrets.

The Grand Caiman Tavern sits in a repurposed two-story senzala on a loading dock. Only the most trusted or richest can dock alongside it, and it's run by a Mawon woman named Anty Luv. (As far as anyone knows, anyway, that's her name.) She's quick to fight if someone interferes with her profits, and she's happy to sell anything, regardless of provenance. Nearby is the Vaticine Cathedral, overlooking the port and standing opposite the Royal Palace. It was built on Company funds and served the Prophets in name only. Now, it is full of effigies and shrines to the Lwa alongside the traditional Vaticine images. Father Diego Mendoza has remained, unwilling to live Kap-Kalfu without a priest, but he's uneasy. Most of his parishioners used to be the Theans and Company agents that the rebels killed, after all.

The Republican Palace is the new name for Vicquemare's Royal Palace. It was full of stolen art, brought in by Vicquemare when he lived there as a way of flaunting the Company's strength and wealth. Now it has been renovated in IFrian style and is the seat of Jaraguan administration. It sits near the prison called the House of Sorrows, once used primarily as l'Empereur's dumping ground for people he wanted to disappear. The ATC then purchased it and all of its contents. It sits atop the Gallows Cliff, facing the sea, and 6000 of its prisoners have died since its construction. It is hidden behind two 30-foot walls, and has three levels of dungeon full of torture devices to extract the secrets of political prisoners. The slave uprising accidentally destroyed the maps of its hidden underground vault, where many Atabean secrets were kept. Rumor has it that it was built on top of a Rahuri sacred cave complex, with tunnels that span the island. Since the uprising, a person named the Red Duke has repurposed the place for honor duels. The Red Duke is a religious figure of some kind but no one knows his credentials or affiliation. The gallows pole now serves as a scoreboard bearing the name of each winning duelist. The Red Duke adjudicates all duels, and those that break his rules learn he is not to be trifled with.

Mangrove Base used to be the headquarters of Nkansa and the rebels - huts and shelters of wood and hide between gigantic trees, set on poles sunk into the shallow water. Locals travel by rope bridge and walkway, and the whole of the 'city' hovers over the water itself. It was the perfect place to plot revenge, and the fishing is some of the best on Jaragua, especially the clams, shrimp and snails among the roots of the mangroves. It's almost impossible to approach with any but the smallest boat, and even those must come slowly. The Company troops that found it never got to return thanks to Mawon guns. Now, however, Mangrove Base is under Mariana control and is the seat of Chief Pablo's government. Jaraguans are welcome, but most have left for the countryside or Kap-Kalfu, in the belief that the Mariana Rahuri don't really appreciate their presence. Loss of the old base does sting - many Mawons think Mangrove Base should have remained under Jaraguan control, given its role in their victory. If they wanted to take it by force, they probably could, given how well they know the swamp - but Cruz would then end up asking for military aid from Theah.

Porta Ozama resembles the Jaragua of fifty years ago - a small but fast-growing port in white and coral, with few Ifrian faces but plenty of wealthy and middle-class Rahuri and Theans. Captain-General Camila Abasolo has a small but nice palace, too. She and the Castillians keep close watch on all ships coming in or out. Neither pirates nor Company ships, except for the Seahorse Express vessels, are permitted to dock at Porta Ozama. Castille doesn't want the Company's competition, though a handful of residents are secretly informants reporting to Vicquemare.

Next time: The Atabean Trading Company in all its glory.

Pirate Nations: Be Glad I'm Skipping The Galt Speech

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Be Glad I'm Skipping The Galt Speech

The next chapter opens with a two-page speech from George Rourke on the benefits of libertarianism, the profits of the ATC, the virtues of slavery and statistics. It is infuriating to read. Like, congrats, you managed to write an effective libertarian villain and I hate him, but it takes up two pages and I hate it, too. Short form: holy shit this man is scum. The Atabean Trading Company was the result of his work and his partner's, a mix of Vendel and Avalon shipping that has grown into the first multinational corporation ever to exist. Its philosophy is simple: Explore dangerous and exotic places, meet unsuspecting natives, kill them, take their stuff. Link all the stuff together into a circulating system of profit. Laugh at anyone that tries to stop you. In a nutshell, it's all about gaining wealth and freedom on the backs of those weaker than you. They are a Villain, but one whose methods can sometimes resemble those of Heroes, and they're happy to hire a Hero that becomes tempted by the siren song of profit into dark places. Their motto is this: "Neither Will Nor Power Save Mine."

The Company has gotten into many ventures. About a third of their business is dedicated to shipping and moving goods. Spices, sugarcane, food, liquor, lumber, monster parts. If someone will pay for it, they'll move it. They buy in bulk to save on costs, using their immense network to find the buyer who'll pay the most. They don't just move their own product, however - they will ship yours, cheaper than anyone else. They undersell every other shipping company for a few reasons. Firstly, they own more shares in more vessels than any other, and indeed more than most navies. Second, they cut corners on their ships whenever possible. ATC vessels are notoriously uncomfortable, unsafe and poorly defended. They don't care because they don't lose much cargo to pirates, thanks to the deals they make.

How's that work? Well, supposing you're a pirate that spots a poorly defended ATC ship. By the time you're close enough to board, the captain's laid out the fine china and has tea ready for you. He invites you aboard, and you take his tea and demand his goods. You don't want the ship because it's barely afloat as it is. The captain nods, says you're welcome to it...but hey! Why take a single payout when you could make a deal that'll give you reliable plunder? What if you spared Company vessels and in exchange you got access to accurate charts, cheap repairs, discounts on slaves, safe harbors and reliable buyers for your plunder? The captain takes out a contract for you and offers you a chance to read it. The benefits start out small, but with every other pirate captain you sign on to the same deal - and why wouldn't they, given how good the deal is and how scary you are - then you get more. You'll get an address in Fort Freedom you can take your contract to, getting recompense for each captain you recruit. And so you sail away, leaving them unplundered, with confidence that you'll be rich tomorrow.

So how does the Company handle pirates that won't buy into their pyramid scheme? Their ships are neither defensible nor worth trying to defend. Elite warships guard high-value shipments, yes, but that's rare. The problem is what happens after you rob a Company ship. Their informants mark you wherever you dock. Contracted pirates hunt you down for bounty. If you're particularly dangerous, Laerke Ulriksdottir and her security einherjar will come for you instead. The first time they catch you, you'll be branded with the letter P. If you're a ship's captain or already bear the P, they'll execute you and shove your head on a spike on the battlements of Fort Freedom. Now, most pirates are prepared for dangers in boarding, even ready to lose a limb. But the ATC? Everyone knows they keep records - meticulous records - of what they buy, sell and lose. And if anyone you sell your plunder to recognizes it and reports it to a Company man...well, then even your friends might decide to check the wanted posters to see your worth to them.

Besides shipping, uh, literally anything, the ATC thrives on exploration. It wants to know where the best ports, easiest defended harbors, most fertile plantations and safest routes are. While they'll happily buy good charts, they'd prefer to know those things before anyone else. Company explorers are full employees, working directly under Flemming Rudd, President Rourke's old friend and business partner. No one wants to risk independent archaeologists using Company resources and then keeping their finds - or selling them to governments. The salaries are reliable, with bonuses worth a fraction of your finds' value, but all rights, land and slaves go to the Company. They lure explorers in with excellent equipment, far better than their shipping crafts. The fastest galleons, durable enough to bear a gale and heavily armed enough to repulse hostile natives. Explorers with a lot of ambition and not a lot of cash find the Company a helping hand, offering them all the tools they need...at the price of everything truly valuable they might find.

Then, of course, there's the evangelism business. Many Theans see the New World as a chance to spread their faiths, and while the War of the Cross put a moratorium on open religious warfare, zealots have a new chance across the sea. Evangelical missions tend to have cash, personnel and enthusiasm, but not a lot of logistical support or experience. The Company's pre-packaged missions come with a crew, a ship and all the supplies and maps you'll need to reach the New World. The Company-appointed captain will log events, notifying the Company of any interesting territorial discoveries...and a subclause, often overlooked in the contract, guarantees the Company has rights to any newly discovered lands. Of course, often the captains nudge the missions into 'discovering' regions that the Company's already scouted, in order to ensure a chaotic checkerboard of Objectionist and Vaticine holdings rather than allow either to consolidate a defensible bloc. After all, that could end the ability to play both sides against each other. Flemming Rudd is a devout Vaticine, and the CFO, Annie Goldflower, is a devout Objectionist. Ostensibly, they get along fine, and while Goldflower is silent on the subject, Rudd loves the chance to compete with Objectionists, violently or otherwise. It'd be hard to war profiteer off just one side, though, so the Company plays both, and is more than happy when a mission fails due to violence at the other side's hands. Monster attacks discourage missions, but rivals? Well, if we just hire more soldiers and spend more money, we'll get them back! Of course, the Company's security forces never get involved personally. They just sell off captured military equipment to both sides.

And then...slaves. The Vaticine has always maintained that slavery is a sin, but the practice has existed for centuries. The Company's version of it is a new form, however. It is fueled by greed, a greed that is fed with human bodies and lives. The Company moves slaves wherever they are needed, no matter the cost in lives. Many Atabean islands are fertile, hot and humid - perfect for sugarcane and tobacco. The first settlers struggled, however, unprepared for the hard labor and diseases and accidents. Mounting casualties discouraged other workers from heading west, and the plantations were in trouble. The Company showed up to lend them money, and once they had plenty of debts owed to them, they started leaning on their Vendel contacts to lower sugar and tobacco prices. This drove many planters to bankruptcy, forcing them to sign over their property to the Company. Rourke and Rudd saw opportunity in these plantations. They realize the workers still saw themselves as fundamentally equal to their employers, and to get the most of things, they'd need an underclass.

Sidebar: Slave, Not Victim posted:

The slave and former slave are classic heroic archetypes we see in Spartacus, Nat Turner, King Zumbi and Harriet Tubman. 7th Sea is a game about larger-than-life Heroes and Villains, about inspiring heroism and unabashed wickedness. The distinction is often wide and clear. But it's easy to apply that mindset to other divisions between people: the brave and the cowardly. The strong and the weak. The actors and the victims.

We must caution you about this last division. The Company's crimes are many, but perhaps the most appalling is its classification of slaves as possessions, animals or benighted savages who benefit from bondage. Seeing slaves as innocent victims is a small step up, but not enough: a victim is a victim before he is a person. Slaves in Terra's past and present are people first and foremost. They've suffered violence, disenfranchisement and loss, but none of those removes their personhood. They have strengths, weaknesses, senses of humor, families, vices, loves and hates like every other character in your game and your world.

In a game where victims of injustice need rescue and vindication, it's okay for slaves sometimes to be those victims, as long as their victimhood never eclipses their personhood. Game worlds are always richer when even background characters have names and faces. Don't miss this opportunity here.

Next time: The slave trade.

Pirate Nations: Haven't You Heard, Mr. Adams? Clink, Clink.

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Haven't You Heard, Mr. Adams? Clink, Clink.

Theah on Slavery posted:

Avalon has outlawed slavery explicitly. Memories of occupation still sting.
Castille does not mention slavery in its law codes. The Church's prohibition more than suffices.
Eisen law wildly differs between konigreichs, but all explicitly permit forcible military conscription. They very in regulations and protections of conscripts' or conscriptors' rights.
All joking aside about the value of a law in Montaigne, no legal prohibitions exist against slavery. In previous centuries, the clergy stood strong against such exploitation. But in these decadent times, an honest cleric is hard to find. Many peasants are little better than slaves to aristocrats.
The Sarmatian Commonwealth not only forbids slavery, but also enforces that prohibition. Almost all Sarmatians will alert local administration of any such maltreatment.
As you might guess from the status of their peasantry, Ussura has not outlawed slavery. It probably never will. Ussurans often describe themselves matter-of-factly as slaves of their Czar; it's just a feature of their lives, not a moral judgment.
Foreigners sometimes miscategorize the workers in Vesten called "thralls" as slaves. However grueling the thralls' work may be, and however strict their employers' control may be, they retain fundamental human rights and can even bring suit against their employers in a thing. Things may also hand down a sentence of thralldom in place of a punitive fine if the offender cannot pay. Aside from that, the question of slavery is up to the thing, but what thing would stand for the kind of indignity a Company slave suffers?
Vodacce has outlawed slavery, but no one there seems to have noticed.

The Company began its slaving with Atabeans, largely Rahuri, as they were visually distinct from the average Thean and thus couldn't blend in as easily as Thean criminals, who are a small minority of slaves. Besides, training overseers to treat the darker-skinned slaves like animals proved surprisingly easy. Still, one slave for every four free workers wasn't enough. Ifri, with so many prisoners of war, addressed that issue. Because Ifrians also look different, they were easy to dehumanize, too, and Rudd suspected they'd handle the Atabean climate well. Waiting for Ifrian wars to supply captives wasn't fast enough, however. They had to grease the wheels.

Within a year, the Company had managed to spread enough distrust and resentment among some Ifrian vassal states to start a civil war, framing leaders for various crimes against neighbors, using guerrilla warfare to strike key targets and selling "intelligence" that urged towards violence. Soon enough, the Company were able to lay siege to the capital of Lougua, capturing land, hostages and slaves. That was enough for a brisk trade, avoiding Theah so the Church could not denounce them. Once the plantations were staffed by chattel slaves, they realized they could just work the slaves to death and replace them. Much cheaper than investing in their survival. To survive, many other plantation owners followed suit, and even those initially disgusted by slavery changed their minds after reading the pamphlets of Flemming Rudd, which presented slavery as a Theus-given benefit to the slave's intellectual and spiritual character.

Theans make up only three to eight percent of Atabean slaves, and the Thean governments tend to love the idea of selling their prisoners to the Company. All nations outlaw the sale of free Theans into slavery, but political prisoners or false convictions can result in that anyway. The Company prefers, however, to transport their Aztlan and Ifrian slaves via independent contractors. Slave ships are high-risk, after all, what with disease and revolts, which require heavy insurance on the slave ships the Company actually owns. Much better to buy cargoes from independent slavers, most of whom are former pirates the Company has convinced to change careers. After the utter hell of a slaveship hold, quarters at a Company fort or plantation often seem almost pleasant - small, unassuming villages far from the plantation's great house, or in catacombs under the fort. New slaves sleep in communal halls, and those who show obedience and use are allowed family huts and small plots to grow their own food on. Because keeping slaves alive and letting them reproduce are not priorities, these holdings are very few.

Slavery has also given rise to the most notorious martial art of the Atabean, best known by its Odisean name - Jogo de Dentro, the Inside Game. The name may refer to it being developed "inside" - that is, in jails, slave enclosures and so on. Or perhaps it refers to its extremely close range. It is practiced in a circle of singers and musicians, with two people vaulting and twirling in the center. If someone were to ask, they'd say they're just dancing, which isn't false. However, it's easy to miss the shard of glass in one hand or the straight razor in another. Most Ifrian martial arts train using combative rhythms to musical accompaniment, teaching a warrior to read the enemy's polyrhythms. They teach defense on the beat and attack on the off-beat. In captivity, the Ifrians have traded their lances and shields for shivs, shards of glass and razors, dialing back the all-or-nothing strikes of field engagements to disorienting blows that unbalance and avoid attention from others. The result is a mix of subtlety and dirty tricks that is perfect for an exhausted slave fighting a better-fed and better-equipped enemy.

Generally, it is the slave-owner's best interest to allow slaves to accumulate some meager wealth of their own. Revolution is easy when you have nothing to lose, no hope and no family. But when you have worked for some money, and that's all you have? That becomes something to protect. The idea of accumulating enough to buy your way to freedom is a daunting task, of course. Some slaves manage it, or buy the freedom of their children. Being a freed slave isn't much easier, but Company vessels offer slaves that buy their way free a free passage to Fort Freedom, hoping to keep them from going to Jaragua.

The Company's latest, fastest-growing venture is also probably the only one it's engaged in that everyone can agree isn't actually reprehensible and monstrous: the Seahorse Express. Mail delivery. While most mail travels on shipping vessels, more urgent materials are given to the seahorses, as the Company's couriers are called. They're fast, honest and almost suicidally brave, given their job mainly involves outracing monsters. They are considered noble servants of the sea, respected by all. Penny dreadfuls about attractive and daring seahorses are quite popular, and while the Company has diverted copywriters and illustrators to develop more, the best stories tend to be the independently made ones. Mesquite, the figure on the Company board who showed up from nowhere to found the Express service, masterminded them entirely and personally trained their postmaster leaders. Mesquite patterned all this on Aztlan courier networks, which were and are designed to maintain communications and supply chains over massive, highly organized empires. The project has been so successful that the Company, whose employees tend to believe the Board invented the system entirely, is now considering starting up a similar service in Theah. The mail is now considered so sacred that even the pirates who will take Company vessels will send runners under flag of truce to drop off the mail at Company dead drops, marked with the sigil of the Postmaster General. Even the Rahuri rebels will let seahorses go, believing they serve a higher ideal. This is basically the only Company position a PC can hold for any length of time without being complicit in atrocity, and even then, it's hard to stay ignorant of the Company's activities - they'll eventually have to face up to the fact that the ATC are Villains on a massive scale.

Most of the Company's employees are clerks and analysts who handle numbers and money from behind desks. Most are Thean, though there are a few New Worlders and even fewer Ifrians. None are former slaves. Mostly, they're bored, but those with charisma and ambition get promoted if they can stand it. At the head of the company is President George Rourke, an Avalon man in good fashion with a tendency to fiery speeches. He was the third son of gentry, wealthy but with little standing. His eldest brother got the land and title, his second-eldest joined the priesthood (Objectionist, if it matters) and he was expected to join the military. He chose instead to become an adventurer, whose enterprises uniformly ended in the death or imprisonment of everyone involved but him, at least until he got involved in the Vendel League. He flourished under the mentorship of family friend Flemming Rudd, now his chief procurement officer. However, by then, Rourke was growing disillusioned with the Vesten customs that bound merchants unnecessarily. He began to resent the nobility in general, given how little his own name had ended up being useful to him, and he began to develop his wholly egocentric philosophy of personal genius and achievement. Like the Rilasciare, he saw those who were born with advantages like nobility were getting undeserved rewards. Unlike them, he saw compassion as weakness. This viewpoint made waves, earning him investors - even noble ones.

Rourke's skills in commodities trading weren't bad, but he was better at speeches, charisma and recognizing synergies. He founded Rourke & Rudd in Montaigne, simply because he enjoyed their culture and art. However, l'Empereur was not a fan of his plan to make a corporation that answered to no government, and sent the Musketeers on Rourke's offices. They attacked by night, using a falsified threat to draw security away and storming the offices, beating up anyone present, taking any papers and burning the place down. Rourke had backups copies on his personal ship, yes, but it wounded his pride and budget. Thus, he learned, heading for the Atabean to rebuild - not as R&R, but the Atabean Trading Company. He is a confident, friendly fellow, charismatic and entirely self-serving, who is free with small things like dinner invitations and charm to hide his greed for land, wealth and power. He is no doubt an inspiring figure...but he is also one of the greatest Villains there is, and possibly the most powerful man in the Atabean.

Next time: More Staff

Pirate Nations: It's Not Morals, It's Money That Pays

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: It's Not Morals, It's Money That Pays

Flemming Rudd, Chief Procurement Officer, is a fat, pale man in a weg, has mixed Vesten and Avalon heritage and an old friendship with Rourke. It was Rudd who invented Rourke into a Vendel shipping guild, which is what transformed him from a failure of an adventurer into a shipping magnate. Flemming is a devout Vaticine - rare in both Avalon and Vesten. He felt stifled by their Objectionist leanings, and he sees the ATC as a chance to spread Vaticine values - whether the recipients want them or not. He believes - quite genuinely, in fact - that Theah blesses the Ifrians and Rahuri it converts and enslaves by bringing them to civilization and light. Obviously, he is dead wrong - any slave ship hold will prove that. But he does put his money where his mouth is occasionally, building cabildos, ethnic clubhouses for slaves and freedmen. Typically they are sponsored by Vaticine priests or other religious members of the Company, hosting dinners and dances as well as educating their members in the catechism and, if the owners don't object, math and literacy. Outwardly, Rudd supports Rourke's playing of Vaticine and Objectionist missionaries against each other, but inwardly, he's worried. He'd always hoped that Rourke would see the Vaticine light after years of his quiet influence, and...well, it's not working. He's wondering what else he doesn't know, and who he can trust. Rudd is a Villain - but a Villain who is genuinely avuncular, soft-spoken and kind in person. He's just a huge fucking hypocrite who truly believes he's helping the people he oppresses and enslaves. He doesn't cackle or monologue, and he really does believe he's helping. And he's still a horrific Villain.

Laerke Ulriksdottir, Chief of Security, grew up in the Vesten hinterlands, and was wielding an axe before she could even walk. She was an aide to her mother, a traveling mercenary, before finally accepting a position - a very boring one - as a guard at a guild outpost in Kirkjubaejarklauster. She didn't especially like the city life there - the merchants talked a big game, but they weren't honest. She grew bitter and disillusioned by mercantile cowardice and other failings, and when Rourke came to her to talk about conquering the Atabean and bringing it to heel, she saw something in that that felt familiar. She went home one last time, gathered up the hardest raiders she could, and set sail with Rourke. She is tough, no-nonsense and adores her job - especially the fighting. She's happy to stand there and glare when Rourke needs to intimidate people, but she loves the part where she gets to go pacify some natives with her axe and shield. It's been a long time since she's faced a worthy foe, however, and she wants it. She's largely a silent figure, looming and terrifying because...well, she really likes killing people. She will always accept a challenge to single combat, however.

Annie Goldenflower, Chief Financial Officer, has no idea who her father is, but her mother was Rahuri. However, she and her sisters can easily pass for Thean, and generally do. She was a bookkeeper when she got a job offer from the Company, and while she knew its reputation and the harm it'd done to her people, she believed she could change things from the inside. Her existence as an NPC as to say that no, you can't. It doesn't fucking work. She believed she'd keep her head down until she had a chance to betray the Company to the Rahuri, who could then launch a hostile takeover and nationalize the ATC, ending its crimes in a positive and peaceful way. It hasn't worked. It will never work. She's a leader now, controlling records and allocations, but she's still never found an element she can control that'd be so critical it'd hamstring the entire operation. She's also struggled to coordinate with Rahuri leaders, and her need for secrecy means she reveals little even to her theoretical allies. It doesn't help that she's a devout Objectionist, whose love of numbers led her to respect the science and progress she felt the faith represented. As much as she wants Rahuri acceptance, she will not hide or betray her faith, and if she had to choose, she would choose her faith over her people. Annie is not a Villain, quite, but she's an accessory to atrocity and villainy, and she has no real qualifications to lead a revolt at all. If she's stuck in her job much longer, she'll probably get corrupted by all the horror she has to be party to, though the help of an outside Hero, like a PC, might just be able to help her and allow her to pull out of her nosedive.

Mesquite, the Postmaster General, is a shadowy figure that wears a wide-brimmed hat and rain cape. They showed up one day at Rourke's Tower in the middle of a hurricane. They are neither male nor female. The guards showed them up to the Board, and they unrolled a map of the region - completely accurate - with courses of trade winds and currents marked, skirting monster-infested waters. They said only this: "You have a communication problem. My name is Mizquitl. This is how I'll fix it." Mesquite is what they're called now, and they founded the Seahorse Express to regiment the travel of news and words across the sea. Mesquite personally trained the Postmasters in charge, and they're as dedicated and secretive as any secret society. Mesquite is silent in any meeting, largely ignoring any question not related to route selection or mail transmission. None of the Board can remember ever getting a good look at them. Their office is a belfry atop Rourke's Tower with no bell and no glass in the windows, its iron desk literally bolted to the floor. Regardless of the weather, Mesquite is generally found sitting on top of the desk. And the reason is Mesquite is a god. A literal god, from Aztlan. They aren't a very big or notable god, mind, and aren't like Theus - closer in power to the dievai, Devil Jonah or Matushka, really. They were worshipped centuries ago in Aztlan, when the first roads were made, but their worship dwindled until they had no priests or temples left. Their long-term goals are solely related to spreading communication, and they're not proud - just dedicated. They've decided the ATC is just in the best position to help their cause, and would leave the instant that wasn't true. They value human allies and friends, far more than obedient servants - after all, they've lost everything before and realized how valuable an ally truly is. They will do anything to protect those friends.

Relations posted:

Avalon: "As often as my people's foibles frustrate me - particularly their religious attitudes - Avalon, Inismore, and the Marches originated much of the spirit which inspired me and young George to do business the way we do. We make a lot of money on sugar and tobacco in Avalon. In fact, we have more noble investors there than anywhere else in Theah. You'll find many an Avalonian in the Company ranks, from the Board down to the greenest cabin boys." - Flemming Rudd.
Castille: Castillians, and Odiseans especially, deal extensively with the Company, though the highest social strata rail against President Rourke's contempt for nobility and government. Since the loss of the Armada, the Company has frequently stepped in to fulfill rich Castillians' shipping needs.
Eisen: It's no secret that George Rourke greatly admires Nicklaus Trague. In fact, he modeled Rourke's Tower visually after Freiburg's Wachtturm. Freiburg is the most profitable city in Theah to the Company, as well as the most cordial to Rourke's philosophy.
Montaigne: "Oh, I hope he tries to do business in my country again. Maybe this time I'll get to set Monsieur Rourke himself on fire." - l'Empereur Alexandre
Numa: Numa and the Company have a tense working relationship. The Company craves Numanari mint and spices. Numa craves the many manufactured goods and other substances their islands can't provide. But while Company and Numanari philosophies both extensively use the word "freedom," the similarities end there.
The Sarmatian Commonwealth: "Fascinating. I could talk about the Commonwealth for days. So much potential, such good fashion sense, such respect for liberty...but ultimately, they disappoint. 'Sarmatism' is yet another excuse for the weak to leech off the strong. That business about ennobling everyone is exactly the wrong way to go about the right thing, and everything about their King and his Walezy Articles vexes me. Still, doing business there is straightforward enough. If their government has any problems with my Company, it's too busy bickering with itself to express it." - President Rourke
Ussura: Ussura's import needs and export offerings suit the Company well, but of late the increasingly hostile Vendel League has used its geographic proximity to usurp Company business there. In response, Rourke has publically decried Ussura's backward and superstitious attitudes as not worth his business. Only Flemming Rudd knows how incensed Rourke really is at this development.
Vestenmannevanjar: "Damn those honorless whelps! The Vendel League made Rourke and Rudd. Their corporation could never have existed without our Guilders, our customs, and our organization. We were fools to think they would stay loyal to the League even after they monopolized the Atabean Sea. Rourke would have you believe otherwise, but trade is about relationships, and relationships are about trust. Our Guilders represent the trust which Thean markets place in a system which helps us all. When one merchant, especially so fortunate as those traitors, sacrifices honesty and respect, the very concept of trade itself suffers. Well, if it's a trade war he wants..." - Harald Hermansson, Sailor's Guild.
Vodacce: "Rourke seems like a good fellow. We do a lot of business together." - Prince Giovanni Villanova

Next time: Fort Freedom

Pirate Nations: Asshole Town

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Asshole Town

Fort Freedom was founded by Rourke on a rocky island with peaceful natives after Laerke noted its excellent natural harbor that would allow small groups in and out but be hard to enter in force, which Rourke considered important given he'd had to flee Montaigne. They made a fortified keep called Rourke's Tower at the highest point on the island, expanding the fort to overlook the harbor. Rourke and Laerke worked to popularize the island by spreading word that it was a good pirate hideout - and it was, with ample supplies of cheap coffee, liquor and other addictive goods, plus fresh Thean supplies. The lack of law also helped, though Laerke was quick to step in if anyone threatened Company interests. The first settlers were either ATC employees or retired pirates, but now, Fort Freedom is home to just about any kind of Atabean, and serves as a full-fledged city, rivaling Aragosta in size.

The island itself is a flat-topped crescent with fortified cliffs facing all sides but the inner arc harbor, which is full of piers. A huge statue of George Rourke towers over the harbor, gazing out to sea and bearing the Freedom Bell, which rings each day at daybreak to remind everyone of exactly how free they are. Fortified turrets watch over the harbor, and ships of any flag are welcome if they can pay for a berth. Only one rule is applied: no ship-to-ship combat in the harbor, or everyone aims their guns at you and prepares to fire. The eastern arc is home to the Shallow Graves, the only area of harbor with no ships. The water's only ankle deep at high tide, and so it is home to a series of piles covered in memorial stones or plaques for the dead, sunken into the beach. Off harbor are the warehouses and senzalas (slave quarters), and taverns are common, each with some gimmick to attract people. The windows have no glass to allow for easy ejection of patrons by bouncers. The city itself has no urban planning whatsoever, so it just kind of sprawls. However, the highlands around Rourke's Tower are Company-controlled, home to the employees and company stores and service offices. Chief Ulriksdottir's patrols are thick in that area, ensuring that while the rest of the city may be chaos, the Company is undisturbed.

The Snowflake is the massive fortress that dominates the western side of what is now called Freedom's Island. It's named for its perimeter shape and is Laerke's HQ, training center and general base. It's extremely advanced, designed by the Vodacce engineer Cinzia Pontecorvo, who originally came to the New World to fortify Castillian holdings but headed for Fort Freedom after the Company made her a better offer. The Castillian King is incensed - she took her plans with her - but he can't do much about it, with his Armada gone. The outer rampart rises up from the sea, except for the bit facing the land, which has a moat and drawbridge. The ramparts are a meter and a half thick, with triangular or kite-shaped bastions of alternating depth to ensure there are no dead zones for the cannons. This is called the Vodacce Star. Inside, there's barracks, a senzala for the slaves and plenty of resupply magazines. The citadel within has its own star-shaped wall and houses the smithy, mess hell and other essentials. Most Company coastal forts are not so advanced, and are mainly purchased or captured medieval-style castles built in the early years of Thean exploration, scheduled to be renovated when funds and labor permit. Only the most valuable holdings have Vodacce Star forts.

Fort Freedom is full of street gangs, which are born alarmingly quickly. They draw in children, particularly orphans, starting them as runners or pickpockets before teachign them to fight. Leaders began referring to themselves as Rourkes 15 years ago, which has devolved into Rooks. Constant fighting causes them to have shockingly sophisticated fighting styles, often distinct variations on the Inside Game. The gangs are vital to Fort Freedom's odd ecology, fighting not only for pride and territory but to earn recognition from the societal leaders. Hiring a street gang is, after all, the fastest way to get muscle, if not super loyal muscle. Other times, pirates will recruit an entire gang as crew for a major assault. Laerke also has her men observe the top gangs in high-profile fights, inviting the best to join her security forces. Many gangs view taking her offer as dishonorable, as it turns your back on your community, but there's not much they can do to take revenge on those who "go corporate."

The Cipactli Gang are primarily New Worlders from Tzak K'an and Nahuacan, and they're feared because they are rumored to sacrifice their captives to the New World gods. They go to some lengths to conceal the truth of the rumor, which is worse: they sell them as slaves. The Wayward Sons and Daughters are the rich kids, children of dispossessed nobles and the local rich who sneak off from the good neighborhoods for excitement and danger. They're usually seen as weak, privileged kids, so they've developed a tendency to berserk ferocity to fight that perception. The Anglerfish are a Rahuri gang - quite large, probably the biggest in Fort Freedom - but full of internal disputes and violent challenges for leadership. The Bad Guys are an Ifrian gang and, yes, that's really their name. Their best Inside Game players wear pure white to show they've never been struck or knocked down while playing. And then there's the ulama teams, as the Aztlan ball game ulama is very popular in Fort Freedom. Each team has a small but fierce and surprisingly well-organized gang of hooligans, and sometimes the ulama players help them out.

Rourke disdains the secret societies, but encourages them to set up in Fort Freedom so his people can spy on them. Both sides have extensive spy networks watching each other. The Brotherhood of the Coast have no formal base, but can easily meet up in the crowded taverns. Die Kreuzritter uses Fort Freedom as a base to monitor the movements of sea monsters, and also to keep tabs on when powerful people show up, for fear of infernalists or other monsters in human skin fleeing to the Atabean. The Explorer's Society has a prominent clubhouse in Fort Freedom, on the edge of the highlands district. Rourke knows they're competition, but he respects them and enjoys how they annoy the Vaticine, so he leaves them alone. The Invisible College have a few hidden labs in Fort Freedom, subtly encouraged by Rourke. However, whenever the Company gets close to one, they shutter it and destroy all evidence, fleeing to the next. It's a constant game of dodging the Company's thieving minions. The Knights of the Rose and Cross are the anthithesis of Rourke's beliefs, and their leaders have decided Fort Freedom is too dangerous for a full chapterhouse...which is probably true. They have to keep a low profile - their brand of heroism is not appreciate by Laerke Ulriksdottir at all.

Los Vagabundos have arrived recently in order to connect with the Rahuri leadership. They have also decided a Fort Freedom base is too dangerous for them, though they've managed to have their agents in Fort Freedom avoid detection so far. Rourke and Laerke would both love to beat them to a bloody pulp if they found out, however. Mociutes Skara have probably the best powerbase in Fort Freedom after the Explorers. The Company's watchdogs have warned the Board about the potential danger they pose, but the Board is entirely unconcerned, and haven't a damn clue where the Shawl base is anyway. This is because they typically meet in large crowds in the open, relying on coded language to transmit information. Their resources are primarily focused on small, unglamorous jobs, and have been slowly reaching out to the Rahuri leaders to figure out how to help avert a war of conquest that many worry will be Theah's next step. The Rilasciare had a cell in Fort Freedom until approximately last week, when they all vanished. Rourke despises the Rilasciare, as they promote a philosophy quite similar to his own, but with diametrically opposed ends. The rumor is their last strike against a corrupt Vaticine priest was too bold, and Laerke tracked them back to their base and disappeared them. It is unclear if this is true or if they left of their own accord.

Next time: New mechanics.

Pirate Nations: Piratical Heroes

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Piratical Heroes

We get stat bonuses for Heroes from Aragosta, Jaragua, La Bucca, Numa or the Rahuri. Not Fort Freedom - no one is 'native' to Fort Freedom. They're all from elsewhere. We get some new backgrounds!

General Backgrounds
Atabean Rook: You were a gang leader in Fort Freedom. Earn a Hero Point when you use your rep or status to help another character.
Company Escapee: You were a prisoner or slave or other victim of the ATC and escaped. Earn a Hero Point when you subvert the Company's plans or sabotage its income stream.
Seahorse: You moved the mail. Earn a Hero Point when you deliver an important message, written or otherwise.
Thean Outcast: You had to flee to the Atabean to survive. Earn a Hero Point when siding with your adopted homeland in favor of Thean tradition gets you into trouble.
Aragostan-Only Backgrounds
Freebooter: You were an Atabean sailor without parallel. Earn a Hero Point when you convince another character to join you on a journey at sea.
Troubleshooter: You were a pirate sniper. Earn a Hero Point when you spend all your Raises on shooting a target and suffer Consequences for it.
Rum Runner: You were a smuggler. Earn a Hero Point when you sail your ship into forbidden waters.
Lost Soul: You sold part of your soul to the Devil Jonah, and won't let anyone make the same mistake. Earn a Hero Point when you prevent the Devil Jonah from claiming another soul.
Jaraguan-Only Backgrounds
Nganga: You interpeted the will of the Lwa. Earn a Hero Point when you use your spiritual knowledge and skills to aid a community.
Mawon: You were a rebel guerilla. Earn a Hero Point when you defeat an enemy using guerilla tactics.
Jaraguan Provocatuer: You were a diplomat, smuggler and alliance-seeker for Jaragua. Earn a Hero Point when you gain a new ally for Jaragua.
Enspkete: You were a monster hunter and detective. Earn a Hero Point when you learn a secret about a Monster or anti-Jaraguan conspiracy.
La Bucca-Only Backgrounds
Siren: You were a problem solver for the Chapters. Earn a Hero Point when you solve a problem with stealth and subterfuge rather than direct confrontation.
Chapter Member: You were an agent for a Chapter. Earn a Hero Point when you fulfill the duties of your Chapter.
Sentinel: You were a quick-witted street gunner. Earn a Hero Point when you beat another character to the draw.
Los Ninos: You were saved by the Mother. Earn a Hero Point when you protect a brother or sister.
Numa-Only Backgrounds
Docent: You were a warrior who decided to test the other nations. Earn a Hero Point when you push another character to live up to their potential, even when it means trouble.
Haimon: You were a glory-seeker. Earn a Hero Point when you take on a dangerous task for no other reason than it will bring you glory.
Mystai: You plumbed the depths of your spirit. Earn a Hero Point when you thwart the mystai of Hecteba.
Myrmidon: You were a defender of Numa. Earn a Hero Point when you impress the crew of a foreign ship with your daring.
Rahuri-Only Backgrounds
Boriqua: You were a warrior-diplomat for the Rahuri. Earn a Hero Point when you win a diplomatic contest with a threat of violence.
Wave Hunter: You were a monster hunter. Earn a Hero Point when you defeat a Sea Monster.
Bohiti: You were a guide to Soryana. Earn a Hero Point when you solve the problem of a Lost ancestor.
Horizon Chaser: You were a Rahuri explorer. Earn a Hero Point when you set foot in a place you've never visited.

We also get new advantages!
One Point
Eye for Talent: When you spend Wealth to hire a Brute Squad, their Strength is 1 point higher.
Letter of Marque: You or another PC must have Married to the Sea. Choose a Thean Nation. You have a Letter of Marque from them. Any privateers or military ships of that nation will not harass you if you present it, and you have no legal ramifications from your privateering with them. Other nations will rarely care.

Two Point
Agoge Weapon Mastery: You must have the Lakedaimon Agoge dueling style. Choose an additional weapon from its list; you gain the appropriate bonus when using it.
Cross the Palm: When you spend Wealth to reroll a die in a social Risk swayable with money, you may reroll 2 dice instead of 1.
Devil Dog (Knack): You or another PC must have Married to the Sea. You may activate this to give any Crew Squads under your command this round 2 Bonus Dice on any Risk.
Indomitable Will (Knack): Costs 1 less for Numanari. You may activate this to automatically resist when another character attempts to intimidate, seduce or otherwise goad you.
Insistent (Knack): You may activate this when you apply Pressure. The effect of your Pressure lasts until the end of the round.
Married to the Sea: Nothing new, just Aragostans pay 1 less for it.
Speed Load (Knack): You may activate this to reload a single firearm you are carrying with 1 Raise instead of 5. You may do this only once per Sequence.
Tavern Favorite: When you make a Perform Risk in a low-class place such as a dockside tavern or street corner, you get a Bonus Die.

Three Point
Atabean Traveler (Knack): Costs 1 less for Rahuri. You may activate this when in the Atabean Sea to know the direction to the nearest port, find fresh food or water, or to ask the GM a yes/no question about the environment or a creature you've encountered.
Dynamic Approach: Again, not new, but costs 1 less for Buccaneers.
Frog Man: When you make an Athletics Risk that involves swimming, you get a Bonus Die.
Nerves of Steel: Costs 1 less for Jaraguans. Whenever you spend a Hero Point for bonus dice in any Risk against a target with a Monster Quality, you may also reroll one die.
Powder Monkey: When you make an Aim Risk to fire a ship's cannons, you get 2 Bonus Dice.
Sweeten the Pot: You may spend 1 Wealth to bribe someone in an Action or Dramatic Sequence without spending a Raise. You can only do this once per Sequence.
The Ocean's Favorite: You must have Married to the Sea. As long as you are Captain of your Ship, you may spend a Hero Point before rolling dice at the start of any round to reorganize the Crew Squads, spending a Hero Point to aid another Hero on your ship gives 4 dice instead of 3, and you get a Bonus Die to all Risks you take aboard your Ship.
Wheel Man: When you make a Risk to steer a ship through treacherous waters or to avoid enemy fire, or when your expertise at the helm would be useful, you get a Bonus Die.

Four Point
The Devil's Due: Costs 2 less for Aragostans. You cut off part of yourself and sacrificed it to the Devil Jonah alongside part of your soul. In its place, you gain a magical artifact with unique abilities. You may activate its powers for a scene by spending 1 Hero Point. Examples include a bronze-and-silver spike used as a false leg, which never tarnishes and can break through any door - effortlessly, up to a foot of wood - and deals 1 additional Wound on top of normal when used to kick people, a spyglass made of bone and gems that can see through walls or ship hulls, or a pair of dried leather boots that never get wet and can walk on water as if it was dry land.
Salty Dog (Innate): When you make a Risk using Sailing, Theft or Intimidate, all of your rolled dice have +1 to their value.
Seeker of Soryana: Rahuri only. When exploring the wilds or sailing, you may spend a Hero Point to find a gate to Soryana and meet with Locuo to plead your case. If he finds your cause just, he will grant you an ancestor, who is a ghostly, translucent specter that can interact with the world like anyone else. They have free will but will usually help you with your goals for, generally, the length of a single Story. The ancestor has 3 in all Traits, 1 Background chosen by you, 1 Background chosen by the GM, all associated Advantages, and 2 in all associated skills. They can take 10 Wounds before their soul is destroyed forever. At the start of each session, you must spend a Hero Point (and be close to the) to keep them sane, or they become a Strength 10 Monster with Destructive and Horrifying as Qualities, plus all their old abilities, and begin to prey on the living. Locuo will also hold this against you and refuse to grant future requests until you find and either destroy or redeem the Lost ancestor. You may also serve as a guide for another character, in which case they must pay all Hero Point costs instead, though you still have the responsibility to take care of it if they end up making a Lost.
Whisper to Mother: Buccaneer only. You may spend a Hero Point and spill a drop of your own blood onto your hand. You may then whisper a name into it - either one of your siblings or the Mother - and then make one statement or ask one question. The person you named will hear you, and if you cup your hands to your ear, you hear their response. Responding to this call costs nothing, but allows only one statement, and you still have to talk into your hands to respond.

Five Point
I Cannot Be Broken (Knack): Costs 2 less for Rahuri. When you spend a Hero Point to gain bonus dice on a Risk directly related to completing a Step in your Hero Story, you get 2 Bonus Dice instead of 1.
My Word Is My Bond (Knack): Costs 2 less for Aragostans. You can activate this to spend any number of Hero Points and make a promise to another character. For the rest of the scene, when you make a Risk in pursuit of fulfilling that promise, you get 1 free Raise per Hero Point spent this way. If you have not fulfilled your promise by the end of the scene, you lose all Hero Points and cannot gain more this session. If your promise is fulfilled by the end of the scene, you gain 1 Hero Point. You may use this only once per session, and the promise must be suitably dangerous or difficult.
La Palabra: Costs 2 less for Buccaneers. You know the secret code languages and handsigns of La Bucca. When you speak to anyone else with this Advantage, you may give them a message that is only understood by those who have this Advantage. This cannot communicate complex ideas, but simple requests or common statements are possible, and any code that contradicts spoken words will usually be assumed to be the truth. You may teach others how to make a single gesture or pass a message to a third party, but they cannot understand any replies or use phrases except the one you've shown them. Useful phrases to teach are things like 'I need to speak to you privately' or 'I am carrying an important message' as a result.
Seize Your Glory: Costs 2 less for Numanari. You have a second Virtue. You may still only activate one Virtue per session.
We Share Our Victories: Costs 2 less for Jaraguans. When you help another PC complete a Step of their personal Hero Story, you gain a Hero Point. Whenever another PC helps you complete a Step of your personal Hero Story, they gain a Hero Point.

And new Arcana!
The Devil Jonah: As a Virtue, you may activate this when you enact poetic justice, make someone pay their due or force them to follow through on a bargain. If you do, for your next Risk, all of your dice count as a Raise automatically. As a Hubris, you gain a Hero Point when you refuse to aid someone until they beg you or when you otherwise demonstrate your petty, vengeful nature.
The Drowned Man: As a Virtue, you may activate this when you would be killed. You instead are removed forcibly from the scene but survive. As a Hubris, you may activate this whenever you take Dramatic Wounds to gain 1 Hero Point per Dramatic Wound just taken.
The Fisherman: As a Virtue, you may activate this after you roll dice for a Risk. You lose half of your Raises. All other PCs in the scene gain that many Raises. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you avoid the spotlight, insist you're nothing more than a simple man or otherwise refuse to take credit for something that it would be advantageous for you to claim as your own work.

Next time: New magic.

Pirate Nations: Doubly Damned

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Doubly Damned

Charter Magic is the famous sorcery used 40 years ago to bind the Brotherhood. It was a blood ritual of the Syrneth, and only Reis knew how to perform it truly. However, bastardizations of it have been passed down by word of mouth since that night, and each version that's developed has enough power to make a similar pact, if not as strong. The ritual currently used on Aragosta probably has elements that aren't strictly needed, but are included just in case, like needing to be signed at 3 AM or being done in a circle around a fire or having the words spoken aloud. Any single bit might not be needed, but no one wants to take chances.

The ritual is done around a fire on the shore, in a circle. Each person takes a dagger from another in the circle and cuts their hand, then pours blood into a bowl that is passed around and speaks their name - their full, true name - then passes the bowl along. It must be passed widdershins, and each participant must then place their bloody hand into the fire and squeeze blood onto the embers. If the ritual worked, the fire will blaze high, then suddenly die out. At that point, each participant must sign the Charter using the blood in the bowl, and the name they sign must be their full, true name, or the ritual won't work. Names cannot be added once the ritual is over. Mechanically, each signatory must spend one Hero Point - or a Danger Point, if they are a Villain. Villains explicitly can sign your Charter if invited! However, remember that it is their nature to backstab when they see the best chance.

The mechanics of having a Charter are simple. For every signatory that paid in, you get one point in a Luck Pool. Each Luck Point is worth a single d10 - so if you have six signatories, that's a Luck Pool of 6d10. At any time during the game, any signatory may draw as many Luck Pool dice as they want and add them to a roll. Once a die is used, it's gone for the rest of the session. The Luck Pool restores to full at the start of each session. That's pretty simple! But there's a price.

Any signatory that breaks the Charter as written is doubly damned. Almost all Charters use this language, to remind you that the rules are not to be broken lightly. They suffer "the black spot." For every other signatory, they get one black spot - so a six-person Charter would provide five black spot curses to the one that breaks it. The GM chooses from a small list of effects which spots to apply, combined however they like, though they may allow a cursed player to choose.

Black Spots
-1 to any one Trait
-2 to any one Skill
Lose access to any one 2-point (or less) Advantage
Require a Hero Point to get the benefit of any one 3-point (or more) Advantage, on top of any normal costs

The only way to free yourself from the black spot curse is to go to each other signatory and beg their forgiveness. To grant forgiveness, each must cut their hand and the supplicant's, holding them together. The supplicant asks if they are forgiven, and the other says they are. For each one that gives forgiveness, one black spot is removed and the stats it affected return to normal.

If all members of a Charter die, the Charter burns up with blue flame. Because there are so many Charters nailed to the walls of the Bucket o' Blood in Aragosta, there is a pirate tradition of a moment of silence whenever one of them burns up. Most believe it is bad luck to sign a new Charter on the same day an old one burns, but the bravest dismiss this as mere superstition and will even go so far as to mix the ash from a burned Charter with the blood of a new signing.

In case you're wondering - none of this requires the Sorcery advantage. Anyone can set up a Charter, and it has the exact terms you set down. Sample charters that are often used by various groups are in an appendix we'll hit eventually; most ships have a charter even if they don't have a Charter - that is, the magic kind. Having the magic one just means the PCs and any Villains signed on get a big pool of luck to play with. This is not Aragosta's sorcery - that's Mohwoo, magical tattoos made by Wenshen. La Bucca, however, has no Sorcery of its own.

Next time: Kap Sevi

Pirate Nations: Take Me For A Ride

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

The game isn't trying to make it hard to keep to your Charter anyway. It is literally 'here, be heroes, have bonus dice.' The effect isn't so powerful it needs protection, it's just...some useful luck.

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Take Me For A Ride

While many forms of Thean sorcery involve making pacts with otherworldly beings - most notably Sanderis, the Knights of Avalon and the Mother's Touch - none have done what Kap Sevi does. Sevites are brave or desperate souls that set part of themselves aside to allow these otherworldly beings into their bodies and souls. The cornerstone is worship of the Lwa and the West Ifrian practice known as Kurwa. Sevites have expanded on the Kurwa priestesses' teachings to find new, hidden aspects of the Lwa, and some Sevites believe they've still only scratched the surface. In West Ifri, only women could do Kurwa, making offerings to the Lwa for favors. In Jaragua, however, the Sevites found new ways to petition them - dismissing part of their own soul for the Lwa to take the place of. It helped them tap into the darker, more vengeful aspects of the Lwa and gave a reprieve from the living hell of slavery. The Lwa also granted their gifts not just to women, but to men as well. Kap Sevi was born of torment, and its use often reflects the dire circumstances the Sevite once lived in.

When you get Sorcery (Kap Sevi) the first time, you pick one Lwa you can summon and gain its Gran Met ('power') that you can ask for. It is extremely risky to your soul to ask a Lwa for the wrong Gran Met or to ask for one without knowing which Lwa to ask. Each time you take Sorcery, you gain one Gros Gran Met ('Great Power') and two Ti Gran Met ('Little Powers'). These can be from a Lwa you already have, or from a new Lwa.

Whenever you summon a Lwa into yourself, you must give part of yourself. To use a Gros, you must give up your Virtue. To use a Ti, you must give up one of your Quirks. While the Lwa occupies you, whatever was offered up cannot be activated or invoked by any means. You may ask a Lwa only for one Gros and two Ti at any given time. You can give up more of yourself after the summoning - so if you called down a Gros and then need a Ti, you can do that. But once you have given to the Lwa, you cannot take it back - your Virtue and Quirks will come back only once the Lwa leaves.

A Lwa remains in your body until the next morning's sunrise. There is no other known way to get rid of a Lwa, and no Lwa ever leaves early. Once the pact is made, they're sticking around until sunrise. The Lwa don't actually enjoy sharing a host, however. You can only have one Lwa at a time, and it will block any attempt to call on a second Lwa - and then stop letting you use its Gran Met. This strips you of any powers you had but doesn't give back your Virtue or Quirks. However, the same Lwa can ride multiple Sevites at once. Some believe this is because the Lwa doesn't fully inhabite you, only sending a piece of itself into you - so there's plenty left to go into others. While there are hundreds of Lwa, the game presents the five most popular and prominent in Jaragua; the GM is free to invent more.

Badagris appears wearing a leather apron, carrying tongs and smelling of soot and metal. She may choose, however, to become a warrior at any instant, clad in armor and wielding a blackened sword. She is the Lwa of justice, protection, war, fire, violence and steel. Her name means 'She Tore' and while she kills those who offend her, she is also respected for her crafting skill and is known for helping those in need. She is the sister of Jakuta, whom she often forces to help her out. Any Sevite hosting Badagris is hot to the touch, becomes angry quickly and stops being angry just as fast if they see people helping each other. They are prone to random acts of charity and sudden violence.
Hammer (Gros): You can spend a Hero Point to automatically and instantly heal all Wounds between (and including) your fourth and third Dramatic Wound.
Nail (Gros): You may spend a Hero Point to automatically render someone Helpless if they have 3 Dramatic Wounds. You can use this only once per session.
The Hunger (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to consume and take nourishment from literally anything you can fit in your mouth.
Unchained (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to escape any shackle, prison or restraint.
Blackened Skin (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to withstand any fire or flame, taking no damage from it or any other source of heat you are touching.
Blackened Soul (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point while Helpless to be able to act as normal for a full round rather than just one action. While doing this, you get +2 dice to all Risks. You may use this only once per session.

Bawon Ge appears in a top hat, black coat and with a skull-like face - sometimes an actual skull. She is the Lwa of death, tombs, gravestones and cemetaries. Legend says she was the first person to be wrongfully sentenced to death, and because of that, she was made a Lwa. She is married to Baron Lakwa, who often helps her out. A Sevite who is ridden by Bawon Ge often shouts obscenities or spits. She is temperamental, and will make you bite your own arms if you feed her things she doesn't like. She loves rum and cigars.
No Grev (Gros): You may spend a Hero Point whenever any character would die. As long as Bawon Ge rides you, they can't die, even if Helpless.
Lameci (Gros): You may spend a Hero Point to instantly kill a willing Helpless character. This does not cause Corruption.
Eternal Guardian (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to place a corpse eternally beyond the touch of any Sorcery, including Hexenwork and Kap Sevi.
Sacred Ground (Ti): You can spend a Hero Point to consecrate a small area. While standing in your Sacred Ground, no one can use Sorcery; any attempts to fuel Sorcery with Hero Points get refunded.
Windows Into the Soul (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to touch a corpse and witness its last moments of life, as the dying person saw them.
Cemetary Walls (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to secure a wall. As long as you remain within the wall's confines, nothing inhuman may cross that wall in either direction.

Mareaux is a Lwa whom some claim is a pair - brother and sister - but the truth is that they are constantly in flux. This can make male Sevites take on feminine traits or vice versa while ridden. Mareaux is the Lwa of night, secrets, darkness, truth, mysteries and reason. Other Lwa see them as a divine child and will go out of their way to help Mareaux in their duties. While riddenby Mareaux, you are stripped of your biases and preconceptions. While this is enlightening, it also results in a distinct tendency to get lost in your own thoughts, be distracted and wander off.
Egregore (Gros): You may spend 1 Hero Point to add someone to your thoughtform. All members of your thoughtform (which you are automatically part of) can communicate telepathically for as long as you are ridden by Mareaux. The network ends after Mareaux leaves.
Unafraid (Ti): You can spend a Hero Point to ignore the personal effects of any and all fear, including supernatural Fear caused by Monsters or Sorcery.
Nuit Jumeaux (Gros): You may spend a Hero Point to make your shadow sentient and semi-corporeal. It will obey simple commands, but cannot pick things up or interact with other people. If it takes a dangerous action, it has Strength 5 and rolls dice accordingly. If it takes even a single Wound, it instantly returns to you and will not be animated again until the next sunset.
Unknowable (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to peer through shadows and see a place you cannot currently reach, such as a hidden drawer or dark alley. You must know where to look and the area must be in darkness. You may not see anything in the light while using this.
Unforgettable (Ti): You can spend a Hero Point to render something an unforgettable memory to yourself - even if sorcery or trauma would normally remove it.
Unforgivable (Ti): You can spend a Hero Point to make the target unable to forget the scene before them by any means short of death - perhaps not even then. It resists all attempts to remove it from their memory.

Papa Ahron is called the Silent Lwa and the First Father. He appears as an old man with a cane, wearing a broad hat and smoking a pipe. He is always accompanied by his dog, Ati-Gbon (sometimes called Atibon). He is the Lwa of missing people, silence, confusion, the lost and other Lwa. He is the father or grandfather of all other Lwa, but he never asks them for help. Anyone he rides finds it hard to speak and becomes prone to forgetting words or grammar, sometimes developing a stutter or lisp. This becomes less noticeable in the presence of dogs or when your lips are moist and your thirst quenched.
The Lost Voice (Gros): You may spend a Hero Point to be able to speak as proxy for anyone, living or dead, provided you can touch them or one of their personal, valued belongings. There must be someone else to ask questions of you, as you cannot talk to yourself. You get no insights into the target's desires - they merely speak through you.
La Bliye (Gros): You may spend a Hero Point to vanish from memory for a scene. Anyone interacting with you can still see and hear you, speak to you and so on, but as soon as you leave, they forget you exist and anything you did.
Lucidite (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to make a connection with any other person ridden by Papa Ahron, sensing the general location and mood of any other possessed and seeing through their eyes.
Crossroads (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to ask the Lwa a single question about the world. They must answer honestly, as lying to Papa Ahron is a grave crime. The answer must be direct but the GM doesn't need to elaborate on it.
San Yopa Sound (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to move silently for a scene. You can still be seen, felt and smelled, but you cannot be heard by any means. You must still be subtle - a gun firing next to someone's head or screaming in their face will still grab their attention.
San Yopa Sight (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to move invisibly for a scene. You can still be heard, felt and smelled, but you cannot be seen. You must still be subtle - you can't just stab someone in the chest and expect not to get noticed.

Sousson is a Lwa of vile appearance. He is usually emaciated, with thinning hair, sallow skin and many warts, boils and wounds. He is, however, quite happy. He is the Lwa of disease, injury, mental illness and perfume. He has no wife, but many children, all of whom share his appearance and help him out. While ridden by Sousson, you will develop blisters, sores and rashes, though they are purely cosmetic and cause you no suffering. Beyond this, Sousson does little to affect your behavior - he's just inexplicably happy all the time.
Zonbi (Gros): You may spend a Hero Point to make a Helpless person appear dead, slowing their heart and breathing, clouding their eyes and stiffening their muscles. They also become susceptible to suggestion and can be directed to simple actions at your instruction.
Unlikely Allies (Gros): You may spend a Hero Point to instantly befriend anyone, including Villains. The effect ends the moment Sousson leaves you, and depending on how they were treated, they may resent you.
Purify (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to cure any non-supernaturally-caused ailments, diseases or illnesses a person is suffering, physical or mental. This cannot heal Wounds or cure diseases or illnesses caused by Monsters or Sorcery.
Mask of the Pariah (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to make others avoid you. You become horrifically ugly and produce an aura of disgust and fear. Any PC wishing to approach you must spend a Hero Point to do so, or a Raise during a Sequence, and any physical interaction with you requires an additional Raise on top of the normal costs.
Cleanse (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to remove any contaminant from any object, material or substance - plague bedsheets? Fine now! Poisoned water? Clean!
Bon Zanni (Ti): You may spend a Hero Point to know someone nearby that you've helped previously and who now owes you a favor.

Next time: Mystirios


Pirate Nations: My Magic Is Within

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: My Magic Is Within

Mystirios is the magical tradition of Numa, and it is vastly different than most Thean sorcery. Sanderis and Glamour grant power from other beings. Sorte manipulates external forces. Hexe blend things together to make magic. But the mystai of Numa? They are inspired by the gods, but their power is not from the gods. They listen to the tales and take their power from the human spirit itself. The stories just show how to use your hidden potential - the gods do not grant that power at all. Numanari epics are often about deeply flawed people with limitless potential, and Numanari magic is about the infinite potential of the human spirit, which can exceed the power of even gods. Many of their tales are about how mortals defeat the gods by power or cleverness, and the immortals become impressed with hteir wits or courage. The message is that anything is possible, if you but strive.

When you purchase Sorcery (Mystirios), you select one Numanari god and learn their mystirio, their mystery. This involves a long, guided ritual in which the sacred secrets of that god's devotees are shared with you. Each also comes with an apokalypsi, a revelation that only those devotees may know, which relates to the god's motivation and true desires. Once the ritual is complete, you are a mystai, initiated into the mysteries. You learn some insight of the god's wisdom and better understand your own ability, allowing you to unlock part of your own heroic potential. It's often less flashy than other sorcerous powers, but not less potent. To activate a mystirio, you spend a Hero Point. From there, you gain its benefit until either the end of the scene or when you activate its associated apokalypsi, whichever comes first. Activing an apokalypsi has no cost whatosever, but you must have its associated mystirio activated to use it. A given mystirio can only be activated once per scene, and you can only have one mystirio active at a time.

Dityhrambos, God of Plenty has a story of pain and regeneration. His story teaches that pain is temporary, and that you must endure to be able to triumph. Even the wrath of the father of gods cannot crush the body of Dithyrambos, let alone his spirit. He returns each spring from the dark depths of winter, and his mystai similarly learn to claw their way back up.
Mystirio: Every time you take an Action, you heal 1 Wound. If this would cause you to heal a Dramatic Wound, you instead activate the apokalypsi immediately and the mystirio ends.
Apokalypsi: On your Action, you may activate this to immediately heal one Dramatic Wound.

Potnia Agrotera, Goddess of the Hunt and War has probably the best kept secret among all the gods. Her secret tale of love and sacrifice is sometimes seen as at odds with her more common portrayal as a brash, bloodthirsty warrior. What her initiates understand is that if you truly want to fight for something, you must love it and be willing to sacrifice for it. What greater sacrifice can be made than your life given to save another?
Mystirio: When you spend Raises during a Risk to prevent Wounds to another PC, you case 1 Wound to whatever character tried to harm that PC.
Apokalypsi: On your action during an Action Sequence, when you use Aim, Brawl or Weaponry as your Approach, you may activate this instead of spending a Raise to take an Action, effectively allowing you to go twice in a row.

Hecteba, Jailed Goddess of Mysteries, Murder and Dark Magic has a mystirio, but it can only be learned by Villains. She is the bloody-handed goddess, patron of killers, and her worship is illegal in most of Numa, for good reason. Murder is a sacrament to her, a holy act, and the learning of her mystirio requires a cold-blooded ritual killing to be performed by the mystai.
Mystirio: When you make an Aim, Brawl or Weaponry Risk, you can increase the value of any one of your rolled dice by your Strength.
Apokalypsi: When you announce your intention to commit murder, you may activate this. If you do, you only need to spend one Raise to commit the murder - meaning you may still take additional actions during the round, though the murder still is not completed until the very end. This can only be used once per session.

Supati, Deity of Writing, Language and Magic, is the patron of scholars and tricksters. Their devotees value knowledge greatly, especially practical and beneficial knowledge. More esoteric knowldge can be useful, but Supati teaches that pure academics are less interesting than helping others with knowledge.
Mystirio: Whenever you make a Wits Risk, you may reroll any 1s on the dice, though you must use the new result. This happens before any other rerolls you may have.
Apokalypsi: On your action during a Risk, you may activate this. Any PCs, including you, who are under Pressure may take an immediate Action, though they must still spend Raises to do so - they may just act out of normal order.

Salacio, God of the Underworld and the Sea, is the patron of commitment. Once the river's course is set, it cannot be altered by anything short of divine intervention. This means Salacio is reliable but also stubborn. This and his loyalty to Zendio are his most defining traits, and they are the core of his mysteries: stay the course, maintain your faith, and nothing can stop you.
Mystirio: You are immune to Pressure.
Apokalypsi: You may activate this when you make a Resolve risk. You may reroll any dice with a result lower than your Resolve, but you must use the new result Dice rerolled this way cannot be rerolled by any effect and cannot have their values further modified in any way.

Theonoa Dianoia, Goddess of Craft and Wisdom, prides herself on knowing just when and where to act to bring victory, either in battle or in diplomacy. Her mysteries show how to be adaptable...and how to change the rules, when you can't win by them.
Mystirio: You may spend Raises during Action or Dramatic Sequences to modify the timing of Opportunities and Consequences. 1 Raise lets you change things by 1 - so if a Consequence would happen on 3 Raises, it now happens on 4 or on 2. You may influence things this way only once per round, but can spend as many Raises to do so as you want, and influence as many separate events as you want when you do.
Apokalypsi: When you use Empathy, Scholarshp or Warfare as your Approach in a Dramatic Sequence, you may activate this. You immediately gain Raises equal to your ranks in the chosen skill. You may use this only once per session.

Caledon, God of Medicine, the Home and Family, is the center of a story of simple mercy and giving. However, his real power lies in that each urt he heals, each home he blesses, each marriage - they all take something from him. He cannot last forever.
Mystirio: An PC in a scene with you that is under Pressure, including yourself, may have the additional Raise required to take actions under than the Pressured action paiud by any other PC in the scene.
Apokalypsi: ACtivate this to allow all other PCs in the scene to heal all Wounds on the current tier of their Death Spiral and 1 Dramatic Wound. You take 1 Dramatic Wound. You can activate this only once per session.

Next time: Mohwoo

Pirate Nations: Check My Sweet Tats

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Check My Sweet Tats

Mohwoo is the use of magical tattoos, which are given out by Wenshen and the huajia she has trained, pretty much all of whom are on or near Aragosta. You remember Wenshen, right? Of course you do. Unlike other Sorcery, anyone can 'learn' mohwoo, regardless of nationality, as long as they get Madam Wenshen's respect, or that of one of her huajia. However, if you already have Sorcery of some kind and choose to get mohwoo, once your mystic tattoo is complete, your old Sorcery goes away entirely. You can only be one kind of wizard at a time. In fiction, the tattoos you receive are chosen by Wenshen or her huajia, and may not be the ones you asked for, as they always pick the one their mystical interview tells them is best for you. It is a longer and more painful experience than a normal tattoo - the mystic ink burns more and the custom needles are sharper in some places and duller in others. At several points in the process, the mohwoo must be wrapped in foul-smelling seaweed for an hour or so to let the inks set. A small tattoo could take days, a large one most of a week.

The first time you take Sorcery (Mohwoo), you get one mohwoo in both its major and minor versions, and a second in its minor version only. Each time you buy it after that, you either get two new minors, two new majors associated with minors you already have, or one minor and one major associated with one you already have. To activate a mohwoo, you must invoke the tattoo somehow, such as by touching it or muttering a phrase of personal import or concentrating on it, and spend a Hero Point. Some also have an additional cost or restriction, but they all have the Hero Point cost. However, the tattoos have a mind of their own, and many believe even Wenshen doesn't really know how they work, just how to make them happen. The GM may spend a Danger Point to make your tattoos animate, glow or otherwise become obviously supernatural and impossible to conceal, even with clothing, for the rest of the scene. The GM can spend a Danger Point to make the environment react in a way appropriate to your tattoo, such as summoning a swarm of sharks for a shark tattoo or slamming a window shut as you sneak by one with a wind tattoo. This is always instantaneous, but the effects may linger - those sharks aren't about to vanish any more quickly than normal sharks. The GM may spend a Danger Point to apply Pressure to you to act in accordance with the mohwoo's nature for a round, requiring you to spend 2 Raises instead of 1 to do any action that isn't explicitly within your mohwoo's nature, such as protecting and defending for a crab or seeking a secret for a fish.

Fish is the mohwoo that represents searching or discovery, usually a personal search or one the seeker is not aware of. It might be about the revelation of truth from your past or a journey of self-discovery.
Minor: You do not need to breathe for the rest of the scene when you activate this, cannot be choked or strangled, cannot suffocate or drown, and cannot be harmed by airborne poisons.
Major: You can activate this in place of spending a Raise during any Action or Dramatic Sequence in which your task involves swimming or when being at least half-submerged in water would be helpful to what you want to do.

Crab is a protector and guardian mohwoo. It shows you place great importance on guarding something or someone, often to the exclusion of all else. This might be an actual, physical thing, like a child, or something more abstract, like honor.
Minor: You can activate this when you spend Raises to take Wounds in place of another character. The Wounds you take are halved, rounding down, to a minimum of 1, before you take them, and you can cancel them by spending Raises or triggering a Riposte or Parry.
Major: When you activate this, you can prevent another character from being Murdered by spending only one Raise rather than all of your Raises. You can use this only once per session.

Squid is a mohwoo with an unbreakable grip, and will die before it lets go. You are the same, if less literally. You often find yourself easily becoming attached to others and having problems letting go or admitting you're wrong. You are stubborn, according to foes, and steadfast, according to friends.
Minor: Activate this when you spend a Raise to apply Pressure. To act against your Pressure, your target must spend 2 additional Raises, not 1. You can use this only once per session.
Major: You may activate this when you deal Wounds during a Brawl Risk. Those wounds cannot be negated except via supernatural means. You can use this only once per scene.

Anchor represents someone who takes on burdens for others. You are reliable, self-sacrificing, and would throw yourself into the jaws of death to save others, generally without caring who those others are. This is what separates Anchor from Crab - Anchor's motives to help and protect are less personal.
Minor: Activate this to let another PC in the scene gain a Hero Point. You can use this only once per scene.
Major: Acitvate this and select another person. You are bound to them, and you two always knwo the direction and distance to each other with nothing but a moment's concentration. This lasts until the next sunrise or sunset, whichever comes first.

Turtle is the mohwoo of caution and wisdom. You move only when you are certain it is right. You are thoughtful and careful, and you know getting something right is more important than doing it fast.
Minor: You must spend your first Raise in a round to activate this. For the rest of the round, you take 1 fewer Wound from all sources.
Major: After you activate this, you may negate all Wounds dealt by any single attack. You must activate this on your turn and spend a Raise to do it. You can use this only once per scene.

Shark is a restless hunter. The mohwoo is usually given to you because you are aggressive, decisive and prize action over waiting to see what will happen. It can also represent chasing something, in which case it differs from the Fish in that it doesn't to discover - it wants to catch.
Minor: When you activate this, no one can successfully hide from you or avoid your notice by any means unless they have a supernatural ability to do so. If they have that, the two powers cancel out - they can attempt to hide as normal and you can try to notice them as normal. You can activate this only once per session.
Major: When you activate this, name a specific person as your prey. The GM will tell you their direction and approximate distance. Any physical Risk you take to pursue them gets 1 Bonus Die. This lasts until the end of the scene, but you can pay another Hero Point to keep it going. You may activate this only once per session.

Next time: Duelists and Also Botes

Pirate Nations: Pirate Blades

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: Pirate Blades

The fighting schools of La Bucca, Jaragua, Numa and the Rahuri are rather less defined than those of mainland Theah, but the Duelist's Guild is trying to change that. For the most part, the Guild respects their talents and traditions, and wants to integrate them as equals. They have two main tactics in integrating these foreign fighting schools. First, they've been founding guild halls in distant lands, offering masters who teach memberships in the Guild, along with their students, so long as they can prove their skill with the blade. They make immense efforts to approach these teachers respectfully and reverently, as the Guild actually does want them to join. A bigger guild means more funds and resources.

Second, the Guild uses its connections and power to help foreign-style masters establish schools back in Theah. This gives them access to an entirely new population of students, and a chance to establish a reputation. It also makes bonds of friendship and trust between duelists who may one day face each other. Foreign duelists that join the Guild are expected to avide by the same rules as their Thean counterparts, but are sometimes given more leeway on minor infractions caused by ignorance or cultural differences. The Guild is quite thoughtful about its rules and sees no reason to punish people for a slight difference in perspective.

Bugu Takobi was adapted from an Ifrian short sword style, using misdirecting movements to unbalance the foe. It primarily uses the machete these days, but can be done with any one-handed small weapon, such as a hatchet. It relies on quick slashes and dancing in and out of range, with quick steps that confuse the enemy and allow for easy sidesteps of attacks. The Mawon perfected the style and its obfuscative skills to hide the directions they'd attack from. Today, there are a few schools in the Atabean that teach it. The two most famous are Makaranta Takobi ('sword school') in Sunset Haven of La Bucca and Taiyewo's Memorial, in Kap-Kalfu of Jaragua. Rumor also says that a Bugu Takobi master has recently traveled to the Sarmatian Commonwealth to open a school there. The bonus is Takobi Gudana. When you wield a small hand-held weapon in one hand and nothing in the other, you may perform the Takobi Gudana maneuver, the Sword Flow. This prevents (Weaponry) Wounds, and the next Maneuver you perform this round that deals Wounds deals one additional Wound. You can use this only once per round.

Jogo de Dentro, the Inside Game, fuses dance and fighting. Its stances are dance steps, hand balances and acrobatic dodges meant for close quarters. It fights with kicks, sweeps and prison shives attached to hand or foot - ideal for fighting while bound. The tactics unbalance and evade over killing, relying on deception and trickery. There are no schools that teach this style, though Mestra Gaviao has been trying to earn enough prestige and wealth to open a formal academy in the Odisea Peninsula of Castille. For now, the only real way to learn it is either to be a slave or to find a teacher in Fort Freedom's back alleys. It was developed by anonymous Ifrian and Rahuri slaves, and has no named founder. Practitioners call themselves malandros, an Odisean insult to freed slaves that htey have reclaimed. Its bonus is the Riso da Malandragem. When you wield small, improvised blades such as barber's razors in the sleeves or glass embedded in the shoe, you may perform the Riso de Malandragem maneuver, the Scoundrel's Laugh. This deals 1 Wound to each of two targets, and the next time those targets deal Wounds this round, they deal (Weaponry) fewer Wounds. You can use this only once per round. Also, on top of this, whenever you make an Athletics, Brawl, Hide or Perform Risk, you get a Bonus Die if you describe how your mastery of Jogo de Dentro aids you.

Lakedaimon Agoge is the style taught by the docents of Lakedaimon's schools. They push their students hard to be worthy. They must make their own spear and sword, must sleep with their bow. All graduates of the Lakedaimon agoge learn this style, though it has since spread beyond those walls. Indeed, Numanari agoge and fighting styles are considered fashionable right now, though most young nobles have no stomach for the rigorous training after a few days. Docent Euthalia, one of the toughest andm ost respected teachers, has taken it on herself to go to the mainland and teach this style out of the Vodacce city Joppa, to test the heroic spirit of Theans in search of those she deems worthy of calling Numanari. When you learn the style, you select one weapon - the spear, sword or bow. When using that weapon, you get a special benefit. If you chose sword, you take your first action in a round as if you had 1 additional Raise. If you chose spear, you may reroll 1 die for any Athletics Risk in which you describe how you use your spear to help. If you chose bow, you can use Aim instead of Weaponry for all Maneuvers when using the bow. On top of all this, when wielding your chosen weapon, your Lunge is replaced by the Agoge Thrust Maneuver, which allows you to choose how many Raises you spend. It deals (Weaponry+Raises spent) Wounds, but you must spend your next action recovering from the blow, spending 1 Raise to do so.

Now, ships! We get some new ship Origins.
Aragosta: You always get one additional Raise on any Risks taken by the ship or her Crew at sea.
Atabean Trading Company: Once per session, you may repel all boarders automatically for one round in an Action Sequence.
Jaragua: You earn 1 additional Wealth for any goods sold in a Company-controlled port, and your Crew always has 1 additional Raise in any Risk against the Company.
La Bucca: Once per session, you may present a Letter of Marque from any nation in Theah. Once presented, it is useless, and it was probably a forgery anyway.
Numa: Whenever a PC aboard the ship activates any Knack Advantage, the Hero Point cost may be paid by any other PC on the ship.
Rahuri: Your ship and Crew always take 1 fewer Hit or Wound (minimum 1) from any other ship or Monster, provided the battle is in the Atabean Sea.

New Backgrounds
Black Flag: Your ship was a renowned pirate vessel. When you meet a pirate NPC nonviolently, you may spend a Raise or Hero Point. If you do, they treat you with respect and as a comrade until given a reason not to.
Port of Ghosts: Your ship has sailed to Soryana. When any PC has the service of an ancestor using the Seeker of Soryana Advantage, as long as both they and the Lost ancestor are on the ship, the PC may spend a Hero Point to revert the Lost ancestor to sanity. Any given ancestor can be rescued this way only once. If they go mad again, they are gone forever.
Salacio's Favorite: Your ship has been blessed by a hiereus of Salacio, Numanari god of the sea. The first time a PC gains a Hero Point each session while on the ship, they gain a second Hero Point.
Smuggler Queen: Your ship excels at breaking blockades. When you seek to sail your ship into forbidden waters and avoid notice, you may spend a Hero Point to do so automatically.

New Adventueres
A Family Matter: Have a member of La Cosca call in a favor you owe them, and succeed at fulfilling it. You may now perform basic Secret Society functions with La Cosca using Wealth instead of Favor. If you are already a member of La Cosca, you instead gain 5 Favor.
Clap 'Em in Irons!: Escape from the ATC after being captured or esnlaved. Each PC gains their choice of Slip Free, Streetwise or Team Player. In the future, all PCs get one bonus die to attempts to resist Company capture.
From Hell's Heart I Stab at Thee!: Kill a Sea Monster of Strength 10 or more without losing your ship. While at sea, when the GM spends a Danger Point to activate a Monster's Quality, you may spend a Hero Point to prevent it.
More Teeth than Stars in the Sky: Successfully hunt a creature bigger than the Ship you use to do so. When a creature with a Monster Quality renders you Helpless, you may spend a Hero Point to immediately heal your final Dramatic Wound and all Wounds on its tier. If you are rendered Helpless again before the end of the scene, you die.
Mother May I?: Transport a member of Los Ninos from a hostile or dangerous place back to La Bucca safely. When you are in La Bucca, you can spend a Raise or Hero Point to make contact with one of Los Ninos, who treats you as a friend until given reason not to.
Original Harpooner: Kill a Sea Monster with the help of a Rahuri ancestor without losing either the ancestor or the ship. The first time each round your Crew or Ship deals Hits or Wounds to a Sea Monster, they deal 1 additional Hit or Wound.
Sailor Overboard!: Rescue a marooned NPC. Add 1 Strength to your ship's total Crew. You may complete this Adventure multiple times, but only once per arc.
She Sailed, She Sank, She Sailed Again: Have your shup sink and be rebuilt using a memento. Your ship retains its former Origin benefit and gains a new one based on the nation it is rebuilt in or the background of the shipwright.
Spit in the Devil's Eye: Survive an encounter with the Black Freighter or the Devil Jonah. All PCs aboard gain the Reputation advantage, with a descriptor relating to the encounter.
To the Victor Go the Spoils: Claim an ATC ship intact and with a full cargo hold. Each PC gains 3 Wealth and 3 Favor with their Secret Society, if any.

Next time: Secret Societies! The Not Mafia and the Riroco. Also, ship charters.

Pirate Nations: For the Family

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: For the Family

La Cosca date back generations in Vodacce. When Cardinal Ordunez founded his prison island, the Merchant Princes saw a chance to be rid of them - people too connected to execute or effectively imprison in Vodacce itself. They were the leaders of a powerful, shadowy organization that had operated just out of sight, using their wealth and connections to become folk heroes that could be trusted when the banks, the Church and the Princes could not. In a sweeping and coordinated action across most of southern Vodacce, the Princes arrested most of the organization in one night and shipped them off to La Bucca before going back to their scheming. The exiled members of La Cosca, the Family, had no intention of just going away, though. They set down roots in La Bucca and flourished when Allende took over. The leaders, called zios, or 'uncles', were ready when La Bucca declared its own freedom. They are there now, for when official channels fail. If the bank will not loan to you, they will. If the police will not arrest your son's killer, you can turn to them. They are the honest thieves, the honorable criminals, and if you break your word to them, they are a terrifying enemy. Under the Zios, you find the cuginos, the cousins - members in good standing, unofficially ranked by age and seniority. Under them are the nipote, the nephews and nieces, who are junior members. There are also amicos, friends, who are not members but are valued and considered useful.

La Cosca considers itself a family and cares deeply about community and wellbeing. They are often appealed to for aid and justice by those that fall through the cracks or are abandoned by the system. Asking for help always has a price, however, a debt of honor or obligation in most cases. They take it very seriously. Recruiting a useful contact or asset, or helping such an asset, is worth at least 4 Favor - more, if they're quite important or useful. Helping them spread their influence back to Vodacce is worth 6 Favor. It'll be years before they can fight the Princes directly, but any act that pushes towards that is worthy. Defending or protecting them at personal cost, such as taking the fall for them or going out of your way to hunt their rogue agents, is worth 8 Favor.

A Hero that belongs to La Cosca can get any aid requested at half the normal Favor cost if they directly help complete whatever task they asked for...provided that isn't implict ot the job itself. You ask to break out of prison, that costs full price, as your involvement is literally required. Asking La Cosca to collect a debt or avenge a wrong for you costs 6 Favor. And any time you gain Favor with La Cosca, you may choose to get up to half of that Favor in the form of Wealth, at 2 Wealth per 1 Favor. You can't just cash out Favor this way, however - it can only be spent on this in the moment it is earned.

The Riroco are the Rahuri resistance movement against the ATC slavers. They are led by the Rahuri princess Tanama, and have groups across the Atabean, fighting via guerilla raids and sabotage. Most focus on freeing slaves and smuggling them out to Rahuri lands, but the most radical work to capture ships and turn them into anti-Company warships. The Riroco tend to be peaceful to anyone except slavers and slave owners, but they're growing frustrated with their lack of prgoress, and have now begun to count any ally of the Company as a potential target for violence. The Riroco ships can be identified by a red flag with a long righ-to-left diagonal slash...and the fact that they are often full of returned ancestors, brought back to help free their descendants. Just the sight of a ship of angry ghosts is usually enough to send slavers or Company merchants fleeing in panic. They brand captured slavers with a jagged X mark on the cheek, to warn other Riroco and Rahuri that these people are slavers and should be treated as such. Most marked survivors live only long enough to spread the Riroco legend before being killed. While the Riroco do seek aid from others to help end slavery, they don't trust non-Rahuri very often and require them to prove themselves willing to fight to the very end. Once they trust you, though, they are strong and fierce allies.

The Riroco's key interest is keeping the people of the Atabean safe from slavers, foreign interests and monsters. Striking a blow against the ATC is worth 6 Favor at least - more, for a truly legendary strike. Slaying a Monster that threatens the Atabean or its people worth half the Monster's Strength in Favor, but if you kill multiple in one trip, they use only the highest. If you belong to the Riroco, you can get a favorable introduction to a cacique for 4 Favor, ensuring they will at least listen to you if not cooperate. Getting the aid of a Seeker of Soryana to lead you to the land of the dead costs 6 Favor, and you must still pay all Hero Point costs associated with bringing an ancestor out to the world. If you allow the ancestor to become Lost, you must hunt them down personally and set things right or be considered a traitor.

Now, charters! Almost every pirate crew has a charter, if not necessarily a magical Charter. All crewmen are expected to sign a charter - no exceptions. It's bad luck to sail with a crewman that hasn't. Some signatures are noted as having been under duress, however, which can sometimes save you from being hanged if the ship is captured. Typically, these signatures are those of skilled crew members, such as surgeons or carpenters, who are given special dispensation due to their desperately needed skills. Each crew has its own ritual for signing a charter - some swear on the Book of Prophets, or on a skull, or crossed pistols, or the largest or oldest cannon aboard.

Many crews go beyond the basic charter and use the Pirate's Code, a specific charter based in the one supposedly signed by Captain Gonzalez and the Devil Jonah. On some level, most pirates consider themselves bound by them, even if their crew isn't sworn to it. Mother Ocean grants favor to those that keep it, and those who break it have the Devil Jonah's eye ipon them. Committing to the Code is not done lightly, and if you get caught having sworn to it, you will usually be hanged by authorities.

quote:

We Pirates, servants of Mother Ocean, do abide by the following Code, lest we dishonor Mother Ocean and curse our brethren to unluck while upon her waves.
I. In the Moment of Truth, fly yer True Colors. If asked, admit you be a Pirate, for if ye deny the Code, the Code will deny ye. When you begin an attack, remove any false Colors and raise your True Colors.
II. Never refuse the crew a vote for Captain. When the crew is strongly against an action proposed by the Captain, they can call a single vote for a new Captain, or the Captain can concede to their demand.
III. Parley. Never refuse parley with any party who calls for it. We be Brothers and Sisters o' the Sea.
IV. Don't set sail when the sunrise is red. A red sunrise is a warning from Mother Ocean to stay home and be safe, or face her wrath at sea.
V. Don't anger the denizens of the sea. The sea is their home and ye be a visitor.
VI. Give the first take of a prize to Mother Ocean. She be the source of all our bounty and we shan't scorn her.
VII. If pulling a sailor from the sea when the sea is calm, pay to the sea a reward of equal value. Don't steal from Mother Ocean.
VIII. Don't go back for a sailor who has fallen overboard in a storm. Mother Ocean has claimed him and rescuing him when she be angry will only bring her wrath to ye.
IX. Don't save a sailor who's been marooned. She be bad luck and will bring it aboard your ship.

The Brotherhood's ships all carry a copy of the First Charter, thoguh each ship may also add new articles unique to them - typically regarding officer and sailor behavior aboard, settlement of disputes, length of shifts and so on. They are typically signed in blood.

quote:

I. Every hand to have a vote in the affairs; equal title to the provisions and liquors, and may use them at pleasure, unless scarcity makes it necessary to vote to a rationing.
II. Every hand to be called fairly in turn, by list, on board for duty.
III. If any defraud the Brotherhood to the value of a Guilder in plunder, marooning shall be his punishment.
IV. No person to game at cards or dice for money.
V. All souls aboard a captured ship shall be set free and determine amongst themselves, by vote, the course they set once their hull is plundered.
VI. Nor member of a crew to be harmed if she surrendered without violence.
VII. Every hand to keep his piece, pistols and cutlass clean and fit for service.
VIII. To desert the ship or his quarters in battle is punished with death or marooning.
IX. No striking one another on board, but every hand's quarrels to be ended fairly ashore with fists, or sword and pistol.
X. If in service to the Brotherhood, any hand should lose a limb, or become cripple he should have 600 Guilders, or 500 Guilders for limb, or 100 Guilders for an eye or finger.
XI. The captain and quartermaster receive two shares, the sailing master, boatswain and gunner one and a half shares, and other officers one and one quarter shares.

Reis has her own charter as well - the Pact of the Crimson Roger. It is written on human flesh, branded and covered in bloody fingerprints, and it's a fairly simple one: swear loyalty to Reis even beyond death, and be rewarded. It's said that Reis herself demanded the inclusion of its final clause.

quote:

We, the crew of the Crimson Roger, swear loyalty to Captain Reis 'til death and beyond. Should we betray or disobey her, may our souls burn in the blackest pits of the Abyss forever. We will do as she commands without hesitation, even if it puts our lives in peril, for such orders will be for the good of the crew.
In exchange for this I, Captain Reis, promise a fair share of all plunder taken, that you will not be punished without reason, and that your family shall receive your share of the take should you be killed in the line of duty.

La Buccan charters are often based on Letters of Marque, recognizing them as privateers. Many crews have multiple Letters for multiple nations, switching them out depending on the colors of enemy ships. The Thean Ambassadors in La Bucca write these and broker deals for prizes and goods. Specific rules often concern engaging ships less than a day's sail from La Bucca, as is its recognized neutrality. They also generally contain specific language on experiation dates and crew behaviors, to provide plausible deniability to the nation in the event that someone actually lodges a formal protest. Letters of Marque can also be gained in Thean ports, but the vast majority are signed at La Bucca.

All Jaraguan vessels swear to the Mawon charter, based on their principles of freedom. They show no mercy whatsoever to slavers, and freed slaves are always given the choice of joining the crew and a fair share of any prize taken from the slave ship. The number of Mawon crews out there has exploded since Jaragua's freedom was secured, and the ATC has orders to destroy Mawon ships on sight. It has done little to help.

quote:

I. Each Man and Woman granted fair share of the Prize. The Captain is allowed two shares. Officers are allowed one and one half shares. The Soul that spots the Prey originally is allowed first pick of a small arm or the equivalent cost in Guilders as a Prize.
II. No Man or Woman regardless of origin shall be taken as a Prize. If a soul is Enslaved, Indentured, or in Bondage upon a Prey, they shall be freed and given a fair portion of the take to begin a new life of Freedom.
III. A Man or Woman Enslaved, Indentured, or in Bondage can choose to join the Crew but must swear to this Charter. If they choose not to join the Crew, they will be ferried to Safe Harbor and placed in Trusted Hands to be Free.
IV. No Man or Woman is allowed to gamble aboard the ship while at Sea. Punishment is additional shift and a reasonable loss of share dictated by the Fair and Honest Quartermaster.
V. Each Man and Woman who has signed this Charter is allowed a vote in matters concerning the welfare of Ship providing the Ship is not engaged with an enemy, at such time the Captain's word is Law until said engagement is over. The Captain will hold the safety and welfare of the Crew tantamount to her own.
VI. All Men and Women aboard are to be Fair and Honest, and Officers to be held as Paragons to these virtues. To lead is a Gift to those under you and that Gift can be revoked if abused. Revocation of Officership is decided by two votes, the initial from the fellow Officers, and ratified by a Majority of the Crew. The offending Officer shan't be punished lest his actions dictate so.

Next time: Monsters

Pirate Nations: I Am Skipping The How To Speak Pirate Section. It Exists.

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Pirate Nations: I Am Skipping The How To Speak Pirate Section. It Exists.

So, Sea Monsters. There's plenty of them out there, and they're plenty dangerous. On the lower end we have Giant Clams, which...well, they're big. Bigger than a human child, anyway, and more than capable of clamping down on your arm and holding you underwater until you die. Numanari kids who dive for clams often make a bit of a game playing with them, until someone gets caught and dies, and the games end for a while. Giant Clams are STrength 5 and have Chitinous and Suffocating. They do not have Aquatic primarily because they are essentially stationary critters whose prmary danger comes from people not respecting their immense strength.

Giant Crustaceans are crabs, lobsters or shrimp the size of a human. They aren't that dangerous, as sea monsters go, especially if you can get on their backs, but they're around the Sea of Monsters and do have nasty claws. They are Strength 7, Chitinous and Destructive. While they can go on land and they can swim, they simply aren't terrifying enough to be Aquatic.

Predatory Fish covers giant barracuda, puranha, pike and gar. They're considerably nastier than you'd think - they thirst for blood, and are as large as a grown man. They tend to travel in packs, too. They're STrength 8, Aquatic, Swift...and if exposed to blood, they become Relentless as long as their victim is in the water. A school of smaller ones can instead be treated as one or more Assassin Brute Squads, with the ability to spend Danger Points to bring in additional squads if exposed to blood. Do not bleed near giant monster fish.

Whales are nasty. See, you'd think that whales would just be...whales, but they come in all shapes and sizes. You run into a cow that's defending her calf, well, that's going to tear you apart. Older whales can be cunning, too, and killer whales are vicious. Whalers run into all kinds of them...but your average whale is Strength 12, Aquatic and Powerful. The Great White Whale of the Atabean is somethinbg more, however. It's a cruel creature that is smart enough to remember ships that come for us and strong enough to attack ships directly from below. It generally doesn't eat people after destroying their ships, though - it likes to make its point and then leave, and is known to hunt whalers for a long period. It is a legendary beast, Strength 15, with Aquatic, Colossal, Powerful and Slippery. Ordinary whales can be dangerous if you're not prepared, but the Great White Whale can hunt down and take out even the most hardened crew.

Sea Serpents are fairly common in the Atabean. They come in two broad varieties, and the Rahuri prefer not to hunt them if they can - no real meat, no blubber, soft bones. Only their teeth and their poison have value, and that not enough to merit a hunt specifically, most of the time. Your smaller type of sea serpent is called a Sea Snake, ranging in size from that of a boa constrictor to larger than a man, and ranging in Strength from 5 to 10. They are Venomous, Aquatic and Slippery. The larger kind are called Sea Dragons and can take on an entire ship. They are Strength 18, Aquatic, Colossal, Silppery, and Suffocating due to their poisonous breath.

Makara are a fairly unique kind of sea creature. They're not overly large by sea monster standards, but quite clever. The most common have the appearance of a sheep or goat from the front, with horns and a trunk-like nose that grab things. They have the rear of a fish or a snake. They breathe air, but can hold their breath for a very long time, and are able to drag themselves up out of the water onto land with their hooved forelegs. They prefer rough seas and deep water, so most never see them. They are Strength 6, Destructive, Slippery and often found in groups of 3 to 8 - though they aren't Squads. Each is an individual monster. But hey, their teeth are very pretty.

Mabuya are horrific creatures, rotting ghosts that lurk under the water to grab the living and drag them down. They can be mistaken for ancestral spirits in the dark, but they are given away if you can see their feet, which are backwards. This ensures they can never go home. Some say the mabuya are demons, while others say they are the final stage of the Lost. There is no reasoning with them, however, and they serve as a reminder to the Rahuri of the dangers of violating tribal honor. A single Mabuya usually has Strength 5 to 7, and is Aquatic, Horrifying, Regenerating and Suffocating.

Side note: Why are there so many dang monsters? William Jameson of the Explorers, who claims to have visited the most Syrne ruins in the Atabean, claims that the gods of the New World are descendants of or servitors of the Syrneth (he's not sure which), and that the sea monsters were a combination food source and defense system for them. They were bred in the Atabean to feed the New World gods, whom Jameson claims had some apocalyptic power to defend the New World from Sidhe invasion. Most other Explorers think he's a crackpot whose theory is all down to a bad experience with the Sidhe in his native Inismore. Whatever the case, Jameson refuses to return to the Glamour Islands and is obsessed with finding a Syrneth ruin he calls the Focus.

Giant Squid are a must. They are themselves quite large, as you well known. Strength 12, Aquatic, Destructive, Powerful, and Tentacled, with 10 Tentacles. The Kraken - there may be just one, but some say there are more - is more than that. Kraken don't attack ships from hunger, but out of hate for sailors and territoriality. They're immense squid-beasts, pink and white and blotchy red, and there are thankfully not many of them, if there's even more than the one. A Kraken is Strength 20, Aquatic, Colossal, Destructive, Powerful and Tentacled. It has many, many Tentacles, and each is Strength 10 and can survive 2 Dramatic Wounds due to their sheer size.

Mama Tortue is out there, though she's extremely unlikely to attack you. She tends to look like an island when you're at a distance, but as you get close, you realize she's moving. She's a gigantic turtle with plants on her back, and she's as smart as anyone, with deep, green eyes. If for some reason you want to fight her, she is Strength 20, Aquatic, Colossal, Teleporting and Elemental (Sea). Don't do that!

Tiburon is real, too. Pretty much all monsters serve him, if you believe the Rahuri legends, except for the Maw That Consumes, the Wu'a. He's out there and he's not near as nice as Mama Tortue. He is Strength 20, Aquatic, Colossal, Horrifying, Powerful, Relentless and Slippery. He also has Shapeshifting, though any form he takes has many rows of vicious teeth.

The Wu'a, the Great Whirlpool, is said to be like a giant anglerfish, but so large that it can't just lure creatures in. Instead, it comes up to the surface, dangling its lights over the water and opening its mouth to create a whirlpool so big it can suck down an entire ship into its maw. Wu'a is Strength 20, and has Aquatic, Colossal, Horrifying and Suffocating. It is one of the most dangerous creatures in existence.

New Monster Qualities
Colossal: It's ufcking huge. It can take 8 Dramatic Wounds before it is Helpless.
Destructive: The GM may spend a Danger Point to have the Monster destroy an item or non-vital body part on a PC automatically.
Slippery: The GM may spend a Danger Point to have the monster automatically escape the scene at any point. This can be used only once per session.
Suffocating: The monster can somehow choke you or drag you under. The GM can spend a Danger Point to pick one PC and deal double damage to them for the rest of the round.

We then get a chapter that is basically just advice for how to run games set on ships, and how to do sailing travel in interesting ways that don't just boil down to pointless and boring dice rolls. It's pretty well-written and good advice, but not really easy for me to summarize. It also gives suggestions on what maritime campaigns might focus on and useful things to watch or read to learn more about ships.

The End!

Next up, pick:
Heroes & Villains
Nations of Theah, Vol. 1
Nations of Theah, Vol. 2
The Crescent Empire
The New World
Lands of Gold & Fire

Lands of Gold and Fire - John Wick Is Not A Writer For This Book

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - John Wick Is Not A Writer For This Book



Well, besides a paragraph or so on the dedication. This book was largely in the hands of Jonaya Kemper, whose other works mostly involve Nordic Larp, from what I can see, but has done stuff for #feminism (a nano-game anthology) and Undying (a LARP). She seems cool and big on intersectionality. So that's fun. The book focuses on the five great Kingdoms of Ifri, which the griots say were gifted great power by spirits known as the Jok, long ago, by giving them mystical thrones. However, Ifri now faces a terrible, terrible darkness. The Bonsam, a timeless force of evil imprisoned by the Jok, are escaping their cage to twist and corrupt Ifri. Ancient protections fail, and the Bonsam twist the people towards darkness. Ignorant Theans may paint Ifri as a land of heathens and savages, all alike, a place of jungle and desert. They are wrong - Ifri is a diverse land, its people as various and different as anything.

The lands we will cover here:
Aksum, the land of peace, whose people follow the Orthodox Anidi Hibiri Tefet'iro Church oF Theus, a religion as old as the Vaticine itself. Its people are renowned for their wisdom, and while Theans may differ in perspective, they can find no fault in the priests' ecumenical knowledge.
Khemet, the land of night, which has fallen into a dark malaise. It is a learned and ancient kingdom, but it turns now from the light, and threatens to bring the continent with it.
Maghreb, the land of the desert, which is mysterious and wealthy, ruled over by the Blue Queen. It has many foes, but she fights them all.
Manden Kurufaba, the crown of Ifri, which believes itself the center of the world because of its great wealth.
Mbey, the land of culture...and of death. Once, it was an example of what could happen when many different people came together, but now, it is the heart of Bonsam corruption.

Ifri is a land of ancient secrets, great empires, mysterious artifacts and epic conflict - both supernatural and political. The Kingdoms are full of conspiracy and deceit, and heroes that can strike for truth and justice are deeply needed.

Now, some basic Thean misconceptions. Many Theans think Ifri is a country; it is not. It is a continent. Indeed, it's big enough to contain the entire landmass of the New World plus the entire landmass of Theah. The continent has every known type of biome, and you could spend a lifetime traveling it and not be done. Ifri isn't even the agreed-on name of the continent, just the most commonly used one. Maghreb knows it as Ifriqiya, Mandenkaw as Ifran. Ifri's nations are all diverse and tend to have numerous tribal groups within them.

Ifri is not technologically or culturally inferior to Theah. Its cultures and customs are different, but they are not backwards or naive or stupid. While an Ifrian may prefer a low stool or the floor to a chair, or may eat from a communal plate with their hands, that doesn't make them primitive. Just different. The Ifrians are also not just dark-skinned analogues to Theans, and often have very different ambitions and goals. Technology is different, but not worse. Cities often share the same challenges and features, but are arranged on different political lines, with different goals. They are, however, no less developed or less able to support their people. Different is not inferior.

Most Ifrians have the luxury of knowing, with terrible certainty, that their gods exist. For most Ifrians, a Thean is more mythical than the Jok or the Ori, and often more alien. An Ifrian can see the spirits' work just by going outside. Life after death exists - the Ifrians know this because several have communed with their ancestors. The workings of the Jok and the Bonsam are part of everyday life, and blasphemy or disrespect can be deadly. In Ifri, there isn't superstition - just wise caution. Likewise, many Ifrians see no conflict in there being multiple faiths. All have the same weight for most Ifrians, who can believe in the al-Din faith, the Ori, the Jok and Ashe at once. There is no contradiction in believing in al-Musawwir side-by-side with Olodumare, King of Heaven and creator of the Ori and the world. Possibly they are the same being, but if not, best to hedge your bets. There is no competition between gods. While the Vaticine has spread to some degree due to the work of missionaries, it's likely to just become another member of the great tapestry of Ifrian faiths.

The Bonsam are a force so evil, so terrible, that they can rightly be called the Devil, ruling over the weak king of Mbey and his once great kingdom. The Bonsam seek to steal the pride, culture and strength of Ifri and replace it with death and suffering. Their servants are the abonsam, who sow distrust and corruption like a disease and come in many forms. The Bonsam are resisted by the Jok, who seek and assist those with great destinies. The Jok never act overtly, but nudge things from behind the scenes to bring benevolent change and inspire. The Jok might be something similar to the Sidhe, but probably are not the remnants of the Syrneth. Some say they are spirits given power by Theus, but whatever they are, they encourage the best in humanity, guiding them to greatness. However, their power alone is not enough to stop the Bonsam. They can only be guides and helpers - it is the heroes themselves that must awaken Ifri from the darkness and bring the kingdoms together against evil.

The ATC is another of the plagues on Ifri - they've done more in a single decade than the Bonsam have in a century. They spread fear and mistrust, and the Bonsam fully support the ATC in their actions as a perfect vector for the spread of corruption. Slavery has not been invented by the ATC in Ifri - they've just brought it to new lows. Most common Ifrian slavery has, historically, been of captured or defeated enemies and civilians in war, forced to work for a time as bonded slaves. Others become slaves to pay off debts or atone for crimes. Once a set period passes, the bonded slave is then freed, or when their contract ends. A bonded slave in Ifri usually enjoys all the rights given a citizen of their nation and is not mere property. They can seek reparation for wrongs done to them and can rise to high status when their service ends. This is the most common form of Ifrian slavery. This isn't to say this form of slavery is good - it's not. But it's not nearly as bad as some kinds.

However, there is also chattel slavery. These slaves are mere property, to be used as you like. Chattel slaves have no hope for freedom, and their status is inherited by their children. Chattel slaves are treated as subhuman commodities, broken and discarded when no longer useful. They have no rights, no way to ease their suffering and exist only to serve. Mbey and the ATC practice chattel slavery; no other place in Ifri does.

Next time: History and geography

Lands of Gold and Fire - The Great Rivers

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - The Great Rivers

One of the common creation myths of Ifri speaks of Olodumare, also called the Oba-Orun, the King of Heaven, who lived in the sky above Omi, a world of endless water. One day, he felt the urge to make the earth, and for this task he reached into his heart and pulled forth the spirit Aniyikaye. Olodumare commanded Aniyikaye to do the work, giving him the materials he would need - a bag of primordial Ashe, an Iworo'Won (or gold chain) and a five-toed hen. Aniyikaye climbed down the chain for days until he could see the water, opening the bag and sprinkling some Ashe onto it, making it roil and steam and push forth a pile of rich, black earth. Then, he loosed the hen on the land, instructing her to grab the loose earth and scatter it across Omi.

Satisfied, Aniyikaye climbed back up to Heaven. Next, Olodumare sent his trusted pet, the chameleon, to inspect the work. After days of inspection, the chameleon reported that all was good, and Olodumare named this land Ajaka-Katunga, the sacred house. He decided then to retire to a higher heaven, but before he did, he distributed the holy Ashe among other Ori he had made. The Ori set out to build other elemental forces and build on Aniyikaye's work. Once this was done, Olodumare called the Ori back to heaven and gave Ashe to Aniyikaye to make humanity with. From this primordial creation, all are descended from the most potent of the Ori - Olodumare, King of the Sky.

Ifri's most important geographic feature is its rivers. Myths speak of the Jok cutting the four Great Rivers as they sought passage to the world beyond, and these rivers are what bring life to the people of Ifri. The Iteru River is said to have been made when the Ennead flooded Khemet, carving a huge gorge. The waters rushed in after it, flowing south until they had to turn back due to the power of the mountains of Iu-Neserer. The Khemeti say the Iteru's current still flowers north just because those waters are still flowing back to the sea all these centuries later. Khemet depends on the Iteru to survive, but also suffers for it. Seasonal flooding dislodges families from their homes, destroys crops and unburies the dead, and it is also often used by river bandits. It also sometimes turns red as blood and boils for no clear reason. This is believed to be due to some fleeting curse from the underworld source of the ancient river.

Travelers are often awed by the Iteru's great bay, the Timsah al-Iter. It is full of crocodiles that feed on the unwary, most notably an ancient crocodile called Sobki by the locals. Sobki is both worshipped and feared, as she is the most ancient and possibly the largest of all beasts in Ifri. She lived in the Timsah for centuries, and many of its crocodiles are her descendants. Deep in her back is a spearhead made of Orun Irin, the sky metal. The shaft of the spear has long since rotted, and her scales have started to grow over the spearhead itself. Some griot claim the spear is a potent artifact, but none have ever been able to retrieve it. Sobki's scales are greatly valued by alchemists and sorcerers. Iteru's banks are also home to Apis, a mighty warrior who was once a mercenary for the Crescent Empire. He retired to Iteru and is known to be very strong and very generous, building many temples and shrines - most of which get destroyed in the seasonal floods.

The Kwara River is the widest of the Great Rivers, winding west through the Manden Empire. It is so wide that one cannot see its far bank, and is home to many spirits, monsters and river goddesses. Many of these are quite dangerous, such as the Great River Serpents called the Mkole-Mbembe or the elephant-slaying Emela Ntouka. Great mists known as umphefumlo sometimes rise from the river, obscuring sight, and are occasionally believed to be caused by the river goddesses. People often pray to them for safe travel or good harvests or fishing. However, the mists also can hide dangers like hippopotami, crocodiles or other terrible beasts. The goddesses are said to drink in the waters of all other rivers in the world to feed the Kwara.

Somewhere along the Kwara you can find the Pool of Twins, though it is always covered in mist. It is home to the Twins, a pair of spirits that are generally friendly but mischevious. One is believed to be male, the other female, and one lives below the water and the other above. Often, only one Twin will appear to you, giving a task such as stealing water from a Mokele-Mbembe or a precious stone from a royal treasury. Failure to complete this task often makes travel on the Kwara quite difficult. The Kwara's most famous human inhabitant is Aminata, a Mandenka woman of virtue that travels between villages, interceding in spiritual disputes. She doesn't like to travel on the north side of the river, however. She has a long scar on her neck, and if asked about it, all she says is 'Mbey.'

The Berbera River flows through the Aksum Kingdom, and is broad and deep enough for sailing - like most of the Great Rivers. However, its many tributaries are known for frequent sandbars, some of which extend in the Berbera proper. Thus, few sailors brave the rivor without an Aksumite guide. In some places, it also flows into deep gorges, which tend to have minor gold veins. The river also feeds the fertile croplands of Aksum. The Serpent Canyons are the worst of these forges. In most places, the Berbera is deep and slow, but in the mountains where the Serpent Canyons are found, it becomes fast and deadly, splitting into many passages, some underground. There are safe ship routes through the area, but it takes great skill and knowledge to navigate them. The Hattua Laga river pirates prey on ships in the area and plunder the many wrecks, traveling even as far as Khemet. They sometimes disguise themselves as merchants, and their leader Abbebe is a threat to all travelers on the river.

The Joliba River heads south, to the relatively uncharted wilds of southern Ifri. It passes through many jungles and impressive waterfalls before spreading into a massive wetland fed by many tributaries. The marshes, bogs and backwaters are often impossible for outsiders to navigate, and the river grasses and small hills stretch above the river, making even the landscape fluctuate with the tides. Several times in the year, parts of the Joliba turn black and smell foul. The people that live nearby call this the Vomit of Bonsam, but it typically goes away after reaching the waterfalls, even if the scent can carry for miles. The jungle marshes between Aksum and Manden are nearly impassible, despite the Joliba's flow. These swampy lands, called Dambo, seem to be shrinking, however. Abonsam often emerge from the swampy jungles in increasing numbers, raiding nearby settlements. A figure known as the Ranivorus haunts the area. They always wear a wooden and ivory mask of great size, and some believe they are an abonsam who fled its master. The locals refuse to refer to it as anything but Mankholi-kholi - the name Ranivorus came from Thean explorers, though no one is sure exactly who coined it. Whatever they are, they actively attempt to prevent ships from traversing the Joliba from the river of the Mokele-Mbembe, and they will enlist others to help enforce that.

The Tamanrasset are a bunch of underground rivers beneath northern Ifri, also called the Ghost Rivers. They are frequently populated by bandits, abonsam, ancestral spirits and monsters. The greatest of these is the Lulungwa Mangakatsi, which is said to travel the entire length of Ifri, carrying the land's soul. The Jok once patrolled the waters, carving the floors and ceilings with strange forms and teaching early humans to decorate the entrances with tile and sacred sites. Legends told by the griot claim the Timbavati river once flowed in the sky, full of starlight, then plunged under the surface to the underworld, to bring light to the ancestors. However, when the Ennead draw the waters of the world over Ifri, the Timbavati dimmed and vanished from the sky. Now, the ancestors crave light. Ancient maps in the libraries of Manden also show a river flowing from Khemet's heart which no longer exists. Many scholars believe this is an error, perhaps a mis-drawing of the Iteru, but in truth it maps the course of one of the Tamanrasset, under the Great Pyramids, which serves as a route (full of traps and tests) to the ancient home of the Ennead.

The nomadic people that travel and live along the rivers are known as the Nommo, the river people. They sail barges and canoes up and down the rivers with expert skill, often lashing several barges together into a kind of boat-town that floats on the waters and barely moves faster than a walking pace. These settlements are used to trade with villages they pass, bringing items from far-off lands and receiving goods the rivers cannot provide. It is said that most Nommo live out their lives having never touched dry land. The Mandenkaw claim the Nommo are born from water spirits in the depths of the Kwara, while the Aksumites see them as heaven thieves tolerated only for their trade. The Khemeti claim a Nommo is cursed never to touch dry land, and that if one does, all the sacred rivers will flee and the underworld will rise. When dealing with outsiders, the Nommo typically wear face-concealing wooden masks, wide-brimmed hats or simple veils, and they frequently adopt outcasts and criminals found along the rivers.

All of the Great Rivers originate from the same source: Iu-Neserer, the Island of Flame, home of the Jok. It is a mythic land, and to reach it requires heavy rowing and pulling upriver. The fog becomes so thick that you can see barely ten yards from the bank, and some say you cross into a dream-like world. The waters around the isle are known as Mokele-Mbembe after the great serpent (or serpents) that swims in them. A thick sulfur mist covers the water at all times, hiding reefs and logs. Periodically, the waters erupt into columns of fire fed by underwater gas deposits, and the flames are hot enough to burn anything, boil the waters and make it hard to even breathe. The waters are said to be born of the first Jok, or perhaps an Ori that came east and became too big even for the Kwara. The Mkole-Mbembe is practically an inland sea, always whirling and making deadly hazards. Only the Nommo know how to navigate its waters, and they guard that secret as a sacred promise to the Jok. Many of the peaks that rise from the water give off fumes and vapors that surround them in acrid clouds, and the rapids prevent boats from reaching the island itself. The griots say that a boat containing one of the sacred Sika'Dwa can cross the water and dock at the Island of Flame, whose docks are visible if the mists lift. Some say it takes not just a Sika'Dwa but also the stool's rightful ruler to make the journey.

Next time: The mountains and monsters of Ifri.

Lands of Gold and Fire - Giant Asshole Baboons

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Giant Asshole Baboons

The mountains that surround the Mokele-Mbembe are full of baboons. They are called, collectively, the Guardians of Babi, and the forests in those mountains have never been disturbed by the Ifrian peoples because everyone is terrified of the baboons. Some consider them to be mere animals, but others know that these gold-and-crimson beasts guard the shores of the Island of Fire and attack those who do not belong. Deep in the mountains is Babi himself, a gigantic baboon king who is commanded by the Jok and takes counsel from the Wiseones. There is an enormous statue of Babi that marks where his lands begin, standing over a hundred feet tall and carved from basalt. It stares endlessly towards the waters.

The Fire Island's caldera hides the last great city of the Jok, Khemenu, the City of Eight. Its walls are the color of polished ivory, and its strange geometry makes it resemble solid cloud. It is a beautiful if disturbing city, made for giants rather than any human. The doors are too big, the stairs hard to climb, the passages end abruptly, the bridges connect balconies too narrow to support them. Each wall is covered in pictographs, runes and images, sometimes inlaid with jewels, gold or Orun Irin. You can see the history of the world in the walls, written in story...if you only knew how to read it in the right order. Only a few Jok yet remain in Khemenu and know its full story, and the city structure makes it nearly impossible to read in any coherent sense.

Above the city is a massive sun disc made from Orun Irin, steel, gold and silver. Sunlight reflects off it, shining through the walls and casting shadows on the streets, which reveals even more stories, many of them prophetic. At night, the disc shines still, through gouts of fire into the sky. The city is far larger than its inhabitants need, and most empty homes seem only recently vacated, each of them able to hold many humans indeed. Occupied buildings are marked by Orun Irin braziers that never extinguish, despite the water that surrounds them, unless they are taken off the island. The Jok are apparently able to read the smoke from the braziers to tell how many Jok remain in the city and where they are. The city has many libraries, often vistied by Wiseones to return Orun Irin or to find information. The Jok, though their numbers are much diminished, remain formidable and beautiful to behold. Their leader is an old Jok woman whose name is so potent that it cannot be spoken or even written, or else a tragedy will occur. She Who Must Not Be Named often wanders the city streets wearing her Orun Irin ceremonial mask.

The most common monster of Ifri is the abonsam, the Bonsam's answer to the Jok's Wiseones. They are servants of the Bonsam in all kind of forms, from spirits to giant monsters to human witches. Abonsam seek nothing but to please their masters, and so they work to gain power and destroy the Jok and their servants. Wiseones name five orders of abonsam: Voice, Monster, Trader, Witch and Thrall. Each has a purpose. Not all abonsam are of these orders, however - those that come from the Stones of Bonsam and rule over Mbey often defy categorization.

Voices are the most insidious abonsam, who whisper in the ears of people and tell them lies and nightmares. The smarter ones mix in the truth sometimes, to gain trust, before they go for a big lie. They corrupt, bring mistrust and recruit new Witches. It is very hard for most people to drive off Voices, once their victim is chosen. The power of a Voice is all in deception and their immaterial form, which lets them move and spy easily. They can also broker trades for power.

Monsters are fairly simple. They're mortals or animals warped and tortured by magic until they know only hate and rage, and they exist to destroy and spread terror. No two are alike, but they all embody the very worst of Ifri. This includes a deformed child full of pestilent scarabs, a pack of skinned wolves connected by their intestines, or giant goats whose breath makes land and animals barren. Other types of abonsam often create Monsters by their actions.

Traders are those abonsam that channel the Bonsam's power into new servants. They answer the call for vengeance and fury, offering the power to make it right. They listen to the dreams of avarice and offer a new path. They give power to the weak, the might to change things, but their price is always far too high. They never give more than they get, and the wishes they grant are always twisted horribly. Traders usually appear human, but can change their form as they please. They have a limited ability of telepathy that allows them to know what shape their victim would find comforting. However, no matter what, a Trader has one monstrous physical trait they cannot change, and must be careful to hide. Many Witches began as those who made a pact with a Trader.

Witches come in two types - living and dead. If you kill a Witch without proper ritual, they return as an undead Witch, far more dangerous. Witches are the Bonsam's elites, the most obvious show of their power. They wield dark magic, commanding groups of Thralls. Traders corrupt and bargain, Monsters destroy, Voices lie and manipulate - but the Witch infiltrates and directs people. They walk among humans, learn their weaknesses and abuse them. Witches are potent enough while alive, but in death, their magic only grows stronger. Either type tends to form cults to serve them, and most were once Thralls, though some are recruited directly for their talent and their malice. A Witch, male or female, can also give birth to Monsters by mating with the Bonsam directly, but this is rare, as it is very draining. Witches are the most intelligent of the abonsam, and their power is the most obvious when in use. They tend to wield their power on a grand scale, plotting to bring down entire regions. They gather every few months to share information with each other.

Thralls are the lowest form of abonsam and by far the most common. They are those who pledge to serve evil in exchange for worldly power, wealth or other such things. They typically serve under command of Witches. Their heart is replaced with a nest of thorns in a horrific ceremony, and if they disobey, these thorns explode out, killing them. Thralls are rarely mere minions, however - they are influential merchants, cult leaders or chiefs. There is no such thing as an innocent Thrall, either. Each is a malicious, dangerous person, the very worst of humanity. A significant number are actually evil spirits in human form, and some retain a measure of spirit power. They all hope for the day when they are elevated to another form of abonsam, usually Witch or Trader. Each Thrall focuses on a particular sin or vice, which tends to make them somewhat predictable and is usually what drew them to the Bonsam in the first place. They typically have two goals - indulge themselves at the expense of others, and gain power to rise in the abonsam hierarchy.

Bonsam is the main source of evil in Ifri, perhaps even the world. The Bonsam are twisted, trapped between the spirit world and the mortal one. They feel no mercy, no love, no positive emotions whatsoever. They are pure hatred, rage and evil, fueled by misery and suffering. Unlike the Jok, the Bonsam has a true physical form and cannot dissolve into the spirit plane. The Bonsam can, however, see and communicate with spirits at will, and have apparently infinite power to corrupt. Like the Jok, they are subtle, preferring to work through agents rather than directly, and often grant their minions powers. The abonsam are their favorites, but not their only servants - evil humans, monsters and demons all serve them, knowingly or not. What Bonsam wants is an Ifri destroyed and rebuilt in its image, with pain and despair ruling all. They want no mortal to live without agony. They know that others stand against them, so they plan and plan, to weaken and destroy their foes. Few humans have survived seeing Bonsam, and each that has describes them differently. A three-headed, firebreathing goat, a handsome warrior with honeyed voice...it doesn't matter. It has no true shape. Bonsam is whatever they choose to be at any time. None can say where Bonsam came from, except the Jok, who refuse to. Bonsam has made many claims - it was a renegade Jok, the last of the Syrne, a renegade god, a mortal sorcerer, the last of a race wronged by the Jok. The truth is probably unknowable. As for why Bonsam wants to do what it does? No one knows. No one can know. It's just an evil, immortal thing monster, hobbled only by its endless rage and tendency to wreck its own plans in tantrum.

The Black Ship is a xebec ship with both sails and oars. It is made of bone and sinew, its sails are flesh and its flag is blood red, with a black half-skull burned on. It has crab legs for walking on land, between rivers, and can also crawl along the sea floor to ambush ships. Its captain is Inkosazana, a fierce woman with a flayed face. Every ship they take down is replaced by an evil ship from the depths, crewed by the corrupted souls of the dead crew. Right now, two other ships fly its banner. The Black Ship is crewed by the dead, twisted and corrupted by Bonsam. Inkosazama has a standing bargain with all abaord - if they bring her nine souls, she will release their own back to them and return them to life. She does not tell them it will be as undead zombies. However, they do occasionally take prisoners, as the crew hungers for living flesh. One of these at least has escaped, telling that the Black Ship holds the missing Sika'Dwa of Mbey and several other treasures, such as the Heart of Bonsam, the last Pages of the Second Prophet, and waters of the Mokele-Mbembe. The ship has been sighted at sea and on each of the Great Rivers.

Next time: Snakes, Kishi, the Jok and Scorpion Belly

Lands of Gold and Fire - SNAKES

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - SNAKES

Ifri has countless underground caverns, which are not the work of either rivers or the Jok. Rather, they are caused by Dan Ida Hwedo. This is a godlike serpent that exists to bring fertility and change. Where she goes, flowers bloom and the land is fertile. When she is sick, the land fails and people starve. The peoples of Ifri often travel to the underworld to make offerings of food or medicine in hopes of gaining the snake's blessing and passage. On very rare occasions, she will give a very brave healer or hero one of her scales. These are colored like a rainbow and the size of a dinner plate, and they contain a tiny part of her power. These scales can cure even the worst disease and heal even the nastiest wound. Bonsam desperately wants to capture or kill Dan Ida Hwedo, but has so far failed. Even now, their minions work to trap her. Legends are unclear on her origins. Some say she was born of Jok, others that she is a primal god from before time, others that she is the physical form of the spirit of the continent. The Jok do not speak of it, but have forbidden their Wiseones from interacting with her or using her scales. She rarely speaks to mortals, and when she does, she uses a wordless empathic sense that makes it impossible to question her. Her sole agenda is to spread fertility and life.

When a traveler sees a stranger approaching their fire at night, they always ask to see their back. In Theah, this might be expected to be an invitation to get murdered; in Ifri, it proves you're not a Kishi come to devour. The Kishi appear as beautiful people who speak in wonderful tones that can charm anyone. However, this is only from the front. Their rear reveals the head and body of a hyena, with the head resting on the buttocks and the paws draped over the shoulders and down the legs. When the Kishi feeds, they pass the best morsels to the hyena behind. Kishi see humans only as food, and rarely interact with them except to hunt. Kishi are shapeshifters, able to turn into a hyena with a human face on its back, which lures the gullible off the path. Some Kishi can eat a victim's eyes, nose, tongue, ears or skin to become invisible to the associated sense for a time. They only ever take one sense, and such victims usually get left alive. No one knows why, or if it's required by the magic. These kinds of Kishi will stalk villages for months, leaving a trail of mutilation in their wake. Kishi are fear and hunger spirits, and while most hunt alone, they sometimes form packs. Pack Kishi will occasionally work with evil humans if it helps them to spread fear and suffering.

The Jok are holy spirit-beings that live in the mountain heart of Iu-Neserer, the Island of Fire. It was they who taught humans the skills to be more than animals and to claim the land. They are not inherently good or bad, but they certainly are benevolent to humans. No one knows where they came from. Long ago, there were many more Jok than there are today. They knew many sciences and technologies, which they shared with humans. However, centuries ago, most of the Jok left this world for another place. They gathered in boats and set off in the four directions, creating the Great Rivers as they sailed. No one knows why they left, or to where. They never returned, and some time later, Bonsam first appeared.

The Jok choose and teach the Wiseones. Each Wiseone is taken to the Island of Fire, where they spend 20 days in direct tutelage from a Jok mentor wearing an ornate mask. The mentor tells them the truths of the world until, at last, they are satisfied and remove their mask, to show the final truth. When this happened, the Wiseone is either enlightened or dies on the spot. If they survive, they receive the mask and travel the world to protect the innocent and gain knowledge. Before their death, each Wiseone sees a vision, traveling home to recite all they know to the Jok. No Jok has ever left their holy mountain since Bonsam appeared. They still act as teachers, but they do not walk the world. Their goal appears to be to mentor humans into a new age of enlightenment, primarily by using the Wiseones to spread knowledge and fight Bonsam. No one knows why they do this, or why they like humans so much.

Scorpion Belly is an Mbey bogeyman, a cautionary tale of those who would stray from virtue. In life he was Sidya, an Nder boy nearing manhood along the Mbey River. Sidya betrayed Mbey for gold, sneaking across the river and showing Maghrebi warriors the best place to cross unseen and raid his village. When the slaughter was over, Sidya asked for his reward, but they seized him and carved his belly open, pouring in gold and scorpions. Then they let him go home, and each step he had a painful choice - hold his belly closed and keep the gold, or open it and let out the scorpions. No one alive remained to say if he ever made it home. He might have, dying at last when he got there, or he might not, succumbing to poison and falling into the river. Or perhaps he survived, forever grasping at his squirming belly. The story changes based on who tells it and what they want to teach.

Many claim they have met Scorpion Belly in the forest or scrub or river. These are lies. Those who have truly seen Scorpion Belly do not speak. This is because, ever since the Bonsam Stones were broken, he appears at times to the weak, offering them a handful of gold to betray others. Those who take it, he grabs. The scorpions crawl from his belly, stinging his victim as they scream, then die. Scorpion Belly is part abonsam monster, part child, forever locked in a cycle of suffering. He is both victim and villain, insofar as he is a person at all any more.

There are a lot of kinds of zombies, too. Kap Sevi zombification involves ritual burial of the living, then exhuming them. These creatures are very pliable and very difficult to harm, and have been used as liaisons to the Ori. Bonsam also has zombies - but these are reanimated corpses, long dead, given life by dark sorcery. They are entirely mindless shock troops and servants. Fortunately, they are rare - Bonsam prefers living minions. The lastk ind of zombie isn't really a zombie - it is something like a ghost, but corporeal. These are free-willed monsters, sprouting from diseased soil in Mbey. They pursue their own twisted goals, and it is unclear if they are truly restless souls or husks animated by fiendish intellect. All that is clear is they have no love of the living, even their own families.

Next time: The Manden Kurufaba

Lands of Gold and Fire - Yeah These Guys Are Apparently Not Mali

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Yeah These Guys Are Apparently Not Mali

In Manden, your family and clan identity are everything. Almost all important decisions are made with family input, because bad decisions lose face. Manden is a difficult place for free spirits, who tend to go into academia, the Dinist priesthood or trade to get away from family obligation. Society is polygynous - that is to say, multiple husbands and multiple wives, and it's considered an important way to balance both familial and personal needs in marriage. Occasionally a family may accept a single spouse, however. There's generally a large public party or festival over public or familial affairs once every few weeks, and everyone is expected to sing and dance, typically in honor of history. Some dances, especially those in honor of Mari-Djata, are explicitly designed for the physically disabled, too. Some music and dance belongs to one caste or another, and only the griots learn the most demanding pieces, but most songs are pretty simple and easy to pick up. Mandenkaw will become quite confused if visitors don't try to sing and dance along, especially since they'll happily show you how quite patiently.

One of the most distinct features of a Mandenka gathering is the possession of partiers by the Ori or ancestral spirits, typically at religious festivals. They typically select those who grow up in the Assanyi tradition, but sometimes they grab visitors. No one knows why. When this happens, it's as if time just skips forward for the person involved, and they also probably got much drunker for no clear reason. Possession is real - a girl being possessed by a king is the king, not the girl pretending. Everyone will be quite confused and offended if you do not accept this and treat the person as who they claim to be. It is etiquette, not faith. Faith is for the al-Din, not the Assanyi.

Mandenka clothing is extremely ornate, and the nation's wealth means that most citizens can have very fine clothes indeed. All genders wear long, caftan-like clothes called grandmuba, which are billowy and graceful and come in many bright colors and patterns, often threaded with gold. Braids and special hair shapes are common, often adorned with jewels or shells, and most also wear elaborate headscarfs matched to their grandmuba. Long skirts are popular right now, typically white with a colored scarf or pleat. Foreign fabric is imported for the wealthy, and so the richest wear silk and velvet. However, the people of Manden are very cosmopolitan, and foreign outfits will not have them staring very long. Indeed, the city-dwellers are often quite aware of foreign fashion and can even recognize if it's out of date. The primary language of Manden is Mande, and there are also the Awkari and Xweda languages, all belonging to the Mande branch of the Kwara language family. Dialect varies geographically, especially between urban and rural areas.

Understanding Manden society and religion means understanding nyama. The word refers to a life energy that is in absolutely everything. It can be good or bad, light or dark, active or passive. It is sometimes spoken of as a physical substance, but it is an abstraction. Any interaction can be spoken of in terms of nyama. The artisans interact with nyama by crafts, for example. Sorcerers are feared, however, for their power to interact with nyama directly and literally. Mandenka sorcerers typically hide their powers from all but their immediate family and others of their sorcerous society, as a result. The Mandenkaw also believe that each human has two souls - the ni and the dya. The ni is from Heaven, and on death it returns to the sky. The dya, which can leave your body and wander as you sleep, can remain near your place of death until someone goes out of their way to propitiate it with sacrifice. It then turns into an ancestral spirit.

Manden ideas have mixed with the al-Din religion of the Crescent (IE, Not Islam) and the Assanyi beliefs of Igodomigodo, and the ideas of ni and dya have taken on new significance. Typically, Mandenkaw who practice both al-Din and Assanyi say the ni comes from al-Musawwir and returns to the Creator on death, while the dya is made by the Ori, and represents the part of you claimed at birth by your three patron Ori. Most Mandenkaw will tell you they are Dinist, if asked, though Dinist practice is only really consistent in urban areas. Rural Dinists tend to have idiosyncratic ritual practice, drawn from fune tradition. However, some practices are widespread. Public drunkenness is essentially unknown, and there are regular prayers in the direction of the Second Prophet's place of death, and most do aspire to perform a pilgrimage to the Crescent. However, the typical Dinist disapproval of excessive magic is rare in Manden.

The native faith of the Manden Kurufaba is service to the Ori. The oldest Ifrian traditions hold that the world began at Ajaka-Katunga in Igodomigodo, where Aniyikaye descended on the gold chain to spread the surface of the land, and ruled over Ori and human alike. The Ori who came after dispersed to live in the sea, rivers and everywhere in the land, from inside the cola nut to inside diseases. When a human is born, three Ori claim their dya, committing to watch over and influence their life. If they don't show up in person, a diviner throws cola nuts to determine which they are. If they do, it is always three and in order. The Ori remain present in that person's life via festivals and possession. When propitiated regularly with sacrifices of food and drink, they and the ancestral spirits will appear at festivals in response to sacred music and dance, to give out wisdom and have fun. The Ori are often deeply interested in human lives, and some do more than just possess and talk to you. They may have children, too, leaving demigods spread through Manden - particularly in Igodomigodo. It's rare, but it does happen, often leaving the confused child to grow up full of divine ase. The royal families of Ajaka and Katunga claim direct descent from the Ori, each claiming to be the 401st of the 401 Ori. (The Igodomigodo Secession happened largely because of one very powerful royal asserting divine right not over only his own nation but the world as a whole.)

However, the state religion is al-Din, the faith of the Second Prophet as taught in the Crescent. Awkar was the first West Ifrian state to assume al-Din as a state religion, and at first it isolated the Awkari, but their privileged trading position and the fact that Dinist clergy didn't give a shit what else you did as long as you were a good Dinist on top of it convinced their neighbors to accept them. Manden and the Khemet once had important ties based on pilgrimage routes, as Mandenka pilgrimages must either sail northeast along the coast or travel overland through Maghreb and Khemet. The sea pilgrimage is more expensive and risks pirates, and right now pilgrimage ships are the ATC's favorite target. Thus, overland is the safe route. It's long, hot and not very fun, but worth it for the faithful. Mandenka pilgrimages tend to carry a lot of wealth, so they bolster the economies they pass through, and the Nomma often earn a good living helping to guide them.

Many Mandenkaw see the Crescent Empire as the pinnacle of culture and learning. It's honestly fairly unrealistic and unfair to their own local traditions - their governance, martial arts, music and art are all locally derived. However, anything Crescent is associated with wealth, education and status. Foreigners, especially Theans and Crescents, often find the parallel beliefs of Manden confusing, but for the average Mandenka, the Ori and al-Musawwir occupy different spiritual and lifestyle spaces. Al-Din is the faith of government, public ceremony and high education. The Ori are the gods of home, family, medicine and magic. They don't contradict each other because they address completely different parts of life. However, there is still some conflict, primarily over sorcery. A small but vocal group of Dinist elites have shifted to a new, hardline form of al-Din that treats any and all other religious practices as witchcraft. Many of these hardliners occupy high, influential positions in society or government, and some have the ear of the Mansa himself. They may insist they can overlook or cooperate with many practices, but that active support of sorcery encourages people to ignore Dinist beliefs about moderation. It doesn't help that witchcraft scares a lot of people, either.

Next time: The Mansa and the International Kurufaba

Lands of Gold and Fire - Mansa, Mansa

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Mansa, Mansa

The Manden Kurufaba requires a very elaborate bureaucracy to maintain its vast holdings, derived from Igodomigodo's original government. Critics say it is paternalistic and stifling, but it works. The highest authority is the Mansa, a hereditary office that dates back to Mari-Djata. The Mansa rules from the Federal Palace in Nianiba, supreme king by divine right, both as descendant of al-Musawwir's champion Mari-Djata and by intermarriage into the Alaafin of Igodomigodo, who descend from the Ori. Their throne is one of the sacred stools which the Jok gave to humanity. However, while the Mansa has absolute authority, they rely heavily on delegation to get anything done. The personal staff of the Mansa includes the Captain of the Alagbato Iya (the Royal Guard), the castellan of the Federal Palace (who keeps the place running and entertains dignitaries and the Mansa), the palace treasurer, the palace imam, the palace Assanyi diviner (babalawo if male or iyalawo if female), the Mansa's spouses and consorts (who, unlike all other Mandenkaw, may have only one spouse - the Mansa) and the palace griot.

The Mansa is also served by a cabinet of advisors. This consists of the Field Marshal, who commands the Kurufaba forces, the Commerce Minister, the Secretary of State, who is in charge of foreign affairs, the Secretary of Education, the Minister of Agriculture, who also serves as the voice of the horonw, the Minister of Artisans, who also serves as the voice of the nyamakalaw, and the Jonow Tribune. The Mansa rules the cabinet, but laws allow a cabinet minister to overrule the Mansa in their area of expertise. This veto can, of course, be very contentious. The four state rulers are considered of equal rank to the cabinet, but have different responsibilities. The Mansa typically appoints a baale (viceroy) to rule over the state of Manden, a custom adopted from the Igodomigodo rulers. The baale is technically appointed, but it is typically dominated by certain dynasties. The other three rulers are the Xweda Ahosu, the Igodomigodo Alaafin and the Awkar Sultan, each of whom manages their domain's government.

The Ahosu rules Xweda's relatively small population fairly directly, with little bureaucracy. All Xwedans are legally the direct vassals of the Ahosu. The Alaafin has a huge bureaucracy and delegation system that is basically the Kurufaba's in miniature, as it was the basis for the Kurufaba government. Before Sumanguru Kante conquered Awkar, the Sultan was technically a vassal of the Caliph of the Crescent Empire, though in practice they had very little if any contact with the Crescent government formally. Since then, the Sultanate has been relatively weak and heavily dependant on Manden to operate. The Sultan may be the most important cog in the Awkar machine, but is still merely a cog. The Mansa appoints a vizier to advise each ruler, keep an eye on things and report any trouble or pressure the rulers to make choices that benefit the federation as a whole or the Mansa specifically.

The Kurufaba holds a meeting of chieftains each year during the winter. Clan and tribe chieftains in every state, small or large, must either attend or send their griot on their behalf. The state rulers and caste elders are also represented at the meeting. This is, it should be noted, a very complex system. Mandenkaw love specializing, and the government reflects that tendency to divide tasks to teams of experts to ensure they are all done right. Efficiency isn't the issue - the government is probably actually the most efficient way to handle its sprawling and extremely ethnically diverse federation. The issue is that there's no real checks and balances. An incompetent governor's not a problem - there's enough above and below to advise and cover for them. But a corrupt or evil governor? That's a problem. Except where the law limits their power, which it often does not, a governor has absolute authority over all below them. It doesn't happen often, but a governor can even order summary execution by firing squad if you fail them or they can pin a crime on you.

By most current standards on Terra, the Manden Kurufaba is still a great place to live. It is extremely wealthy, so even the poorest slave won't starve. However, the conflicts in Mbey and Khemet have displaced thousands, who have flooded into Manden. These refugees are not well-liked by the Mandenkaw, and by default most end up in the Jonow caste. There is money and food, but they are third-class citizens. Even those with advanced training or education struggle for acceptance among the Nyamakalaw and Horonw, as despite what they may be do for a living, they are still considered Jonow. The Horonw food providers tend to see the refugees as freeloaders, extra mouths to feed for no benefit.

Mansa Kankan has started Manden's grand experiment, the International Kurufaba, situating it in the legendary origin of the world, Ajaka-Katunga. It is essentially a Not African UN, with the goal of uniting world governments to avoid future wars. It's a lofty goal, but Kankan is an idealist. The Kurufaba meets in a great compound on the Kongola River, a tributary of the Kwara, which divides Ajaka and Katunga. The walls actually form the adinkra symbol bi-nka-bi, which represents an end to infighting. All adinkra symbols represent abstract truths, and this symbol is also found on the Mandenka flag. The walls are heavily defended by guards and guns, but behind them are gardens and miniature villages and plazas to house delegates. The central meeting hall is an ampitheater large enough for all currently represented nations.

Mandenka custom allows a griot or similar champion to speak on behalf of a dignitary, and this custom is key to the International Kurufaba. It's how a personable hero could easily get into a dignitary's cloud of aides, sycophants and advisors. Charisma and competence? Those are valuable. Aksum is represented by Lord Isaiah Iskander, a member of the Skia secret police. He has exactly one job: ensure peace between Aksum and Manden by any means necessary. Isaiah is entirely loyal, and he maintains a spy network keeping tabs on the Manden military. If Manden plans to attack, this is crucial information. If not...well, it could well start the war he's trying to avoid. Aksum considers a permanent end to war to be their most important issue. While Mandenka invasion has always failed so far, the idea terrifies most of Aksum, and so they are champions of the Kurufaba's goal.

Maghreb is represented by Lady Lunja al-Barqahi. She is cousin to the Blue Queen of Maghreb, Tasa Noumidia. The Blue Queen has not yet decided if the International Kurufaba is an ineffectual mob of diplomatic figureheads or a trap, so she's set Lunja to be her olive branch...or possibly her figurehead. Lunja is barely 18, from a coastal cadet family, and she's very enthusiastic about this, her first job. (And also fancy parties.) Neither she nor the Blue Queen put much stock in the idea of nonviolence, but they'll happily listen as long as no one asks the Maghrebi to put down their swords. It doesn't help that Lunja idolizes the pirate captain Mar Veraci and has spent much of her youth reading tales of swashbuckling derring-do about the captain. Veraci has heard about this and begun correspondence in the hopes of manipulating the girl...not out of any ill feeling, but because, well, politics. Lunja is not a fool, however. She's heavily trained and educated, and she won't be easy for Governess Veraci to manipulate. Maghreb's key issue at the moment is getting Ifri to present a united front to Theah, in the hopes of avoiding another Mbey. They fear Montaigne and Vodacce will work together to divide them up and conquer them.

The Manden representative is Prince Adegoke, Kankan's adopted brother. Adegoke has professed allegiance to his brother's goals, but his real goal is to reestablish the empire of Igodomigodo using the Kurufaba's resources. The key to his plan, and thus what he pushes most for, is the formation of an international peacekeeping force under the control of the International Kurufaba. Adegoke's intentions may be bad, but he has good arguments - until such time as all nations lay down their arms, the Kurufaba must have a way to strike back at unrepentant evil. Manden, which'd end up supplying about half the troops at least, is the most vocal both in support and opposition of this idea.

Mbey is represented by Mandagan, a demon disguised in human form. She devoured the original delegate sent by Bour Ba Ighodalo and has taken her place via shapeshifting. Her powers have gotten her into every delegate's office, and she knows everyone's secrets, weaknesses and scandals. She has yet to use any of them, however - she's very old and hasn't had this much fun in centuries. It shouldn't end so soon. Mbey has not pushed hard on any issue whatsoever. Rather, Mandagan plays at being a power broker, currying favor to gain debts. It has yet to be seen if her hunger for human flesh and therefore constant need to replace workers will expose her true nature.

Next time: The Khemet, Sho'noh'kah'ta'neh'ta, Jaragua, Montaigne & Crescent reps.

Lands of Gold and Fire - The Swashbuckling UN

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - The Swashbuckling UN

Khemet is represented by Mayaneta of the House of Talthos, a former priestess of the lion goddess Seknephet. She was third daughter of a noble family, but her charisma was such that they forced her to join the Eubayd, the priesthood, to avoid her being a political threat to her siblings. When her siblings to assassinated, though, they bribed her superiors to pull her out of the priesthood and have her made delegate, thus getting in good with the queen. She is at heart an artist, and her charm is legendary. She is excellent at her job; she also hates it. She knows all about Queen Twosret's forays into slaving and doesn't approve or trust her. Indeed, she spends much of her free time planning escape routes in case it all comes crashing down. Her primary issues are international food trade and humanitarian relief, counteracting the famines brought on by lack of sunlight in Khemet right now.

The Sho'noh'kah'ta'neh'ta of Quanahlotye were brough into the Kurufaba by Mansa Kankan's extreme efforts. Quanahlotye is a land across the western sea, and the organization called Sho'noh'kah'ta'neh'ta ('Great Peace') is several hundred years old and has a similar mission to the International Kurufaba. The delegate is an elderly veteran of their house of debate, Sagoyewatha. He's a ruthless negotiator with 50 years of experience in the most sophisticated, cutthroat forum in the world. He's moved to Manden and joined the International Kurufaba as a way to keep busy in retirement. (This says something about how intense his old job was.) The Sho'noh'kah'ta'neh'ta have no major issues at present - they're content to get rich selling fur coats and hats to the Mandenka. Sagoyewatha serves as a mentor to the other delegates, and his teenage children bring his reports on their visits home, bringing them to the longhouse of the Sho'noh'kah'ta'neh'ta.

Jaragua is represented by Lieutenant Colonel Anaica Proulx. Many Jaraguan slaves come from Manden and Mbey, and they have come home to find the ATC watching for their ships. Proulx is a decorated Mawon veteran, but the Company has dogged her every step as she has hunted for a place to convince people that Jaragua was a true nation. She knows that danger could come from even her own retinue, and she suspects everyone. Her primary issue is simple: international recognition of Jaragua as a sovereign nation. The Company's propagandists have tried to hide all evidence Jaragua even exists on this side of the ocean, let alone revolted, and she needs a lot of help.

Montaigne's delegate is Lucien de Forbin, the fourth son of a noble, who works as a double agent for l'Empereur and the ATC, though the Company pays much better and so gets most of his loyalty. He started out running an Atabean prison colony, but his interest in occultism led him to promise a demon regular payment in souls in exchange for career advancement. He is a sociopath who until recently answered to Flemming Rudd and convinced Ifrian leaders to sell slaves. The Company has yet to discover that he skims on slaves to sacrifice them for his demon, but he's not especially worried that they'll be upset if they find out. They'll probably just want to be cut in, right? Montaigne has him talking a big game about trans-oceanic unity, but what they really want is unrestricted access to the Ifrian coast, and some suspect his rhetoric is an excuse to set up l'Empereur to colonize.

The Crescent Empire representative is Noa bat Elisheva M'Shevet Yedha, an elder businesswoman from the Yachidi homeland of Sarmion. (Yachidi are Not Jews.) She has succeeded in a number of industries, and she sees this as her chance to give back to the Crescent Empire, which has always treated her family well. She enjoys the prestige she has in Manden, and she's used to having her orders obeyed. The main Crescent priority is maintaining pilgrimage routes. One of the Dinist Five Sacred Duties is isra, the pilgrimage to visit far-off Dinists. Mandenkaw typically head for the Prophet Khalil's martyrdom site in the small state of Thaj, and these pilgrimages stimulate the economy of everyone nearby. However, the number of pilgrims has dropped off heavily thanks to the ATC, the recent war between Aksum and Manden and the Khemet crisis.

Very recently, the chief of the wealthy Fayomi Clan, Olu Fayomi, came to the Kurufaba to claim that Atabean slavers were operating in Manden with Mbeyan aid. Olu and his sister Lola were renowned warriors, and they claimed to be attacked while traveling to a wedding near the border. They slew their attackers, but some of their fellows, including Lola's husband, died in the fight. When accused of lying, Lola threw two sacks down - sacks full of the heads of their attackers, and a shard of black Bonsam stone. This has sent the Kurufaba into an uproar, but they have stood their ground. Now, the Kurufaba debates within itself, and may tear itself apart - or perhaps save itself.

The Manden Kurufaba is the richest nation in the world. They've exhausted the gold mines and salt fields, but centuries of good investment and careful trade keep the treasury growing even faster than inflation. This means no citizen ever has to go uneducated, without healthcare, hungry or unsheltered. They are also the world's largest market for luxury goods. Manden public education is excellent, but it's entirely voluntary, and outside Awkar, literacy is rare. Most villages just rely on the local griot, funew and families to teach important information. The family is responsible for taking the time to teach caste traditions of all kinds, as well as knowledge of how to make basic clothes. Until university level, math, religion and other things are taught entirely verbally and somatically, using song, dance and mnemonic techniques rather than books. Mandenka who go on to higher education generally do learn to read and write, attending Dinist universities. Manden written language is typically transcribed into Katabic script with Awkari adinkra glyphs interspersed.

the Manden currency is a square gold coin that represents the states bound together. One side bears the Boa Me Na Me Mmoa Wo adinkra, meaning cooperation and independence, and the other has the Mansa's head in profile. All casting, manufacture and regulation of the coin is centralized to the fortified river island Traore, 20 miles from the capital Nianiba. Its sole purpose is the minting of these coins, and its population is highly restricted and controlled. Other kingdoms in Ifri may reject bank notes or foreign coin, but Manden welcomes them. Villagers will take gold and silver coins for the value of the metal, while bank notes and paper currency can be cashed with nobles and wealthy merchants in large cities. Master craftspeople tend to appreciate this easily, as it makes export of their wares quite easy. Visitors expecting barter are quickly corrected and told that Manden didn't become the richest nation in the world on barter.

While professional standing troops are growing in popularity, traditionally every caste contributes to the Manden army. Before the Kurufaba, each region handled its own military, but now, engaging in regular training and supplying the nation with troops gets a caste tax breaks. Mounted officers are typically Horonw, musketeers and heavy infantry usually numuw, communications officers usually griot and noncombat support usually Jonow. Hunters form elite scout units with poisoned arrows and javelins, while the main mass of archer troops use simple, easily fixed bows. While the Mandenkaw have access to elite infantry and cavalry, their strategies rarely rely on them except for extremely specific tasks. Instead, they traditionally rely on superior logistics and force of numbers, given their vast wealth and population. Logistics have been made simple with centuries of practice. This makes the Manden army better at some things than others - they're extremely good at siege, for example.

The Xwedans and Igodomigodoese share both culture and grudges with each other and the Mbeyans, having raided each other since time immemorial over just about anything except religion. Xweda has proven the defensively strongest, thanks to its swamps, jungles and bad attitude, whole Igodomigodo has been most offensively successful due its extremely good cavalry and excellent administration. The ATC has changed this old conflict, however. Now, all border skirmishes are over slaves, and Manden is losing. For all the martial strength of Xwedan and Igodomigodoese tradition, the raiders are explicitly drawing the Manden army out to capture soldiers for slavery, which plays into the aggressive and proactive doctrine of Mandenka strategy. Many Manden soldiers have fallen into slaver holds.

Manden's military research division is attached to the Imperial University in Nianiba, using information gained by scouts and spies across the world. They have studied Avalon longbows and Anatol Ayh composite bows to improve their archers, Cathayan and Castillian siege designs, Nahuacan infantry tactics and Quanahlotye guerillas. Their most important frontier is sea power, however. Manden has immense land forces, but their merchant marine is limited, especially compared to northern Amazigh and other naval titans. Most Thean goods do not attain high prices in Manden save for curiosities like metal armor (which is considered interesting but not very useful in the Mandenka weather), but goods from Aztlan have stoked their curiosity about what lies across the sea. The Mansa has hired Odisean shipwrights to construct a treasure fleet of galleons, and also wants to buy large numbers of cheap (if outdated) galleys and galleasses. Unfortunately, new ships must still get through the Company blockades off the cost of Mbey. The Vendel League is fighting the ATC forces, but only as long as they consider it profitable to keep doing. Still, building their own fleet will take even longer, no matter how much they pay the workers, especially with the Company controlling the modern port facilities of Mbey.

Next time: Places in Manden.

Lands of Gold and Fire - Book City

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Book City

Awkar is a landlocked region south of the Ubari Desert and west of Aksum. It is the gateway to the markets and ideas of northern and eastern Ifri and the Crescent Empire. It is local tradition that the Dinist missionary Zinat bint Ziya, companion to the Prophet Khalil, came from far Katab to found al-Ghaba, the first and greatest of Awkar's cities, also called the Citadel of Letters for its ancient university complex. The Awkwari Dominion were the first power to conquer the region, until the Ziyaid Dynasty squandered their resources and failed to protect against the Kel Tagelmust raiders of the north. It was then that sorcerer-king Sumanguru Kante, leader of one of their vassals' powerful blacksmith clans, rose up and took the capital city from the Ziyaids in a bloody coup that ruined many grand mosques and schools. The final battle of Mari-Djata's war on the sorcerer was the siege of al-Ghaba, ended when the Xwedan gbeto ('elephant hunters') infiltrated the city and assassinated Sumanguru's leadership.

In the aftermath, Mari-Djata reinvigorated Awkar's trade, rebuilding al-Ghaba and inviting the Kel Tagelmust leaders for a show of Manden force, then negotiating a deal with them that let them into the gold and salt trades as long as they protected the Manden caravans. Now, Awkar is a tributary rather than a capital, but it has far more influence than it ever had in its own empire. It is the gateway from Manden to the northeast, spreading Manden culture across the desert. Al-Ghaba and Nianiba are eternal rivals for which city is most cosmopolitan, and al-Ghaba has the advantage of many foreign visitors to balance out the massive wealth of Nianiba.

Of all Mandenkaw, the Awkari are easily the best educated, and their ancient temple-library complex is the oldest and largest on the planet. Al-Ghaba has a one hundred percent literacy rate, more books per capita than any other city, and free education for all through university level. The Awkari have a reputation in Manden as haughty and elitist, disdaining service to the Ori and belittling those who study under village griot rather than at Dinist schools. They also are known to seal deals with written contracts rather than verbal agreements in the presence of a griot, which makes other Mandenkaw distrust them and become confused.

The Mad Library of al-Ghaba rises from the city center, covered in minarets, domes and towers. However, grime clouds the windows. Its gardens are overgrown and full of wild animals. Adinkra glyphs glow on the walls to ward against the power within. The Mad Library is a testament to the power and danger of the written word and what happens if you let librarians experiment unchecked. About a century ago, one of their library science experiments went wrong. The head librarians attempted to transcribe a storybook about a mischevious spider spirit into adinkra glyphs, and they focused far too much power into one tome, which the spirit decided to mess with. The resulting explosion turned simple words into magical spells, magical information into energy, and written ideas into reality. Some of the librarians immediately ascended to the afterlife, leaving their dya to become bookwraiths. The books reshape the library around them into exaggerated crossover versions of their stories. All kinds of strange creatures from the books infest the religion and mythology wing, while the romance section is full of courtesans, succubae and sex. The philosophy section is home to extremely improbable debates between various historic figures...well, it's best to just obey the rules if you go visit.

quote:

1. Do not speak above a whisper. It is the quickest way to attract monsters, rogue books, bookwyrms or worst of all, librarians.
2. No running. See rule 1.
3. No food or drink near the books. Many sharp-jawed books have snapped shut on an arm after smelling food or, when fed, have revealed that they incubate dangerous spirits.
4. No open flames. The magical energy suffusing the Library transforms flames into jinn, tiny mischevious beings of smokeless fire.
5. No unattended children or pets, except in the designated Children's Area. A child who wanders into the Library's darkness becomes a protagonist in some story deadly to parents.
6. Return any book you take out before the due date. Removing a book creates a loophole in the Library's magical wards, allowing a bookwraith to escape and pursue you until you return the book and pay a late fee. This fee is a Story with a number of Steps based on how late your book is, usually hunting some enemy or donating a dangerously rare book. Destroy a Mad Library book, and a bookwyrm drags you back to the Library to become a bookwraith yourself.

The bookwraiths wear robes stitched from torn out pages. They are very strong, unstoppable and practically indestructible. When wounded, they knit themselves together from nearby books, then get mad at you for making them destroy books. Every bookwraith innately knows the location of every library book. Somewhere in the mezzanine, you can find a twisted tree that grows out of a rug up towards the ceiling. When starlight shines through, the clockwork sparrows and chameleons come to life, and the plush hares and wildcats in the pillows wake up and talk. The tree itself grows a face, and wind-up soldiers patrol the perimeter against dangerous adults. This is the Children's Corner, which calls out to poor and neglected children in the city. If a child makes it through the Library's dangers, which often they have a better chance of than adults, they will be safe and comfortable in the Corner, where a story of food nourishes them as well as a real meal. No child over 12 may remain - the toy soldiers escort them out. Last are the stacks, honeycombs of tesselated reading rooms lit by glowing fungi or air-swimming fish. Some of their books are comprehensible, while others appear to be random series of words or phrases, or evening letters and real or imagined symbols. Every combination of possible characters exists somewhere in the stacks, and they connect to a number of entirely different libraries throughout the world.

Xweda, meanwhile, is the smallest and least populated state. It covers much of the Kurufaba's coastline, and is full of salt marshes and crocodile-laden lagoons. Rivers head inland through sacred forests full of unique plants that can handle the flooding and draining of the wetlands. The rainforests are home to some of the fiercest beasts in Ifri, including the side-striped jackal, the warthoga, the leoparda, hippos, bush elephants and honey badgers. The Xwedans have little farmland, so they rely a lot on hunting and fishing. Mbeyan slavers and Igodomigodoese invadersh ave often attacked them, but the Xwedans are tough people, some of the best scouts and stealth infantry in the world and experts in using cover and amphibious assaults. They adopted the musket quickly, and take pride in needing only the minimum of shots to make a kill. The best of these are the gbeto. They were originally the personal guard and hunting entourage of the Xwedan king, and now the all-female corps of elephant hunters shows up whenever the Kurufaba most needs them, often unexpectedly.

The Xweden economy is rarely as good as the rest of Manden's. Their ports see a lot of business, but most of it is ATC business. The king tries to limit their influence, but President Rourke has been using secretly contracted, unmarked ships to avoid notice. Besides, what bounty does come to the coast rarely stays with the local hunters, fishers and farmers. Xweda relies a lot on imported food and economic aid, and the other provinces dislike having to send so much money to support such a poor people. Mansa Kankan has suggested, gently, that they clearcut some forests for farming and grazing land, but the Ahosu hates the idea - that's sacred forest, and besides, Kankan probably wants the wood for his treasure fleet. It remains to be seen if the Mansa's new shipyards will help the Xwedan economy or just make the rich richer elsewhere.

The Xwedan capital and largest port is Arrada, in the north. The mangroves climb from the salt marshes, with the wooden buildings built in and around their trunks. Ahosu Mazidath lives on an island in the city center. Her royal compound is heavily walled with acacia thorns, mounted guns and barracks, plus a reception hall for diplomats and her own home - an ancient but well maintained stone, mud and wood structure covered in bas-reliefs but far less modern and refined than its surroundings. For many centuries, the area was just a historical curiosity while the Ahosu lived and received people elsewhere, but Mazidath enjoys them and says the surroundings keep her humble and make people underestimate her. There is also a large Odisean factory closer to the sea, home to many Thean visitors. The Explorers and Vendel League each have properties within this fortified compound, which adjoins to a modern shipyard built on the Odisean model. Here, thousands work around the clock for excellent pay, working under the Thean shipwrights hired by Captain Kunto de Rosa.

Next time: Igodomigodo and Manden State

Lands of Gold and Fire - Children of Gods

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Children of Gods

Igodomigodo could, had history gone just a little differently, been the rulers of Manden. They sit in the north-center, landlocked, between Xweda and Awkar. Before Mari-Djata came, they had good reason to believe their destiny was to rule all of Ifri. Their capital was built on the very spot, it is said, that the Ori first descended from the sky. The locals actually believe that conflict was their curse from day one, as the second Ori to come down fought over who would rule the world and who would make humans and so on. The other Ori were forced to begin choosing sides, but before the fight could start, one of the two first Ori left to found his own city somewhere else. That was the start of time. Ever since, the cities of Ajaka and Katunga have coexisted in tense equilibrium. Each has a line of Alaafin who claim divine mandate of al-Musawwir, and each has grown strong and wealthy. Each has controlled a large network of vassals and tribes using an elaborately detailed and defined bureaucracy...and, in many ways, each did it to spite the other. The royal governments are famous for the efficiency of the elaborate system of bureaucracy they use, which eventually became the basis for the current Kurufaba government.

At the first council of chiefs for Mari-Djata, the Katunga Alaafin swore service to Mari-Djata for all Igodomigodoese tribes. The Ajaka Alaafin, who also claimed that right, disputed the decision. While the throne traces their participation in Manden back to this point, for all practical purposes they've only been a full member of the Kurufaba for 130 years, after the end of the Igodomigodo Secession, in which a god-king seized control of both Ajaka and Katunga combined, making them into a single metropolis of Ajaka-Katunga. He then militarized the nation and attacked the surrounding parts of Manden and Mbey. The Kurufaba only regained control when internal strife ended his rule in a magical accident.

The Igodomigodoese have a reputation for being overbearing, overly aggressive political wonks. Even now, in times of peace, their smug and superior attitude as they pacify bandits for you or fight on the border doesn't often make friends. They are, howeve,r quite famous for their thousands-year-old tradition of sculpture. They make stylized sculptures of religious subjects out of wood and extremely realistic bronze sculptures of heroes and kings. The bronzes are made using lost-wax casting for precise detail.

The Manden State itself is arid and hard to farm. The river valleys are fertile, but they aren't the real source of Manden State's power. See, they have gold. The richest gold fields in the world, even centuries after their peak. Whether you mined the hills or panned the river, they had the most gold. They also have rich veins of diamonds, copper, bauxite, iron, limestone, silver and salt. This has made them spectactularly profitable. A single unbroken (if rather complex) dynasty has always ruled as the Mansas of Manden, the high monarchs that own all land and natural resources. The Mansa apportions out shares in the resources to chieftains of the horonw.

Mari-Djata's joining of the four states pushed the Kurufaba to the forefront of trade in West Ifri. Gold and salt went out on the trade routes, enriching all nearby. They implemented a gold and salt standard to try and standardize wealth, reorganizing themselves on the governmental model of Igodomigodo. Over time, however, the Kurufaba has grown less like a federation and more like an empire. Power has centralized around the Mansa, as seen in the city of Nianiba. It sits in the far south, amongst the gold fields. It is full of stone and gold statues, it's laid out in a perfectly square grid, building new concentric square walls as it grows and filling the new space with ever richer and more lavish monuments. The center square is home to the Mansa's palace, along with his personal guard: the Guardian Mothers. The Guardian Mothers are an elite section of Xweden gbeto who were redirected to Nianiba in the reign of a male Mansa who liked the idea of a personal guard of highly trained wives. He immediately found that he couldn't be quite so free with them as he wanted, as he was dealing with an entire troop of women trained to kill since the age of ten.

So, international relations! While the Mansa was on pilgrimage, his brother Prince Adegoke spent five years pointlessly attacking Aksum for the sake of glory. Mansa Kankan then returned from the Crescent, singing the praises of nonviolence and mercy. He immediately sued for peace, arranging a marriage between his son, Maghan Kon Fatta, and the Aksumite princess Le'elt Mehret. It seems peace has come, but some say that hte princess is less eager for the match than she appears, and war may come again. The Manden trade network relies heavily on Maghrebi participation, and the Mandenkaw love Maghreb goods - particularly their fashion and their swords. Many Mansas have wanted to absorb the Maghreb as a member state, but the Maghrebi have always refused, and conquest would hurt the economy, so it's out of the question. Kankan sees the International Kurufaba as a chance to revive that dream of unity. Khemet...well, modern Khemet is a quite literally dark and dangerous place, and many pilgrims do not return on their journeys through the Black Land. Many, particularly devcout Dinists, see Khemet as a threat someone will have to deal with, sooner or later.

For many Mandenkaw concerned with Mbeyan aggression, now is the worst possible time for a Mansa to declare war no longer a political tool in the toolbox. Mbeyan intrusion onto Manden lands means slave taking, which has been hiting the Xwedan and Igodomigodoese border regions hard. They'd normally take the fight into their own hands, but can no longer do so to the same extent without the Mansa's approval. The locals want war with Mbey, turning all of Manden's power to crushing the slavers. The Crescent has historically been a vital trade and pilgrimage partner for Manden, who sailed ships north around Mbey and Amazigh, past Khemet, to land on Crescent shores and head for pilgrimage sites, as well as treasure ships heading that way for trade, despite piracy. Over the past 20 years, however, the North Coast Route has grown more profitable and less dangerous.

On the ATC posted:

"The guy from Avalon? Yeah, he sent a lot of letters asking to meet and talk guinea fowl - didn't even send a griot, can you believe that? We told him, via griot like civilized human beings, that he'd have to get in line and there were a lot of people ahead of him, but maybe he didn't like that. Does he think we don't know he enslaves Ifrians? Mbey is right next to us. We're also pretty sure he pays pirates to attack our waters. This is not the foundation of a successful business relationship." - anonymous source within Mansa Kankan's household.

The Vendel are not strangers to far-off trade, and their first delegation arrived in Xweda 150 years ago. They bought a lot of fancy clothes and spent a lot of time touring Arrada before heading to meet the Mansa. Their skald's skill and versatility was considered especially impressive. The War of the Cross, however, set back trade quite a bit, as it threatened southbound vessels in the Widow's Sea. As soon as the war ended, trade resumed, but the ATC has kept it from reaching its prior levels. The Company and the Vendel have been in a trade war since 1648, and it's turned hot in West Ifrian waters, as the Vendel merchant navy and the Company's hired pirates clash repeatedly. Dozens of ships have sunk, dozens of crews have been enslave. Manden favors the Vendel but has no fleet to support them with.

People! Mansa Kankan is the current ruler, a devout Dinist, a devoted father and husband, an excellent businessman and the richest human on the planet. His recent pilgrimage to the site of Prophet Khalil's death sent economic shocks through every settlement he traveled through, as his charitable donations often exceeded the net worth of entire small countries. Kankan was also changed by it. As he traveled, and he and his Dinist teachers explored the ideas of love and nonviolence that are central to the al-Din faith. When Kankan returned, he made a shocking proclamation: offensive war was no longer a viable diplomatic tool or solution of the Manden Kurufaba. The army was now a purely defensive force. While Manden State and Awkar have enjoyed this change, the more martial Xweda and Igodomigodo are less confident. They see the face of Mbeyan aggression and lose people to Atabean slavery a lot. Both Ahosu Mazidath and the Regent Enitan have voiced their doubts, but Kankan is adamant. If Xweda and Igodomigodo want financial support, they must obey the mandate.

Youssou Sende is the most beloved and well-known griot in Manden, with the most beautiful voice. She is favored by Mansa Kankan and the Ori, and it is said the Ori gave her the power to remember anything and everything she hears perfectly, that she is so beloved that she has four Ori watching her, not three. As a griot, she can tell the history of her people in an unbroken chain through her grandmothers. She wanders the land, collecting stories and teaching younger griots. She learns the tales of individuals, turning them into legends that give hope to the nation. Like many Mandenkaw who live near Mbey, however, she knows loss. She was sent tos ing at the birth of the Aksumite princess Merhet, and the Ori bid her to wait one day before going home. She did...and returned to find her entire village captured or killed by Mbeyan slavers. She is alive, but she fears her family is not. She knows she is old, though, and so she hopes and prays all the time that her work will be repaid by the return of her daughter or the arrival of an apprentice to carry on her lineage.

Prince Adegoke is Kankan's younger brother, and technically a hostage, 'adopted' from a cadet branch of Ajaka-Katunga's royal family in the aftermath of the Igodomigodo Secession. Even now, he is dissatisfied. He knows he's always going to be, at best, second to Kankan - and at worst, a bargaining chip. He spent his childhood never trusting anyone but his best friend, Omobolanle. Omobolanle only appears to Adegoke, and has always been there. Adegoke knows he's not human - a wraith, perhaps, or maybe a jinn - but he's the only one sympathetic to Adegoke's plan to overthrow Kankan and usurp the Sika'Dwa stool for Igodomigodo. During Kankan's long pilgrimage, he attacked Aksum in hopes of gaining the military and public support needed to steal the throne. It was supposed to be quick and easy, but the Manden generals refused to send troops off the Mbey border, so Adegoke was forced to match wits with Aksum directly, using his brillian military skill. However, the mathemagicians of Aksum foretold all of his ambushes and traps, and with the Mandanka forces lacking their usual overwhelming numbers advantage, he struggled for five years to gain any ground. Despite all this, Mansa Kankan trusts Adegoke utterly, and trusts his military as well, unaware that the Alagbato Iya's leader has been sduced by Adegoke, who has been given the tongue of a serpent by Omobolanle. Adegoke is currently working to conver the rest of the Iya, so he can perform a palace coup or a takeover of the International Kurufaba - whichever proves easiest. Adegoke is Strength 3, Influence 9.

Kunto de Rosa is a Thean shipwright of Xwedan ancestry, hired by Mansa Kankan and Queen Mazideath to oversee the Xwedan shipyards. She is the daughter of an Odisean shipwright and Xweda sailor, and she's had decades of experience working for the Castillian royals. She was offered a large salary for exclusive work in Arrada, but the Kurufaba didn't know she was already on the Atabean Trading Company's payroll. Originally, the Company wanted a mole in the Castillian shipyards to update them on the status of Castille's rebuilding of the Armada. However, the Company offered to raise her salary if she'd serve as a double agent in Manden. She's a good shipwright, but far greedier than she is proud of her job. She originally started out doing her best to build quality craft for the Kurufaba, but now she has been given the order to sabotage them. The supervisors directly under her are also on Company payroll, and they build in tiny flaws in the ships that the Company can exploit. Someone, however, is working against her. The Jonow and Nyamakalaw working under her have started to catch and correct her 'mistakes,' and she suspects that she has a mole within her own moles. She is Strength 4, Influence 10.

Next time: Mbey

Lands of Gold and Fire - Where the Darkness Is

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Where the Darkness Is

Mbey has, of all the five nations of Ifri, the best claim at being a true empire, for it controls not one land, but six. Mbey technically refers only to the empire's most central kingdom, full of thick rainforests in a shallow basin, where the Bour Ba rules and oversees the western vassals. The Bour Bas have always ruled Mbey, as one of the five kings blessed by the Jok with a Sika'Dwa stool. The kingdoms of Nder, Mboul, Diourbel, Gelwaar and Kahone saw the mandate in this and pledged themselves to Mbey, and the unity has never been broken. At its greatest height, the Mbey Empire cast a shadow over all of Ifri. None could match its wealth, glory or spirit. Each kingdom retained a fierce and independent identity - the cavalry of Diourbel, who raise horses unlike any others in Ifri, the Second People of Kahone, whose wrestler-warriors are known as simb, the false lions, the sailors of Mboul whose craft is unrivaled, the wise border people of Nder who use ancient magic and careful diplomacy to guard the land, and the Gelwaar who kept watch over the Fields of Bonsam, protecting the world from evil. All, however, were loyal to the Bour Ba. Mbey was the kingdom of kingdoms, bound together by common cause. It is because of the tolerant attitude of the Bour Ba and the way he was chosen that allowed for this.

In Mbey, the Bour Ba must always embody the empire's three great virtues of thiossane: gracious mien, generous spirit and steady temperament. Traditionally, the Bour Ba must be of Mbey birth, but the appointment was not hereditary - he is chosen by the kangam, the lead notables of the five kingdoms. It may, at its height, have been the truest meritocracy there has ever been. It was not perfect, but it was grand beyond anything before or since. The first Bour Ba did not even limit his vision to his own lands. In Khemet, he saw great buildings. In the Crescent Empire, he learned of science and medicine, and in both he saw the great ships of Theah. He seduced all with the tales of gold and wonders in Ifri, bringing them to his court and making Lougua a metropolis beyond its time. This progressiveness was seen as normal in Mbey, where the blending of cultures brought about philosophy and art unseen anywhere else.

Perhaps, then, there is no greater crime than the corruption of Mbey. If it had lasted, what wonders might have existed, what evil avoided. But the Bonsam Stones were disturbed, and blame must be laid at the feet of the Atabean Trading Company, the nation of Montaigne...and Bour Ba Ighodalo, the mad king, broken by his own shame. The ATC did in months what had been impossible for centuries - they fostered greed and animosity between the vassals of Mbey and their ruler. It was not easy, involving high duplicity, impersonation and careful sowing of suspicion. They first raided in the disguise of Mboulan pirates, whom they shared an interest with - boats - and had bought ships from. They raided the Mbey coast, and Nder was the first to ask the Bour Ba for aid. Diplomacy was tried, but the raids only increased as Mboul protested its innocence and the ambassadors sought truth. Diourbel's soldiers chose a more decisive path - they assassinated their brak, official governor for the Bour Ba, and sent their cavalry to Mboul, massacring innocent villages in retribution. The ATC had set the fire, and now only needed to stoke it.

Civil war erupted, with only Nder remaining neutral in the hostilities - and they were suddenly crushed between Maghreb raiders and southern battlefront, which often spilled over into their villages. They were dying, and fast. Mbey tore itself apart as the Company exploited the chaos. They profited from weapons deals, yes, but they saw more profit from an Mbey united under their control. A weak Mbey would just be a target for Maghreb and Manden, no good to the Company - especially if they wanted to get to the gold fields of Manden. An Mbey under their control, however, would be a staging ground and an army. Thus, they offered their mercenary army to the Bour Ba in exchange for his Sika'Dwa stool. The Bour Ba, of course, refused.

And so, the ATC laid siege to Lougua. Under normal circumstances, a small Thean army and their slaves would never have stood a chance in Mbey...but with the kingdom in chaos, no help could be expected. While Bour Ba Ighodalo remained resolute, the foreign merchants who were over half of Lougua's population were less so, and the Company knew it. After four weeks of siege, when hunger and disease began to set in, they offered free passage home to any man, woman or child who delivered to them the Sika'Dwa. At that time, Ighodalo saw that he no longer had control over his city. He had, like his predecessors, allowed foreigners free travel, and they had betrayed him. He saw that doing nothing would lose Mbey - and so, he gathered the Ninth Guard, his most loyal soldiers, and while it pained him greatly, he ordered them to murder every foreigner in their beds that night, save for the teachers at university and the children, both of whom he threw in the dungeons. It was the greatest violation of thiossane ever enacted by a sitting Bour Ba and the bloodiest night in Lougua's entire history.

When they learned of his atrocities, Ighodalo's twin sons were overcome with shame. He had violated ancient custom and murdered his welcomed guests, his friends. One son sought to punish his father for this crime, while the other, full of guilt, wanted only to spare him more humiliation. Together, they stole the Sika'Dwa stool from the square it sat in, presenting it to the Company commander, who thanked them politely and then took them prisoner. Before Ighodalo knew what happened, his sons were off to Bellete to be sold as slaves and shipped out of IFri. However, the Company did lift the siege and ended all hostilities. Even the civil war faded, as the provocateurs ended their work. However, to call Mbey unified now was correct only in a truly legalist sense. Thousands lay dead, and the Company had taken all of their pride. And yet, this was not the worst.

Without the Sika'Dwa, Bour Ba Ighodalo had no right to rule. His armies were depleted, so he could not expel the Company, nor ever recover what he'd lost. Mbey could never be whole, and without his sons, neither could he. The greatest empire in the world was broken under his watch. His doubt and shame were too much. It would be nice to say that Ighodalo did what he did next due to prophecy, and by his decree, his griot tells it so, though she knows it is a lie. Even madness would be better. But the truth is simply that he fell to temptation. It took three days of consideration, and on the fourth, he summoned the Ninth Guard and sent them into Gelwaar by night, attacking the guards on the Fields of Bonsam and, by sunrise, finding the first of the Stones of Bonsam. Most of the Guard were slain by the wardens, but the survivors did as they'd been ordered. They took the black monolith from the ground and returned it to Lougua, fighting the wardens and exorcists the whole way. They were nothing if not devoted. Only one survived - but he did so carrying the stone.

The next morning, Ighodalo summoned the five bours of the vassal kingdoms. When they arrived, they were greeted by a strange, fragile woman of indeterminate age and oily complexion unlike that of Ifrians. Her spindly limbs were like a spider's, her belly distended. She called herself Chitendu, a name with no meaning in any of their languages, and she told them they must pledge again to the Bour Ba - a precaution due to the siege, she said. What happened that day, only those five, Bour Ba Ighodalo and Chitendu can say, but in the days after, the Bour Ba took to wearing a long thong around his neck, from which hung five still-beating hearts.

After that, Mbey was united again, but its spirit was gone, replaced by sadness or cruelty. Gelwaar reluctantly gave the Fields of Bonsam to the Bour Ba, who began excavating them and moving the stones to Lougua. He began to enslave Maghreb and Manden citizens to do the labor, with the help of the Company. Even now, the excavation continues and new Stones of Bonsam are sent to his palace. Those who return from such deliveries, which is not all, speak of mad things - an ever-burning jungle, a throne of shattered Bonsam Stone, men and women in the market with dead eyes, and Chitendu, followed by flies at all times, watching. And, of course, the hearts. The beating hearts around Ighodalo's throat.

If there is any good to this, it is that Mbey's relationship with the ATC is now, subtly, in Ighodalo's favor. For a second, he was under their thumb, and now they can't really tell why he isn't. He trades with them enthusiastically, selling slaves for gold and guns. It's strange. He doesn't act like a man deprived of his sons or his sovereignty, but like a man possessed. His motives and ambitions are unclear, but the Company...well, they'll claim they're in the superior position, but they know it's a lie.

Mbey rules over 300 miles of land, 200 miles wie. It is half the size of its nearest rivals, yet has traditionally been stronger than both. Until now, it has always ruled supreme in the western coast, its enemies unable to pierce its border. Now...well, now the border is a battlefield for slavers. Nder is the northmost kingdom, nestled in the Mbey River Valley. It is the smallest yet most vital vassal. The river floods twice a year, irrigating its fields and feeding the entire nation of Mbey. Unfortunately, Nder appears to have almost vanished. The day the Bonsam Fields were excavated, a thick fog covered the entire area. You can go towards it, but you'll just end up where you started. Rumors abound, but some say that the recent resistance to the Bour Ba is from the invisible people of Nder, that vanishing was their last, desperate act, that they were tied to the land and that their magic made it leave. No matter how it was done, Nder's vanishing puts great pressure on the other kingdoms to provide.

Mboul is near Nder, or where it once was, the border lying where the savannah gave way to forest. The trees are the key to Mbey, and while Nder was the heart of commerce in the nation, Mboul was its richest kingdom due to the easy lumber that could be used for ships. For over a century, Mboul (and so Mbey) was the maritime power of Ifri, whose hsips connected the coast and made empire possible. Their presence was common even as far away as Khemet, and it was Mboul that first met the ATC. Heading further south you hit Gelwaar, the least hospitable kingdom. Only its shores, where the oncean rains hit, are green. Inland is just a sandy expanse, mostly notable for the Stones of Bonsam interspersed throughout. IT was here, in ages past, that the Jok defeated Bonsam and imprisoned them in the black obelisks, some clustered thick, others left alone.

Head east until you can no longer see the Stones, and you will reach Diourbel. It is like Gelwaar, but grassy, good for grazing its famous horses. These ae ulike any horses in Ifri, except perhaps the few that the northern kingdoms have gained from Crescent trade. Keep going and you reach Kahone, a land of rivers and lakes but similar climate. Both are full of dense rainforest, and the main difference, according to the locals, is that Kahone is home of the Second People. The two lands were once almost one, shared by the First and Second, but that was in times past, before the ATC came and founded their colony on the Kahone River's mouth. Before they began preying on the Second People as slaves and sent them as refugees, much as they once had been from Maghreb. Now, Kahone is increasingly abandoned by its people, barely a kingdom. At the heart of it all, though, is Mbey, shielded by the Mbey Mountains. Once, it was a land of fog and mist, but now, the jungle burns, forever on fire, and there is only steam and vents where mist once lay. Only beasts that can survive the flames live there now, and many strange and terrible monsters. The natives have fled to the capital, where the Bour Ba shields them from fiery death. Some say death would be preferable, but never loudly. Something might be listening.

Next time: Life in the land of devils.

Lands of Gold and Fire - Mbey Before Dark

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Mbey Before Dark

The most fundamental social division in Mbey is between commoner and kangam. Most people are commoners, though obviously there are subtle distinctions between those who labor and those who craft. In principle, a kangam is the same - they do the same work and live in the same place as commoners. What distinguishes them is the respect given to them. 'Kangam' translates to 'most notable'. In theory they are the nobles of Mbey, though no Thean would recognize it that way. The kangam live among the commoners and do not necessarily have more wealth. Their status is not inherited and it is not elected. Rather, being kangam is about trust. When people turn to you for guidance and recognize your wisdom and skill, that is when you are kangam. It is an informal process, so much so that a kangam may not know they are one until thy are called on to perform a formal function of the job, such as selecting a new bour.

There is no reward for being kangam - just more responsibilitiy, driven by civic duty. That's not to say there is no reward - being kangam is about being respected, so people will care for you and treat you well, as they respect you. Above the kangam are the bour and the brak. In theory, a bour and brak are equal. In other lands, a bour might be called a king, but 'ambassador' is probably a better term. They are native to the land they rule, and each of the five vassal kingdoms has their own title. Bour was the Nder title, while in Diourbel it is Teny, in Mboul it is Damel, in Gelwaar it is Balam and in Kahone, Laman. They are semipermanent members of the Bour Ba's court, and spend as much time in Lougua as at home. The five brak are chosen by the Bour Ba from among the kangam, sent to live in the vassal kingdoms to represent his interests. Once, they were chosen from among their people, but today, all of the brak have been replaced by abonsam who wear their faces.

The bour advise the Bour Ba on the customs and needs of the people, while the brak assist the Bour Ba's holdings in matters of defense and state interest. Thus, each vassal kingdom is represented in the court of the Bour Ba, and the Bour Ba is represented in their far off lands, though obviously current events have shifted the balance quite a bit. There is one other class to note in Mbey: slave. Slavery, according to the griots, has existed in one form or other for as far back as any can remember. Captured enemies were pressed into service in labor or battle, and Mbey had many enemies. However, with the coming of the ATC, slavery is now a business. It's not just Mbey's enemies - the Second People of Mbey are often sold in the flesh markets, and even the First People can be found on the block as punishment for increasingly petty crimes.

Mbey ideas of gender and gender roles are distinct and important. Women are considered to be, by and large, dependant on men. Tradition prevents a woman from becoming a bour or the Bour Ba, but women are also seen as essential to the prosperity of a village, and are equally able to be kangam. Gender roles are usually less srict in villages that have more pressing day to day concerns, and especially among the Second People, who came from Maghreb and recognize a matrilineal queen as well as a patrilineal king. There is also a strong tradition inb Mbey of gender nonconformance. A man with no sons might designate one daughter as a 'male daughter' and raise her as a man, or might take on the role of a 'male wife' to another man. A woman could take wives of her own. These changes happen both because a person takes on a role they feel comfortable doing, and because of the social need for them to occupy a position that traditionally would belong to another gender. This is seen as necessary to make society function, and those who take on other gender roles often have a rise in status - a wife who takes other wives, for example, is seen as a wealthy provider and family head. However, the influence of Bonsam has meant these people are increasingly suffering from distrust and persecution, which isn't helping Mbeyan social stability.

There are two main ethnic groups in Mbey, the First People and the Second People. The First People descend from the original inhabitants of the land, often peacefully absorbing the other tribes that lived there and taking up their skills and even their magic in the case of the northern Nder. They saw themselves as one people, but adopted names to distinguish their regional differences: Nder, Gelwaar, Diourbel and Mboul. All are of the First People. In time, they found the great basin in the heart of the rainforests, shielded by the mountains. The local tribes called it Mbey, and they built the village of Lougua there. It was, at the time, a provincial village of minor importance. This changed when the Jok gifted Mbey the Sika'Dwa stool and Lougua became the seat of the Mbeyan empire.

The Second People came to Mbey as refugees driven from their ancestral homes in Maghreb. They tend to be shorter, with lighter skin, and they came with their own religion. The First People worshipped a thousand gods and spirit, but the Second People had only one, who had Prophets. (The Crescent culture and Dinist faith were quite prevalent in Maghreb at the time, and still are.) Their diapsora brought them to the south of Mbey, and they may have gone on to Manden had the Bour Ba's emissaries not offered them sanctuary. And so, they claimed the land of Kahone. For the entire history of Mbey, the Second People and First People have been equals - the names are just about who arrived when, with no implication of class.

This changed when the ATC came, and got worse with the breaking of the Bonsam Stones. Most know that Mbey's raids into Manden and Maghreb for slaves have tarnished relations, but little is said about Ighodalo's surrender of the Second People to the Company. It has turned them into true second-class citizens. They remember the persecutions of Maghreb, centuries ago, and so they took little time to flee again, heading south as easily as they did when they first arrived.

Most Mbeyans wear a boubou, a loose, wide-sleeved cotton tunic, which may be embroidered in any number of colors and patterns. Women usually wear a matching headscarf or turban, and shoes are primarily either open leather sandals or closed and pointed sandals, often decorated to display wealth. Clothing is generally quite colorful, even among the poor. There are no gender distinctions for color, and men and women both wear a wide range of colors.

The cultural identity of Mbey, historically, has been tied to thiossane, which is a word that means history, tradition and culture. It is the Bour Ba's breaking of thiossane that betrayed Mbey as much as the content of his actions, though the people still try to maintain the tradition. The first and biggest part of thiossane is the family. Among the First People, the nominal head of household is the father-husband, but he is both lord and servant. His word is law, but any wife may counsel him, and failure to heed their wise counsel often has dire social consequences. Among the Second People, the father-husband and mother-wife are equal in this role, with each having final authority over matters particular to their gender - daughters, household and fields for the women, sons, politics, hunting and trade for the men.

A large family is a sign of wealth, as only a rich person can provide for so many. However, this overlaps with the next element of thiossane: the village. Villages are an extension of family. A large community is prosperous only if its members are well-cared for. Thus, villages often share the duties of childcare, fieldwork and trade as part of thiossane. The leaders of the village are its kangams. Of course, when someone not kangam is wise enough and trusted by the people, they become kangam, so leadership is, in practice, done by those who lead. Most villages are strongly tied to nearby villages via intermarriage. Marriages are usually arranged, and while the bride and groom may express opinions, the final decision lies with their parents. The groom's family makes the proposal via an offer of food, usually kola nuts. Acceptance begins the period of courtship, which can last days or months, ending in a marriage ceremony slash moving day as the bride moves into her new husband's home. Goods are then transferred between families, completing the marriage trade.

A typical Mbeyan workday begins with the people of a village gathering to greet each other and pray thanks to the Ori, and to find anyone missing. Anyone who will need help is assigned it, and the villagers go about their duties. At midday, a meal is taken with the family, and any chores left are done in the afternoon. The evening meal is a social affair for the whole village, with any who wish to join taking part in song and dance before the large communal meal, then more song and dance and storytelling, and any conflict resolution that may be required. Ancestor spirits are invited in and given a bowl of water. The evening ends with a final prayer to the Ori, usually asking to be watched over in slumber. The primary language of Mbey is Njaay, with Nder and Gelwaar as secondary. They all belong to the Njaayan branch of the Kwara language family.

The Mbeyan diet is primarily fish and chicken, or goat and sheep in wealthier homes, paired with millet, fonio, rice, peanuts, kola nuts, bambara beans, cabbage, onions, peppers and carrots. Sauces are popular, particularly spicy ones and red tomato sauces. The baoba tree is also a staple food for most villages using its leaves, fruit and seeds in many foods, as is the wild dika, which produces a sweet fruit whose seeds can be eaten or turned to oil. Soprghum is common in the inland regions as a sweetener, cereal and livestock feed. Sorghum is the only real export the company will buy fairly except for slaves and gold. Mbey's extensive trade, however, means you can find Thean foods anywhere if you look, especially in larger towns or ports.

Stories, music and dance are the cornerstones of social life in Mbey. Every village has storytellers, usually elders whose bodies can no longer do menial labor. They spend their mornings teaching the children history and tradition, and in the evenings, they have a prominent social role in retelling legends and myths for amusement and giving historical advice to the kangam on matters of politics. They are at once teachers, entertainers and historians. Music and dance, however, belong to all. Every child learns the traditional village songs and dances, even before they can speak, and most learn to play instruments, too, especially the popular tam-tam drum. Every village has at least one tam-tam master and one apprentice. Traveling storytellers and musicians are probably the only travelers still given much trust these days, as they have the power to shame people into rejecting evil and to inspire them to greatness. Legend has it that the best storytellers can drive back the abonsam with their tales of hope and passion - and certainly, it is possible for a skilled musician or storyteller to convince an abonsam this is possible, which is just as good.

Next time: Religion

Lands of Gold and Fire - Gods and Spirits

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Gods and Spirits

Mbey religion is, like its people, a mix of overlapping practices and beliefs. The eldest of these beliefs is animism. Like many early Ifrians, the Mbeyan people saw spirits in all things. It wasn't about reverence - the spirits were fierce as well as beautiful, and little could be done to placate them if angered, but you could learn to coexist with them. These animist beliefs rarely gave way when new faiths came and even now, it is considered simply fact that we are surrounded by spirits and only a fool would ignore them. However, the most formal practitioners of animism were the Nder people. Others just wanted to coexist, but Nder was allied to the spirits. Legends speak of Nder shamans who could bring floods to destroy enemy armies - their lands were even called the Drowning Lands. It is said that they forged ancient pacts with the spirits of a hundred rivers. Som wonder, then, why they never conquered Mbey, and others say that it is this power that let them seal off their entire land from the world.

Ancestor cults are also quite common. If all things have a spirit, then surely the spirits of the beloved dead are going to look kindly upon their descendants. These beliefs are rarely organized into worship, but rather assume that the ancestors are always near and must be treated with the same respect as anyone else. This is done primarily by sharing food and especially water. In the Mbey traidtion, death is apparently dehydrating. Assanyi came when Mbey was unified, and it in most ways resembles the practice of Assanyi in Manden. The locals depend on the thousand gods of the Ori, offering supplication to them and asking them to bring messages to the Great God on their behalf. However, this has changed since Bonsam escaped. Mbeyans are often reluctant to speak directly to the Ori now, fearing evil spirits will overhear and twist their payers. Thus, most no longer pray except in times of desperate need - or not even then. Others have sought to commune with the dead instead, though this is also desperate. Dead spirits are believed to be quite unpredictable...but hey, in war against the devil, you take what you can get.

The Second People came from Maghreb and typically shared their gods, particularly the goddess Cyre. They are easily the most egalitarian of Mbeyans as a result, and also consider the beasts of the savannah, especially the lion and gazelle, as symbols of life, death and renewal. The warrior-sect called the simb, the false lions, are both warriors and religious figures. Typically, the Second People weren't very much into Dinist practice, though Maghreb can be.

There were once several magical traditions in Mbey. Most have now been eradicated. The animist Nder have vanished along with their kingdom. The Gelwaar exorcists, who protected the Bonsam Stones and fought the abonsam, have been hunted down and eliminated one by one. The Kahone had little sorcery and in any case have mostly headed south, into Manden.l What fills the void of magic now is largely abonsam worship. The abonsam are that which shouldn't be. They do not play by any rules. They are spirits and also flesh, simultaneously. They exist and don't exist simultaneously. They have their own forms, yet can possess mortals, and can do so without giving up their own bodies.

This possession is the backbone of abonsam magic. Mortals can try to resist, but it rarely helps. They remain, suppressed yet alive, until the possessor leaves. Often, the body of a possessed person takes on aspects of the abonsam, sometimes retaining these even after the spirit leaves. Bestial traits are not uncommon among the possessed, and rumors of them abound. Most assume that anyone who is possessed is impure and did something to allow the abonsam into their flesh. They are often driven from their village, to die in the wilds. Bitterness or even just survival make them ideal candidates for further indoctrination by Bonsam's agents as a result.

The Gelwaar exorcists were the only ones who knew the secret of forcing an abonsam out of their victim, and were also skilled at fighting the abonsam. Little wonder, then, that they were the first targets of Bour Ba Ighodalo's secret police once the decision to free Bonsam was made. However, rumor persists that some exorcists survived, hidden away. In their absence, a new form of sorcerer has risen to take their place - the rooi heks, those who have the Red Touch. These sorcerers are contacted in dreams by the Jok, who temporarily possess them in the name of the greater good. In exchange, they gain the power of sorcery. The Jok are infallible, it seems...but the people they choose are not, and aren't always up to the job of using these gifts properly.

When someone is contacted by the Jok, the world twists around them in unnatural ways that stress the soul. This bending and twisting is the source of both their power and their temptation. Rooi heks often see this power as a gift, but some see it as a path to corruption. The Jok always choose righteous people, but not every soul can handle the stress, and some become tempted to evil. The Red Touch removes corruption from the world by absorbing it into the rooi heks bodily, using the stress on their soul to command the world to obey them as the Jok do. They must, in a land overcome by abonsam, be willing to use anything they can to cleanse the land, after all.

Most Mbeyans see the Red Touch as direct opposition to the abonsam. Some, however, feel it is a power mortals should not have, that its use is evil. It's true that overuse of the Red Touch can lead one to villainy, but most rooi heks are able to walk the fine line of cleansing the world without overusing the power. They hope to do more good than bad, and accept the consequences of their choice. Beyond this, there is only one other magical tradition that remains in Mbey: Assanyi priests using sympathetic magic to call for the spirits of the dead. This offers the people a medium to communicate with the Ori using the dead as messengers. In many villages, the people gather around fires to pray to the spirits of the dead, then release them into the night. Travelers may run into several of these spirits, which can be dangerous. Spirits are driven by their primitive instincts, after all. However, killing a spirit is an act of terrible blasphemy, and will bring down the retaliation of anyone who learns of it...especially those who sent the spirit out bearing their prayers.

A generation ago, the Mbeyan government was very different than it is now. In both, the Bour Ba is the political and spiritual leader...but things have changed. When he had the Sika'Dwa stool, he had the Jok divine mandate, and none needed to question his authoirty. He ruled with grace and wisdom, and the kangam of the kingdoms selected the new Bour Ba when he stepped down. The kangam of the five tributary kingdoms could freely choose any man from the kingdom of Mbey to be Bour Ba, and regarded it as a solemn yet joyful duty, a sacred honor. This is the system that placed Ighodalo on the throne. Of course, no one could know what the ATC would do, at the time, or the stress Ighodalo would suffer with the loss of his sons. Ighodalo believed that it was wisdom, not weakness, that drove him to break the Bonsam Stones. He knew that without the Jok's gift, Mbey would fall - it could not be like the other kingdoms, nor stand against them. And so, he turned to the only other power he knew of: Bonsam. That might allow him to rival the power of the Jok-granted thrones.

No one is sure how Ighodalo intends to choose his next successor, but it is assumed that he and his advisors - especially Chitendu - will be the ones to select the next bour ba, despite tradition. In the meantime, Ighodalo spends his time hunting for his sons by many agents. The lesser kingdoms each have their own bour, elected by their own kangam. In the past, these bour had much authority, near equal to the Bour Ba, and were trusted with near autonomy in all except defense and trade. Now, they rule only at the convenience of Ighodalo, who wears their hearts around his neck. Four still beat; the heart of the bour of Nder is silent. No one knows why. Beneath the bour were the kangam, who had perhaps the greatest burden of responsibility. They are the ones the people come to with troubles, and while they could seek guidance from the bour, who could seek the Bour Ba's guidance, they tended not to, seeking practical solutions instead. This is why the kangam chose the Bour Ba.

In Nder, each village had its own leader, called a brak, who served as chief of the kangam and led the village as essentially an autonomous entity. Brak negotiated everything from trade to war on a village by village basis, with the bour not interfering much...which makes the sudden and unified vanishing of all Nder even more mysterious. In Kahone, the laman was the official representative to Mbey, but was considered equal to the Lingeer, the queen, as the Second People were equally patriarchal and matriarchal. They saw no need to give up their queen when they came to Mbey, and this has proved lucky for them - Ighodalo ignored the Lingeer when summoning the bour to his palace and stealing the hearts. The Laman now rules a kingdom of none, for the Lindeer as led the Second People south, away from Mbey.

The women of Mbey tend to be better educated than the men. The capital has a Dinist university, allowed to operate only if it would teach Mbey's children, and to have a child attend was a great honor. Most boys could not be spared to attend, however, as they were needed to hunt. Girls also did vital tasks, but second or third daughters might be planned specifically as students and scholars. This is far less common thee days, of course. Many families grieve over the daughters trapped in Lougua, behind the barriers of the fiery forests, forced to endure who knows what.

Mbey's economy, culture and politics were dominated by trade, and the key to this, in the past, was the naval power of Mboul, which let Mbey trade even as far as Khemet and Aksum easily. In exchange for generous trade of Diourbel horses and various goods, they always had allies. That is done now. Their ships are forbidden in nearly every port in Ifri, and their allies have been replaced by the Company, which has built markets and plantations across the Mbeyan coast and nearby islands. Their main interests are gold, slaves and land, in exchange for guns, ships and mercenaries. MBey has little precious metal in its borders, however, and in the past, they largely used barter over hard currency. They raid Manden more often now, however, both for slaves and gold to trade to the Company, which likes currency. For a while, they minted official MBeyan coins, but the Company found these coins rejected in every market in Ifri, so now they deal in raw ore. Castel del Elmina, a former plantation off the Mboul coast, has been turned into a foundry to extract gold from ore constantly.

The Company rarely trades goods directly for slaves, instead buying with gold coin, which the Mbeyan slavers can then spend at their markets. This gold becomes tainted with Bonsam's energies, and when spent, they grant a taste of bad luck. A single coin is only a little unlucky, but an entire coffer? That could leave you in ruin. These curses are never so blatant as to be deadly, though - the coins want each other to be spent, and the dead cannot spend. Anything else is possible, however. The Company laughs at this idea, though, and certainly their employees do not seem to have suffered many arbitrary tragedies. However, those who do believe are reluctant to take Company coin originated in Mbey, and so the Company has had tyo create elaborate laundering rackets to get their coins into circulation, and Mbeyan gold can be found all over Theah as a result.

Next time: The Stones

Lands of Gold and Fire - Dead Sons

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Dead Sons

The Sons of the Ninth Dead Guard are the new military serving Bour Ba Ighodalo. They are also the secret police, and also a cult. Ighodalo has no magical power over them; he doesn't need any. They have faith, pride and near-suicidal devotion. That's all he needs. Nearly all of them are volunteers, young men and (fewer) young women, younger than the old Ninth Guard were. They believe Ighodalo is divine sovereign, that he is the only thing keeping the empire together in tough times. Yes, they say, the Bour Ba is not without sympathy for you - the hard times test us all - but if you lack faith, well, you are not to be forgiven. The average Sons patrol is around a dozen people, some of whom have Mboul mounts dating before the destruction of their herds. Most don't. They tend to be excellent fighters and killers by virtue of their amazing endurance and dedication, and their armor, studded with glittering basalt, is meant to be scary. Many of the larger settlements in Mbey have been turned into fortresses for the Sons and the Company.

Places! The [bStones of Bonsam[/b] are the soruce of Mbey's troubles and its current power. They are immense stone monoliths in the Gelwaar plains. Each stone imprisons a single abonsam, the greatest of whom is Bonsam themself. The Gelwaar were the wardens of these prisons, until Ighodalo's forces caome in the night and stole the first stone. The being inside was Chitendu, and that began the excavation of the Bonsam Stones. The nature of these stones is a mystery. They are crystalline, but are neither jet nor onyx, nor any other known gem. They are darker than a black, starless sky, and reflect no light. They cool the air around them, and if you get too close, you can feel something within moving. If you stay too close, you can commune with what is inside, and the abonsam will make you an offer. The details vary, but it's always power for its freedom.

A Bonsam Stone cannot be harmed by accident. However, it is as easy for a deliberate action to break one as it is to break an egg. The only exception is the prison-stone of Bonsam itself, which requires the touch of all five rulers of Ifri, though the legend doesn't say they need to be willing. Noting this, Bour Ba Ighodalo has begun a secret plan to cut off one hand from each of the others. Most believe, given his obsession, that he has opened dozens or even hundreds of the Stones for power. In truth, he has unleashed less than a dozen. One was Chitendu, then the five fiendish braks that attend his kingdoms, and a few others to go abroad. He has, however, stockpiled hundreds of Bonsam Stones, to deny them to his enemies and as a contigency in case he needs more demonic power.

The Burning Jungle around Lougua was once a misty, humid one. Dangerous, yes, but not on fire. Now, it burns with an emerald flame that seems to be alive. The fires rage, but never consume the native plants and animals. Few humans, however, ever return from the green inferno. It now serves as a vital defense of Mbey, for only the will of the Bour Ba can grant safe passage through it. The city Lougua is safely protected in its darkest reaches, all but cut off from the world and forever safe from foreign siege.

Lougua is actually older than Mbey itself. It was a tiny village when the Mbeyans arrived, carved from the heart of the rainforest. It remained small until the Jok came and placed the Sika'Dwa stool there. Over centuries, it grew into a mass of huts and buildings interwoven into the trees, with the Sika'Dwa always at the center. Each day, the Bour Ba sat in the stool in view of all. It thrived despite its isolation, and while it was not perhaps as cosmopolitan as the grand ports of Khemet, it was immense nad very diverse. It had over 50,000 permanent residents, and half that in visitors. It was built from many materials, in many architectural styles. The farmers livedi n huts of wood and mudbrick, while the Crescent merchants were fixtures there for at least two generations before the ATC arrived, bringing architects to make mansions of wood, marble and gold. They then built a palace for the Bour Ba, towering over the trees, and a university staffed by Crescent teachers.

Now, the city is more a prison. New arrivals are few, and those who leave are fewer. Walls of fire ensure only those the Bour Ba allows can come or go. The university remains, but is staffed largely by prisoners, who seem more dead than alive. The merchants' mansions lie empty, overgrown and looted. The drumming of the tam-tam can be heard across the city, and following it will lead you to Ighodalo, either in his palace of black spires or sitting on the Bonsam Throne in the center of the city. The Bonsam Throne sits where the Sika'Dwa once did, a mound of broken black stone. No one dares touch it, for it is made of Bonsam Stone shards, though the Bour Ba treats it as in the way his predecessors did the Sika'Dwa.

The Slave Fields of Bonsam were once just home to the Bonsam Stones in Gelwaar. Once, they were inviolate to all trespassers, guarded by warriors. Now, they are the worst and most hopeless place in Ifri. The Gelwaar have been replaced by taskmasters, who oversee the slave camps, many of them full of Mbeyans, who work to excavate the Bonsam Stones for transport to Lougua along a ruinous ditch called the Bonsam Road. It was carved by the passage of donkeys and elephants moving the stones to Mbey, and is the most reliable road left in the nation. The nearest town is Kabi, which serves the needs of the taskmasters and slaves. The tents cluster around a massive obelisk, 20 feet wide and buried to a depth none can guess. A dozen elephants have died trying to uproot it, but so far, it has not moved. Ighodalo's servants now study it, hoping to discover its secrets.

Bellete was one of the two great Company colonies on the coast; the other, Mosina, was lost with the rest of Nder, so Bellete is now the Company capital in Ifri, and its ruler, Governor Binchet, is quite pleased. It was made from the Kahone rainforest and is now the staging ground for raids into Manden, in an effort to get to the nation's gold fields. It was not much of a settlement at first - just a waypoint for foreigners traveling. The only place of interest was the place the locals called Nandi Nundi, a fertile delta at the river mouth. Binchet established a plantation there and kept the local name because he thought it was funny. In the early days, he used it as a safe place for Company conspirators but that's about it. Only when the plot against Mbey went full bore did it become important, as Binchet used it for his own ambitions. He enslaved local villagers, all of them of the Second People, and kept many as labor slaves to expand Bellete and his plantation, selling the rest on the blocks. His plantation expanded hugely, worked by over 200 slaves, and the Great Auction House became a gigantic flesh market, the largest in Ifri.

By then Bellete was so influential that despite Mosina having the larger slave market, it was the southern colony that was used as the base for the Company's major operations, including the seizing and sale of Ihodalo's twin sons. They were held at Nand Nundi, to take advantage of Buchet's evil reptution, and when the Sika'Dwa stool came to them, Binchet personally sat on it at the auctioneer's stage, in view of the two boys, then sold it off. How the place prospers, let alone stands, is a bit of a mystery. By rights, Ighodalo should have burned it down for the crimes against his family. Some believe he is just biding his time, knowing Binchet is the most able to find his sons. Most, however, believe Chitendu convinced him to spare the colony, and she is often seen among the slave markets.

Castel del Elmina is the coastal foundry-fortress where the Company processes raw ore into gold for trade. It was once a plantation, but now, it is far more important. Is nominal purpose as a smelter also hides that the Company uses it to mint their own coins, more than often forgeries of various Thean currencies. Two dozen goldsmiths run the place, with the air of nearly 20 slaves, about half of whom are children. A half dozen warships and a hundred mercenaries keep the place secure.

Between these two company strongholds is the island Sono. Here there is a small Vaticine church, built by the Company. It is one of the few in all Mbey, because it does one sacred job that even the Company needs: it has a graveyard. The entire hillside around the church is covered in wooden grave markers and empty graves, dug weekly to receive new Company casualties. Bother Rodrigo tends to the place along with two men, three women and a child, all slaves, plus a staff of three free people. Rodrigo is man in his 50s, just starting to go gray. He is kind and generous, but he goes to the slave markets of Beleete almost monthyl, to replace one or another of his slaves. Many speculate on why he is so far from his native Castille and why he works for the ATC. No one knows why Sono has such rapid turnover, either, and the Company doesn't especially care as long as he does his job. He is apparently a skilled practitioner of Hexenwork, which he uses to keep the dead on Sono at rest.

Then we have some of the most famous monsters. The Village the Walks lies in Kahone. Most of the villages of the Second People are now empty, their people either taken as slaves or fled, or died in the process of either one. The Village That Walks refuses to let the jungle take it, however. It stalks the rainforest on strange and improbably legs, its huts pressed into a vaguely human silhouette. It is 30 feet tall, and none know how it stays animate or why it exists. It is angry, they know, and kills anyone it meets. Some claim they have seen bloody, broken people pour from its huts, like maggots from a rotting wound. It leaves no tracks or trail in the jungle, save for corpses strung up in the trees.

In Diourbel, many of the horse breeders released theirh erds to the wild. It wasn't easy, and the horses were certainly no match for the wild beasts, much less the horrrors swarming from the Bonsam Fields. However, it was preferable to send the horses to die than be forced to ride them to war for the Bour Ba. However, one woman, a story says, asked the gods to pretect her herd. Her name is forgotten. The gods sent the spirits of the simb, the lions, into the bodies of her horses, creating the Pride of Diourbel. Others say these horses are possessed by devils, perhaps from drinking the brackish water in Gelwaar. Whatever the case, they are shaggy, savage beasts with none of a horse's usual fear. They strike by night, trampling huts and seizing people to drag across the savannah for unknown purpose. They don't eat them, being horses like any other, but no one has any idea what they do with those people. If they could be tamed as mounts, no cavalry could hope to stand against them.

Next time: The major players of Mbey

Lands of Gold and Fire - The Last Simb?

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - The Last Simb?

Foreign Relations, from two perspectives posted:

The Kingdom of Aksum: The Aksumites act high and mighty. Perhaps they are. But they are also sneaky, gold-loving spies. They claim tradition and unbroken lineages to the past but their people neglect the spirits of their families for the spirit of a king.
The People of Aksum send their spies into our borders, but for once they do not do it to overthrow us. We know they fund the various rebel groups that have formed since the disappearance of Nder.
The Kingdom of Khemet: Others claim that we are like the Khemeti with their veneration of the ancestors but we share little in common. They have long been dismissive of our people. The Company say that there is land to build bridges upon, that we can work together, that their queen could be our ally. But we still harbor doubts.
The Queen of Khemet is as troubled as our Bour Ba. If the Khemeti people were wise, they would do away with her before they fall to the same darkness that has plagued us. Their past haughtiness towards our people has led to folly. We wish we did not share so much in common.
The Kingdom of Maghreb: It seems as if war looms. The spirits of the dead howl injustices and peaceful words are in short supply. Though there have long been connections between our Kingdoms, kindness has died in the desert and the seas provide no haven.
The Company has ruined our long-standing relationship with Maghreb by harrying their ships with vicious pirates, and now they control the rhythm of the drums of war. Whose bodies do you think will be the first in line? Certainly not the soldiers of the ATC.
The Manden Empire: For ages, we have warred with the Mandenkaw. They have preyed upon our communities and we have retaliated in kind. Much was at a standstill with neither side giving way nor finding advantage. Many of our ancestors cry for revenge. Our new allies have tipped the balance and it seems that we have an advantage over them. Soon, their end will come and our ancestors will be pleased.
Our feud with Manden has lasted for as long as we can remember. We would take pleasure in gaining the upper hand, if it did not come due to the ATC and Bonsam evil. Once our ancestors may have cried for revenge, but we fear soon they will weep alongside Manden's if the poison of Bonsam spreads.
The Nation Montaigne: Through our contacts with the Atabean Trading Company, we have become partners with Montaigne. We harbor their ships, and trade with ease and pleasure. Their nobles find excellent respite here and soon we will grow wealthy due to their wealth and our connections. Together with the ATC, we might bring a new day to dawn upon all of Theah...one where Mbey is in control.
Day? You mean everlasting night... The greed of the Montaigne nobles knows no bounds. They plunder our land and resources, and consider us good for merely carrying their carriages. May the gold they wear be a heavy stone around their necks.
The Atabean Trading Company: We will never forget what they wrought upon us with words and lies. We keep our enemies close in Mbey. The Company believes they have the upper hand because we allow them to trade and lavish praise upon us, but we hold ourselves to a higher power than they do. Sure, they are good for making inroads into other Nations, but we merely bide our time for revenge.
We will never forget what they wrought upon us with words and lies. Our people lay under a cloud due to their greed and cruelty. They sell us into bondage indiscriminately, and we know they would do anything to see themselves in power. For now, we are silent, and waiting, but soon enough we will rise against them. Hopefully we can unite before it is too late.

People! Bour Ba Ighodalo was not weak or unwise. He was a man pushed to the brink who made a wrong choice in a moment of weakness. His defenders claim he is the strongest of kings. It is only Company treachery that parted him from the Sika'Dwa, they say, and he knew his kingdom would fail if so deprived, so he took the only power he could. Shattering the Bonsam Stones freed their evil prisoners, yes, and he made their shards into a throne of power. The other Ifrian kings sit on thrones they were given - but Ighodalo made his, and does that not make him greatest? Chitendu whispers these words of poison into his ears each day. He is a gaunt man a shell of his old, fat self, with sunken eyes, who sags under the weight of the hearts around his neck. His voice retains authority, but none of his old mirth or joy. He only ever speaks to his people once each day, when he sits upon the black throne. No citizen of Lougua may refuse to attend this event.

Jaineba, the Last Simb, is of the Second People. The Second People have suffered most, of all Mbeyans, since the Stones were broken. Jaineba lost their siblings in the early resistance to Ighodalo, and they led their remaining family south, to Manden, as refugees. Jaineba has a natural talent for njom, the wrestling techniques of the Second People, and as a child they yearned to practice njom with their brothers. There are provisions in the culture of the Second People for casting aside the roles of one's birth gender for a preferred one. However, Jaineba realized they could not do this, could not cast aside either gender, for they felt equally at home in all expressions. As their mother's last child alive, they have taken up the ceremonial duties of both genders, including wearing their eldest brother's njom regalia as tribute and intimidation, becoming one of the simb, the false lions. This choice to be both roles was not easy, but Jaineba has seen opportunities now not possible before the flight south. They have learned to use the mannerisms of either gender, and can easily present as male, female or a blend of the two depending on what feels most comfortable and useful for a given encounter.

Chitendu is the ever-present advisor of the Bour Ba. Everyone can tell that she was once a resident of the Bonsam Fields, though few dare say it aloud. She is a pot-bellied woman with spindly limbs, oily skin and mere nubs for teeth. She smiles often, laughing at everything, including herself. If it were not for the cloud of flies and gnats that constantly swarm around her, she might even be pleasant to deal with. Some few, however, speak of another Chitendu, a braying woman with a hyena's head and elephant tusks and tail, whose tail forever swats and flies to no purpose. Bour Ba Ighodalo is never seen without Chitendu, but she often wanders Lougua on her own, gossiping with and interrogating the people. Some claim to have met her in far off places, but she could not possibly have been there, given the distances. Clearly they must lie. She is Strength 6, Influence 8.

Shanga, the Eternal Captain, was one of the best sea captains of Mboul. Now, they call her a pirate though that isn't quite right. She is a woman trying to assuage her guilt the only way she can - by harrying the Company fleet wherever she can. In the days of first contact with the ATC, Shanga was their most outspoken advocate. She sailed for them and transported goods, even to Montaigne. The first night she looked into her cargo hold and saw familiar faces, however, something broke within her. Something she didn't even realize she had. She waited until land was out of sight, then seized the ship, slew her own crew and freed all the slaves. For months, she exploited her unique knowledge of ATC secrets to disrupt their trade, but no captain, no matter how good, is a match for the Company alone. She eventually was sunk off the coast of Nder, or so the Company claimed. However, while at least six Company crews testify to the sinking of the caravel St. Marie, someone continues to harass their shipping lanes. Witnesses say it is the St. Marie, its barnacle-encrusted prow covered in rotting corpses of slavers. Shanga is technically still a Villain, presumably for being possibly undead and still quite nasty and indiscriminate in her fury, with Strength 8 and Influence 3. She's trying to be better, at least.

Next time: Maghreb

Lands of Gold and Fire - Not Morocco, I Think?

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Not Morocco, I Think?

The Kingdom of Maghreb is caught between two seas - one of water, one of sand. Its ports are like jewels, cosmopolitan and wealthy. The grasslands and scrub forests are full of grazing beasts and farms, with purple indigo fields spread through. And in the south there are the wide deserts, with occasional oases. At the center is the Heart of the Desert, the great volcano that rises above all of the land and hides many secrets. The land is broadly split into three regions - the coast, full of ports that now answer to the ex-pirate Mar Veraci, the grasslands which hide the indigo fields and many goats, ruled by Hennu Noumidia, aunt of the Blue Queen, and the Ubari Desert of vast sand. Over all of it rules Blue Queen Tasa Noumidia, prophet and sorceress, who sings of what was and what will be. Recently, she has retreated to the Heart of the Desert, thanks to the strange visions and voices that trouble her. A prophecy speaks of a great war in the south, which will end only with blood flowing from the throne - but she cannot say which throne or whose blood.

Around her are possible allies or dangers - the Thean Duke Francois de Toille, who offers armies in exchange for trade and mining, or the eastenr sultan, who wants trade and to help fight the Devil. The Blue Queen works towards an old vision, in which Maghreb is a shining light for trav4elers, full of magic and wealth and joy, but there is a great battle ahead, and the news she hears of evil spirits and dying oases stokes her fears of the Devil of Mbey coming for her land. Mar Veraci's pirates strike at Montaigne ships, weakening them, as intrigue brews in the courts. Naravas Narvan leads the fight in the south, facing evil spirits that encroach on Maghreb, but soon, the Blue Queen fears she will be surrounded by evil, and seeks the counsel of the spirits in the Heart of the Desert.

Legend says the Golden Sea of sand was once lush pasture, with grass like emerald and fields of yellow flowers. The people of the south grew envious of the riches of this land, its fat cows and happy people, and so they attacked. The pasture people, who were not warriors, fled with their herds. One great wizard alone stayed behind, to ensure their safety. As the first soldiers came on him, they struck him down, and he cried out. As his blood spread through the soil, the grass withered and the dirt became sand. The waters rose to the sky, forming a cloud that shielded the pasture people from the warriors, and the desert stretched out. The trees turned to sand, the wind whipped up the grit. Where the wizard fell became the Heart of the Desert, and for the Maghrebi, the desert is a blessing.

The full title of Mahgreb's ruler is the Keeper of the Cool Water. She must care for the people and ensure they use water and farmland wisely. The land can only give so much. There are times when the water is low and the trees bear no fruit. The ruler must ensure that there is enough for everyone, sometimes rationing or seeking foreign aid to get enough food or water. Sometimes, the Keeper of the Cool Water must also be a spiritual leader, providing the insights that the past rulers may grant them in dreams.

The majority of Maghrebi people are Amazigh, who divide up into a number of clans. These clans are led by a matrilineal chieftain, who belongs to the noble caste claled Imajaghan. Most warriors are Imajaghan, as they have access to weapons and camels. Below them are the clerics and sorcerers known as Ineslemen, who deal with what is unseen and mysterious. They are considered semi-noble, but anyone can become one, provided they put in the large amounts of intellectual work to get there. Under them are the Imghad, the free vassals that support the noble castes by herding sheep, goats, oxen and camels. An Imghad must support any noble that passes through their lands. They are considered equal to the Inadan, the crafters and artisans, and the Agguta, the singers, musicians and storytellers as well as historians. The Agguta often work directly for a noble, which provides them some security.

The Amazigh, who form the ethnic majority of Maghreb, consider hospitality to be vital. No one is fool enough to travel Maghreb without water, and the nomads and villagers will notice travelers and send children to ask if they have enough water or food, inviting them in. Often, the children also provide a bowl of water to wash face and hands. If the traveler does, the invitation is accepted and they should follow the children back to their village or caravan. Turning down the invitation is only slightly rude if you're pressed for time. For most Amazigh, building community is the most important thing, after all. They will care for any animals the traveler has, and not ask they remove their weapons. The desert is dangerous, and the Amazigh know that battle is where friendships are often born. Travelers will be offered food, water and salt, and they are expected to give reports of weather, road conditions and strange events.

Foreigners are welcome among the Amazigh as much as other Maghrebi, but they often must live with quickly assembled tents. The Maghrebi acknowledge that everyone should be brought in from under the sun, but family bonds and those of familiarity must be respected. If a traveler has an Amazigh relative present, the group may be invited into that relative's home, but the related traveler will be considered responsible for their foreign friends and expected to translate and ensure no traditions or taboos are broken. This tradition of housing foreigners outside family tents but in the encampment avoids awkward or violent misunderstandings. The Amazigh also worry about travelers that are secretly jinn, and foreigners are often wise to learn the warning signs of an evil spirit, so they can avoid being seen as them and also avoid them while traveling. A traveler that spends the night can expect water and food in the morning as well as further animal care. Leaving before being blessed five times is considered bad manners.

On the coast, Maghebi clothing varies quite a bit. However, they tend to favor long, light-colored robes that protect from the sun and sand, often of cotten, or linen for the rich. Wool cloaks are made for the rare cold evening, typically of the wool of sheep and goats. Maghrebi also wear head coverings to protect against the elements. The poor are often barefoot, while the rich favor reed or leather sandals. Indigo is the favored dye, with the deepest hues reserved for the Maghrebi rulers and the Amazigh. Leather belts of traditional and beautiful design are common, often using a motif of the number five, which is also found in Maghrebi art and charms. Gold is present, but the Maghrebi prefer silver as a decorative metal, with coin headdresses, earrings, rings and bangles being common. Smooth stones are favored over faceted jewels, and everyone wears jewelry regardless of gender.

There are many dialects among the Amazigh tribes, but all can understand each other with a bit of work, even if thick accents or local idioms can confuse. Beyond the many Maghrebi dialects, the coastal Maghrebi tend to be familiar with other languages, especially those of Aksum. Thean languages tend to be rarer, but most port cities have translators, even if they're expensive. Maghrebi food is primarily millet porridge, goat and camel milk and cheese, and flat bread. Thick yogurts, beers and tea are also common, as is couscous, often with stew or vegetables. A popular tea in the region is ashahi, a green tea mixed with sugar. After steeping, it is poured over mint and sugar three separate times into a new pot. Once this is done, it is served in small glasses from a height of a foot or more, so it frothes. Ashahi tea is imported from Cathay, so it is most often seen in wealthy households. Foreign food is sometimes imported on the coast, but rarely elsewhere. Maghrebi also tend to dislike strong wines from Theah, preferring buttermilk, tea, orange juice or water.

Most Amazigh art is jewelry, leather or metal saddle decorations, along with finely made weapons. Pilgrimage boxes with intricate locks are used to secure items for travel, often with keys being sent ahead by messenger. The favored instruments are tambour, monochord violins, drums and flutes, often used to accompany poetry or songs. All musicians, in past times, were women, but this has changed in recent centuries. However, many men still four the mourning chants of Amazigh women, who call out high wails and pound their feet. Amazigh women are also known to decorate themselves with henna designs in geometric patterns, both for beauty and to ward off evil. Men sometimes also wear henna in protective sigils.

The Maghrebi have several faiths. The spirits have dwelled in the land forever, and some demand worship or instruct humans in how to survive, or give gifts. Some of these spirits and gods were brought from other lands as people migrated, along trade routes or through ports. The Maghrebi are quick to accept and welcome new gods as long as their worshippers are friendly. The chief and eldest of their gods is Cyre, the goddess of war. Some say she was the first queen of Maghreb, who allied with the first king because she knew he could raise a potent army. Certainly, the First Queen's tomb is empty, bearing only a crown and lion skin in her memory. Cyre is typically depicted as a tall, muscular woman who pins a lion down with a spear or holds a bow and arrow. She wears traditional Amagizh garb and a crown with five jewels, carrying a waterskin at her belt and with a crescent moon over her head. It is unclear if she was a deified warrior or a spirit, and that's a common debate among Maghrebi scholars. All agree, however, that her arm was unbreakable, that she defeated every lion she ever faced, and that hte people pray to her for bravery, safety and victory in battle. Ger greatest temple is in Cyrene, where she has a giant statue. There is a secret society of Cyre-dedicated warrior women that travels the land. They claim to predate the royal family itself, and they right wrongs, track criminals and hunt down dangerous animals. To join, a woman must track them down and vow to prove herself, taking an oath on her longest-dead direct female relative. She must then hunt a lion and kill it, returning with its hide. Only then will the Women of Cyrene accept her. Women of Cyrene never touch money - the only metal they will touch is the sword or the charm against evil. They may never marry, as Maghreb is their true love.

Ancestor worship is also common among the Maghrebi. Help, the Amazigh say, comes not just from gods, but from the beloved dead, who become gods in death. They are buried in mountain tombs, rubbed in ochre and dressed in fine clothes, with the tools and food for the afterlife left for them. Those in high esteem are buried close to the Heart of the Desert, with rulers buried on the mountain itself. The living swear oaths by the dead, and speak of them often. A person seeking guidance will go to the tombs, praying and sleeping there to receive dreams from them, giving answers in the form of symbols and impressions. Dreams are trusted deeply, as the Amazigh trust the dead and rarely question their answers. They remember the dead for their great qualities, such as patience or bravery. Tales of ancestors are told often, and charms bear their names in the hopes of being more like them. The Vodacce missionaries to Ifri caught Amazigh attention with their saints rather than Theus, and Amazigh art now sometimes uses Thean iconography and refers to the ancestors as saints. However, while this has the veneer of Vaticine worship, it's pretty much the old Amazigh ancestral veneration with new names.

Fun fact: the name of the continent as 'Ifri' dates back to when the Theans first arrived in Maghreb, during a festival for Ifri, goddess of fortune and fertility. When asked what the land was called, a mistranslation led to the phrase 'the land of Ifri.' As a fertility deity, the land is her domain, but the misunderstanding led to it being applied to the entire continent. DEspite this, Ifri remains a vital Maghrebi goddess. Fields are plowed in her name, and her epithets are written on seed jars. Couples that seek children pray and sacrifice to her, and all good that comes from the land is her blessing, brought forth by the sacrifice of the sweat of farmers. Her idols are typically portrayed as weeping, with garments bearing the image of indigo flowers and other lucky symbols. Maghrebi believe it is good luck to pour water over the face of her statues and their own faces when passing said statues. Beside fertility, she also controls fortune, so merchants pray to her to make the way clear for their goods. Gamblers invoke her for luck, and putting seedpods with her name carved in is said to ensure the growth of finances or safe births.

Neith was originally a goddess of Khemet, and she is the goddess of war, weaving, hunting and wisdom. She has no consorts, and she alone, among all that exists, may create things without need for male energy. She is depicted as bearing two arrows, and serves as a protector, especially of fallen soldiers. Her crossed arrows are drawn on tombs, and dying soldiers pray to her for their souls to be protected. Weavers pray to her as they weave, using the prayers to keep time on the loom. Because she is one of the oldest gods, Neith is also often invoked in legal disputes, not only for her wisdom but her ability to carry out judgment. Some say she holds up the sky, so sometimes she is prayed to for strength.

Next time: The Vaticine and al-Din in Maghreb

Lands of Gold and Fire - In Which The Barbary Pirates Are Cited As An Inspiration

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - In Which The Barbary Pirates Are Cited As An Inspiration

The Vaticine missionaries of Vodacce are very eager to go convert some Ifrians, though they've noticed that the worst sinners of the coastal cities tend to be Theans rahter than native Ifrians. Missionaries are typically pressured to be on their best behavior and serve as perfect examples of the beliefs of the Church, usually feeling a need to correct the wrongs that other Theans do as part of their work in Maghreb. However, it has proven quite easy for most to convince the coastal cities to build churches, treating them as havens for the faithful. Most of these offer free room and board to any traveler that is willing to attend a service. Their metaphors, in a land of shepherds, tend to speak about the Prophets as keeping people safe from the beasts of fear and despair, wielding a rod and staff to defeat the Devil that preys on the hopeless. The Maghrebi tend to actually like these missionaries, as they offer food and charity to those in need and have adapted to the fact that saints tend to be most popular as an idea. Art of the saints and their symbols are frequently commissioned form local artists, using Vodacce iconography with a Maghrebi aesthetic. The Vaticine churches grow less frequent the further south you go, away from the coast. However, the occasional priest can be found wandering the desert roads, and there's always at least one at the Half-Sunk Library, working to translate and transcribe its works.

Al-Din is significantly more established in the heart of Maghreb, having been brought to the land not by priests but by its everyday believers, who came with the trading caravans. This has led many Maghrebi people to adapt the al-Din belief system into their own local religion in a syncretic blend. It is not rare to hear Maghrebi arguing the nature of the Second Prophet over a campfire, wondering if his attempt to hold on to life spoke to his doubt, as he didn't believe his spirit could serve after death, or if he was dead when his words were written, delivered by his spirit in dreams, or if his teachings are, in fact, his spirit. These debates are generally quite friendly - the Dinists of Maghreb tend to focus on their commonalities between themselves and among the native beliefs, accomodating and finding overlap, rather than finding reasons to fight. The rulers of Maghreb have also turned to Dinism in combination with their traditional faith, if a rather eclectic version of it.

The sorcery of Maghreb is tied to spirits and the need to defeat evil spirits. The land has long traditions of singing, storytelling and fencing, and these are woven together to form the magic of Maghreb: the sword which sings. The words for sword and song are the same in the Amazigh language, and this redundancy gives the magic more power. The common sword used for this is the flyssa, heavy-bladed longsword tapering to a blunted tip. The blade is inscribed with the lyric of a song, imbuing it with magic. The bearer then writes a song of battle, which is also a spell, which describes their desire to protect their home and its people from evil. The smith works the metal in the forge as the warrior sings over it, and the spell-song is worked into the metal itself. The color of the metal shifts from red to blue, as the lyrics write themselves within the blade. The blacksmith sings harmony, to bring balance, forging an edge that will match the will of its wielder. When the sword is forged, the warrior then takes it to the Blue Queen, whose kiss strengthens the magic and the metal against evil. Besides this tradition of mystically forged swords, Maghrebi culture also believes in the creation of beautiful talismans. Not all of these are magical, but some are, often inscribed with ancient Jok hymns. These talismans are always worn against the body and made of unpolished silver.

Every community in Maghreb is essentially autonomous, but when there is trouble, the local rulers turn to their neighbors for help, like family. A confederation, called an Amanokal, comes together to make decisions and appoint war leaders. These are most common in the plains and grasslands, and the word also describes clans working together as a group. The coastal regions tend to have groups with more trouble agreeing, and the desert dwellers rarely have time for deliberation. However, they are still able to convene an Amanokal when necessary. Above all this is the Keeper of Cool Water, who rules the land.

The young are well educated in Maghreb, by their family and their community. Most communities have small schools to teach reading, writing, math and whatever the local religious beliefs are, in most cases. This formal schooling tends to be short, though, as most children apprentice to an extended family member to learn a trade. While the Maghrebi cannot match, say, Aksum in terms of education, they value literacy, numeracy and knowledge of stories. Coastal Maghrebi tend to pick up bits and pieces of foreign tales as well as local ones, and some stories are actually designed as verbal maps, such that reciting them allows a traveler to remember routes and landmarks.

You can find practically any coin in the coastal cities of Maghreb, either among merchants or gamblers. Gold, silver, porcelain, shells - the main thing is to remember the exchange rates. The Amazigh royals mint their own coins - silver coins, hued with blue - and have several variants. Cyrene uses the silphium coin and the Goddess coin, for example. With the expanding influence of al-Din, though, there is talk of the queen decreeing a new, unified coin in the future, once she decides on a value and design for it. Within the interior, currency is accepted but barter is much preferred.

The military of Maghreb is the duty of the nobles, who defend their lands and vassals. Sometimes, they conscript armies from the coast, but these are generally paid mercenaries. In the grasslands and desert, the ruling families each lead bands of warriors on raids and assaults, either mounted on camels or on foot. The coast also has an irregular navy of corsairs and sometimes-pirates. The Blue Queen does not formally sanction privateers, but Mar Veraci, the governess of the coast, turns a blind eye to piracy that targets enemies of Maghreb or Vodacce merchants that try to exploit the people. These corsairs form a dangerous and useful defense against naval attacks, especially because they're quick to band together if threatened or if they spot a prime target. Stories abound of their courage and luck, and some claim that they have more tendency than most to run into supernatural events. Some even claim that Reis was once a Maghrebi corsair.

The Half-Sunk Library of Theletha emerges from the earth on the outskirts of the coastal city Theletha. Children often climb on the worn marble roof, and makeshift stairs lead down into the atrium, which is lit by olive oil lamps. Within, locals work to make and sell paper, wax and ink. The library has been exposed for only 50 years, when a merchant's camel tripped over the edge and the merchant found the building beneath his feet. He thought it was a tomb, and so he ran off to get people to help excavate it for treasure. Eventually, they found and secured the entrance, but discovered only scrolls, books and ancient tools, many of them written in Old Thean and dating back to the First Empire. The merchant's friends mostly got bored, but several were fascinated. Word of the library reached the local rulers, who negotiated its ownership and care to ensure the safety of the people as they investigated its ancient mysteries.

Several texts within the library serve as guides to help translate its works. Scholars and other knowledge-seekers now read, cross-reference, rewrite and translate books constantly. Care must be taken to avoid damaging them, and they can only be accessed with permission from the head librarian, Mula Arsinagh. The library is massive - while it's called Half-Sunk, the local architects believe that only a fifth of it has actually been exposed - around 9000 feet. A small town, called the City of Pages, has been established around the ruin, full of teachers and scholars. The population is always in some flux, as people do research, pass through and leave, and workers come to help the paper-makers sell their wares. No one knows how many texts lie within the library, and no one knows how it got buried under the sand. Several people have entered its depths and never returned, leading many to believe it is cursed or trapped. No weapons are allowed within, and books may be copied but not removed without special permission from the head librarian and the queen. The library sits at an angle, and the deeper you go, the worse the incline gets, as if it were snapped in half. Scorpions, snakes and other creatures live within, and a few skeletons have also been found in the deeper aisles. The murals on the walls use colors that cannot be reproduced using modern techniques, and most depict familiar local stories, though some are puzzling and leave much to speculation. One painting appears to be of the Blue Queen, but the writing around it has faded away entirely.

The Painted City is the capital of Maghreb, called this due to its ornate, blue-painted walls that are covered in azurite, lapis and other semiprecious stones in elaborate geometric mosaics. Guards patrol constantly to ensure the walls remain unlooted. The gates are of ironwood, carved with images of great leaders of the Amazigh past. The first leader of the Amazigh, who married the land brought forth sweet water for his people, is on the east gate. The west gate bears the image of Queen Tula, who opened trade with the neighboring countries and negotiated the treaty to get the ironwood for the gates. She also established the wayposts on the Tariq al-dhahab caravan route. The third gate shows King Hultan, who stopped raiders from conquering the city with his military skill and his magic. The fourth gate shows the Sea Queen, who belt the Maghrebi trade fleet and navy. Some residents wish to build a fifth gate to show the current queen, Tasa Noumidia, but she warns that the wall must not be compromised, certainly not in praise of her.

At the heart of the Painted City is the Palace, a great building in white and blue, with elegant, intricate mosaics of natural wonders, animals and plants. The former Queen Jayla, a great artist and ruler, designed it, using the architecture to teach her children the importance of all people, regardless of origin or rank. Each piece of stone or glass may be humble, she taught, but when put together by a skilled hand, beauty is achieved. The walls are enchanted so the mosaics shift, using an old magic, and sometimes the flowers give off a fine scent. The palace is three stories tall, with open walkways and many gardens. At its center is the Sovereign's Spring, where the first ruler buried his waterskin and called forth the sweet waters. Even in times of drought, its pool remains at the same level and always cool, so most believe it is a blessing from the gods to the royalty. The gardens are full of date palms, pistachio trees and pomegranate orchards, and the public may enter certain areas to gather fruit and nuts. Guests are given rich quarters outfitted with fine fabric and incense, while the royals themselves have quarters coated in the blue that marks their family. The grounds also include public parks and resting places for caravans and individuals. Surrounding the palace, the city is a sprawling urban maze with many places for nomads to settle temporarily. A large marketplace, always open, is set up in view of the palace, and goods from across Ifri are sold in its tents and stalls.

Two days travel from the capital will reach the Tedmiat Megaliths. They are visible from a kilometer away - a huge black stone circle rising from the dirt. Five pillars, not all the same size, covered in a written language that no living person understands. Books with the writing have been found in the Half-Sunk Lbirary, but no text usable for translation has been discovered yet. There are no breaks between the pillars and ground, meaning the entire formation was carved from one stone, and there is no other place in Maghreb that this type of stone is found. Local scientists name it the Formation Stone and consider it unique. At first glance, the stones look black, but as the day moves, they reveal transparencies. Portions within the pillars turn opaque or translucent, showing mysterious shapes within. Torches moved around the pillars also reveal these shapes, and some believe the ground itself contains more of them. The more well-known images are called the Weeping Woman, the Swallowing Toad and the Waiting Snake. Many scholars from across the world hope to translate and understand the megalith's pillars. Mystics sometimes claim it is the hand of a giant, and that unlocking its secrets will control that giant. More historically minded thinkers believe it is the religious site of an ancient people. Cartographers have noted that two of the pillars directly align with the Half-Sunk Library and the Heart of the Desert; it is unclear if the other three align with anything.

Tariq al-dhahab used to be a major caravan route. No longer. It is said that a message was brought along the road, but its recipient, a wise woman, didn't want it. She sent sandstorms, biting snakes and scorpions, then opened the sand to consume its travelers. No one knows now what was in the letter. Stone posts litter the ground around it - the old markers of the old trade route, which went from the Painted City into Manden. It hasn't been used in decades. Some posts have been swallowed by the dunes. Each post is carved with a greeting, and custom says that you must respond to each in kind. Stories tell of caravans lost in the desert, to bandits, ghosts or sandstorms. Treasure hunters sometimes go out in search of these abandoned caravans, though they are rarely found. It is not entirely clear why the trade route died out, but it certainly has one other danger along its route. When the first king came to Maghreb, he brought his wife from Khemet, and while these children grew up in Maghreb, some longed to return to Khemet and reclaim it as their kingdom. When Tula the Waymaker sat on her throne, her cousins tried to usurp her, and she pushed them back and banished them. After her death, a strange group of robbers began to harry the caravans, abandoning both goods and bodies. Those that survive said that their weapons did not sing like Maghrebi, and perhaps they are foreign criminals who destroyed the trade route deliberately. Or maybe they were just bandits. The legend lives on either way.

The Well of Timbu lies close to the halfway point of the Tariq al-dhahab, and it shines under the sun. It is a crystal clear oasis, full of gentle birds and small olives, figs and stone fruits. It is maintained by the Weel Keepers, mysterious veiled people who never speak, but offer refreshment to all travelers. The Well is said to be older than Maghreb itself, discovered by Cyre while she was hunting. She found a pack of lions there, which attacked her with claws like swords and teeth like sunlight, but she defeated them all over five days and nights. She did not, it is said, kill them. Rather, she transformed them into the Well Keepers, taking their hides and bidding them forever watch over the Well of Timbu for others to use. Because no blood may be spilled at the Well, those accused of crime often run for them. If they arrive safely, they have protection for five days, and many disputes have been solved there, as tempers cooled. There are many stories of the falsely accused taking refuge at the Well while new evidence was found each day, until they were proved innocent. However, the Well is not a home. A traveler may stay only five days before the Well Keepers pointedly gesture at them to leave. Somehow, they always know how long you've been there and never, ever miss your departure time by even a minute. Those who do not listen awaken on the sixth day in the middle of the desert, naked and without food or water. Few have ever seen the Wel Keepers take them, however, and it is said they just stand over the banished and growl, and the person vanishes. Fortunately, the banished are not banished forever - if they survive and return, they get the same hospitality as anyone else...for five days at a time.

Next time: More places.

Lands of Gold and Fire - A Volcano Whose Eruption Is Barely Mentioned As A Possibility

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - A Volcano Whose Eruption Is Barely Mentioned As A Possibility

The Heart of the Desert is a massive shield volcano in the middle of the Toubkal mountain chain. It has many caverns, and many tales about it. Some say it is where the first people's souls came from, with their bodies made from the earth and clay around it. The Heart has not erupted since anyone can remember, though its activity features in folklore. The Toubkals begin near the city of Cyrene, and the Heart lays pretty much in the middle of the chain, taller than the rest. This is the home of the tombs of Amazigh royalty, and some say that hundreds of tunnels go under the mountain. It is here that the first king was buried, and all rulers since have followed his tradition, with a funeral procession that passes through the scrub and desert for days. The longest tunnels are used to house the royal dead, and other Maghrebi bury their dead nearby, usually using family caves marked with white and blue writing.

The Blue Queen often ventures into the tunnels to get counsel from the dead, using their advice to guide Maghreb. Within the tunnels, the air can quickly change between hot and cold, and often the wind smells of sulfur. Some have said they can smell strange perfume or incense, or hear running water. The Queen has explored more of the tunnels than anyone else, and even she dares not go too deep even when she sleeps in the caves in search of dreams. There is, in fact, an underground river beneath the Heart, but its water is warm and steaming. Strange, eyeless fish swim in it, and armless lizards crawl on its rocks. The cave system is extremely convoluted, and few have ever dared to explore it. Some say a great devil is trapped under the mountain, and that going too far risks finding it. Some merchants claim one tunnel leads to Khemet, others say to Mbey. The Heart has always been a holy site for the Maghrebi, and almost all have an ancestor buried in the mountain chain, so occasionally someone makes a pilgrimage to the Heart for answers in dream, regardless of their religious beliefs. There are small oases around the curves and dips of the mountain, which offer refreshment for travelers. One of these is now the court of the Blue Queen, as she stays by the mountain frequently these days, and it is full of white and indigo tents that welcome travelers seeking the mountain's secrets.

Cyrene is the city where the mountains meet the sea, and it rings with bladesong and smithing sounds at all times. It is said that those who can hear the sound of blades before the mountains rise past the horizon is destined to be a great fencer. The great walls are so wide that two horses could walk atop them side by side, and they arem oade white stone rippled with red iron veins. The wall around the maingate is made of smaller blocks, replaced after the First Empire sieged the city long ago. The feet of the massive statue of Cyre still stand at the gate, one foot on each side. The head, twice as tall as a aman and finely detailed, lies in the marketplace, watching over the bazaar. A large, black sword is embedded in the top of its head. Legend says that if the sword turns red, evil comes from the south.

The greatest swords are made in Cyrene from the ore that produces red steel. The ground itself is a deep red-brown, and legend has that Cyre walked among the mountains and was attacked by a wind devil taller than a palm tree, which whipped sand and wind against her eyes. She sliced at the wind, calling on the names of the gods that came before her, but the wind stole her words. Thus, she held her sword overhead and then plunged it into the earth, calling on the oldest name she knew - some say Ifri, goddess of fertility, though none are sure. Blood pooled around the blade, red and hot, and Cyre drew it forth and struck down the wind spirit in one blow. The blood seeped into the lands around it, filling them with the unusual red iron ore, which is smelted and processed in a method known only to a few dozen people at most. This special metal is then given only to the swordmakers that know how to make metal sing, making strong and unbreakable yet flexible blades. This is the Guild of the Bleeding Earth, which swears to keep the secrets of metal and fire among only themselves. An apprentice to the Guild starts when old enoguh to carry a bucket, and only the most skilled and trustworthy are allowed. The head of the guild, a former miner, has been into the deep earth, and operates the Guild from a fortress within Cyrene, which guests may enter only by invitation and which most foreigners never get to see.

The smiths work on the blades at all times, often with the intended wielder beside them, praying and singing to strengthen the weapons. The blades are inscribed with lyrics, their hilts and scabbards inlaid with blessed goods and elaborately tooled leather and precious stones. There is no blade in the world that is their better, thanks to their excellent iron and the secret methods used to forge them. The redder the blade, the finer it is, with the best appearing to be made from blood itself, shining with mystic power. And yet, even rarer are the Sinifere Sarif swords, made from a mix of Cyrene ore and star metal, which is even rarer and harder to work. Only four of these blades have ever been made, and the smith who made the fourth is just barely still alive today. Their identity is kept a strict mystery by the Guild, which demands its members not forge for their own glory. The smiths are closely guarded, for their secrets are coveted. These secrets must be put before everything, even a smith's family. Even their life. They must swear before the queen herself that even should a blade be held to the neck of the sovereign, the secret will be kept. The Guild makes a new set of blades for each newly crowned ruler of Maghreb, and the sovereign never parts with these blades. This has been the tradition for over one thousand years.

Cyrene's coastal location makes it an excellent port for warriors from Theah or the Crescent empire that wish to study swordplay. There are fencing festivals and tournaments frequently, along with stadiums in which disputes may be resolved either with a blade or with the "mind's dagger" - that is, the tongue, arguing before an official court of Amazigh holy elders. Before any duel (word or blade), custom requires going to the head of Cyre in the market and touching it, swearing to fight in a manner worthy of the Goddess and to accept the verdict. The largest of the fighting festivals is the annual Naming Festival in spring, where all swords made in the prior year are blessed, their names declared for the crowd. The city is surrounded within and without with the plant silphium, which is similar to fennel. The grazing beasts are fed on it, to give their meat and milk a sweeter flavor, and many use its parts, seeds and resin for medicine. It is said to be unable to be gardened and only grows wild - and then only around Cyrene. Thus, many coins minted in Cyrene show the silphium stalk on one face and its heart-shaped seed on the other. Some say it only grows where Cyre pierced the earth, as a patch to the land's wound, and so compresses of it are often used on wounds to speed healing.

The Ubari Desert, called the Golden Sea of Sand, stretches from Maghreb to Mbey in the west and Khemet in the east. Its dunes are punctuated by wadi, the seasonal rivers, and small oases fed by deep-land aquifers. The wadi of Ubari are not regular as they are in other lands, and often come only once a year - sometimes once every few decades. Dust storms are common in spring, lasting for up to a week. Dune plateaus build up slowly, providing good vantages for nomads, but they shift with the wind. The Amazigh claim that deep in the Ubari is a haunted place, called Zerzura, the oasis of little birds. It is surrounded by white stone covered in tiny carvings, and is always found only by single travelers after spring storms. Some believe it is a Jok settlement, but this has never been confirmed. The Ubari is also sometimes a destination for those looking to avoid arrest or detection. Its shifting dunes and occasional ruins and oases are hospitable enough if you know how to survive them, and make it easy to avoid trackers. As long as they don't interfere with pilgrims or nomadic tribes, the Amazigh leave such people alone.

Current Relations posted:

The Kingdom of Aksum: Maghreb has respect for Aksum. The people of Aksum were the first to bend metal to their will and mint coins, and they seek peace and power for their own. Their adversity with Manden is troublesome, as the Manden Empire is one of Maghreb's greatest allies. Hopefully peace can be made between them.
The Kingdom of Khemet: Khemet and MAghreb have lived adjacent for centuries, with shared history tying these two countries together. However, issues relating to the recent drought and famine have soured relations between these two nations. The Blue Queen's father requested aid from Khemet for food and seed; his request went unanswered, neither a yes or no coming back from the Nation. Many have relatives who lived through the famine and the Blue Queen suspects Khemet is too concerned with Khemet to work alongside Maghreb for the common good.
The Kingdom of Mbey: Goods coming into the port cities are harried by pirates paid by the Atabean Trading Company. If not for Mar Veraci and her cunning leadership of her fleet of personal ships, the port cities would be desolate or controlled by Atabean interests. The Company has allied with Mbey, which has Queen Tasa on alert. Enemies to the north and south keep her anxious and reports of Mbey troops running maneuvers close to the camps of desert people has the populace concerned. People close to the border have been going missing lately and everyone fears that Mbey is the likely final resting place of these ill-fated people.
The Manden Empire: The Manden Empire has been a great ally to the Maghrebi, coming to their aid during the famine and currently the country it imports and exports with the most. Their common religion cements relationships between their general populations and their military prowess may come in handy if Maghreb finds itself besieged on all sides. While Maghreb remains significantly smaller than the Manden Empire, its ruler treats the Blue Queen with respect, when he could strong-arm the country for its iron and weaponry.
The Nation Montaigne: Maghreb tries not to be dazzled by Montaigne's new and interesting promises. Every sentence beginning with "give" ends with "take"; Montaigne obviously wants the ore in the mountains and takes advantage of the chaos of the coast when it can. Also, the idea of a duke being arrogant enough to think he can marry the queen is a source of irritation. Maghreb has its pride and does not tolerate one who thinks he can easily manipulate the Nation's desire for peace and plenty.
The Nation Vodacce: A strange, backward country that makes people like Mar and Fanfan. Great in magic, but it only sends priests to turn people away from the faith of their ancestors, and say they are wrong in their beliefs. Vodacce goods are beautiful and trade is beneficial...as long as the Maghrebi do not have to talk to them.

Mar Veraci is the self-appointed Governess of the coastal cities, beloved by her followers. She holds court in a restored ruin of the Numanari Empire, and has the respect of the sailors and merchants, as she was once a pirate herself. She was born to a Vodacce mother and Ifrian father in Vodacce, and she and her sister Farfan always looked south, to the land their father came from. At 16, she fled home to join the crew of the Gallant Breeze. It allowed to live as the woman she knew she was, rather than the man Vodacce had insisted she be. She lived as a corsair for several years, making a reputation before she appealed to the Blue Queen to be overseer for the coastal cities. The Blue Queen, who wanted to focus on the desert and the darkness coming from the south, gave her that sovereignty. Mar Veraci is an excellent fencer, dashing and beloved. Every child pretends to be her in play, facing pretend pirates and jinn. Veraci believes all have a role to play in Maghreb, and she listens to all, not just the rich and powerful. She wields dual foils, fencing in the Thean style, and sees herself as a helper to the Queen. She always insists, when others suggest otherwise, that the Blue Queen is the true ruler.

Naravas Naryan is the Ghost of the Desert, a man who has sworn his life and that of his people to keeping back Mbey's evils. He is the beloved hero of the desert, whom children seek to emulate, yet he hopes none ever have his lot in life. His twin sister was stolen by Mbeyans when they were both children, and it has led him not only to his quest for righteous vengeance, but given him the strange ability to occasionally see into MBey, to know exactly when the raiders will strike. N aravas is the fastest camel rider in the Ubari, and he wields a blade named Song of the Heart. Like all such blades, it is imbued with sorcery sung into its metal, and it is one of the rare, legendary blades of sky metal, forged in Cyrene. Naravas sees his first duty as protecting the people of Maghreb, and he isn't sure how to feel about the Queen moving her court into the desert. On the one hand, he can protect her more easily if she is close, and having the greatest magician in all of Maghreb nearby encourages people. On the other, it puts her in danger, and that makes Naravas nervous, mostly because wherever she goes, so does the Duke De Toille. He also finds it easier to mask his love for her when she is not close. When he can see her, all he wants to sing about is her...and he can't afford that. His first love must be Maghreb and its people, and his personal desires second. He puts off both his love and his quest to find his sister to fend off the southern raiders.

Duke Francois De Toille is a man that sees opportunity. He can't say for sure what he finds most intriguing - the wealth he could make or the secrets he could learn. Both would give power, so he plays politics to gain influence over both the local economy and those who have power already. He has ties to many companies and manufacturers in Theah, and hopes to make Maghreb reliant on his traded goods and foreign banking, wielding them as a weapon against Vodacce so he can start his own rival glassmaking industry and beat them at trade. However, he has become obsessed with the Blue Queen and her ties to the Heart of the Desert. The great power in the south churns in him as he reads stories of the Queen communing with spirits. He knows that learning the Heart's secrets means he must be close to the queen, and what lies there can give him more power than anything. De Toille knows he is always the smartest man in the room, and has learned many language so he need not rely on translators. Despite this, he knows he isn't manipulative - he just knows best. He wants a world in which he brings Ifri and Theah together in a way that profits him extremely, even though he knows that it'd disenfranchise many vulnerable people. His obsession with the Blue Queen has led him to believe that marrying her would bring this future about. He is Strength 9, Influence 9.

Farfan Veraci is Mar Veraci's younger sister, and she is very, very jealous. She was raised in Vodacce, brought to Ifri by her sister, and she was shocked to find how her sister's ambitions have succeeded. She will never admit her rank is simply a result of her sister's efforts, and is quick to list her own talents. The only one who can get away with talking of her faults is Mar, who hopes her sister will mature past her selfishness and petty self-righteousness, learning to love a land where she can be truly free. Farfan, however, wants to control all she can see, burning with envy and greed. She wants what her sister has, yet still looks up to Mar and wants to impress her. While Farfan is not the best sailor, she is an exceptionally skilled mathemtician, and also an excellent accountant, merchant and navigator. She is Strength 4, Influence 5.

Next time: Aksum

Lands of Gold and Fire - The First of Firsts

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - The First of Firsts

Aksum is believed to be where the first humans arose from, and the land is full of ancient Jok artifacts. Its emperor uses some to defend his land, but they are far from all that could be there. Aksum was the first land to have written language, the first trading empire of Ifri and the first to develop calculus and other advanced mathematics. It was the first kingdom to receive a Sika'Dwa stool, the first to mint its own coins, and developed many important innovations in agriculture, architecture and ceramics. It sits on a high plateau, which ranges from 4500 feet above sea level to two and a half miles, with its highest mountain getting nearly four miles above. It is temperate on the plateau, but warm in the south and cold in the highlands, generally sunny and with little rainfall.

In the beginning, it was a rival to the neighboring kingdom of Srek, fighting over land and food. Eventually, Aksum won, but rather than exterminate the Srek, the Aksumites adopted them into their culture, preserved their language and customs. This drew the attention of the Jok, who came down from Iu-Neserer to teach them advanced writing and math, which Aksum used to invent calendars, roads, literature and refined music. The best and brightest of their mathematicians were even able to predict the future with advanced mathematical analysis. This and the core belief in Aksum that unity is good has made them the greatest diplomats in Ifri, perhaps the world. Every court wants an Aksumite Monitor to negotiate deals via predictive analysis...though, as always happens with humans, their talents have also been turned towards war.

For 300 years after the stool was granted to them, Aksum grew rapidly in power, conquering and assimilating more land and tribes and customs. The tales of their wealth and their benevolence spread across the world, but they remained humble, and continued to offer mercy and friendship to the defeated. They never started wars, and lost only one of those they fought. They were a great naval power at that time, a rival to the Numanari First Empire. However, their fights with the Numanari and the Crescents overtaxed them, and they fell into decline, eventually losing at the end of a six century reign of greatness. As their bounty left them, the rulers of Aksum grew greedy. Negusa Nagast Wey and his three successors fell to immoral behavior in hopes of regaining lost wealth and power.

These rulers resurrected the worship of ancient, pelagic god-horrors that rested deep in the ocean and did not care for humanity at all. The Sika'Dwa's connection to the land eroded its bounty as the corruption of the Negusa Nagast spread. At last, with Aksum weakened, the Second Prophet and his family came to the once-great empire. Tafari, the Prophet's son, took control of Aksum as the first Orthodox Anidi Hibiri Tefet'iro Emperor. It is said that the ancient oceanic faiths brought forth monsters to test the Prophet Khalil, but all fell before him. The cultists swore he must die by their hand, and even today, remnants of these ancient cults remain in the shadows. Their gods are immortal and they are patient - after all, the Prophet and his family were only mortal. Vengeance can take time.

Every emperor or empress since can trace a direct line to Tafari, who converted the kingdom to worship of Theus. Each generation has slightly altered the Imperial crest to reflect their faith and the aspects of the Prophet they most admire. The only part never to change is the lion. In the following centuries, most worship of other faiths has weakened. Now, nearly 70 percent of Aksum are practitioners of the Orthodox Anidi Hibiri Tefet'iro Church. Some in rural areas still worship the god Ajuk, however. In the past, these religions coexisted peacefully, and Tafari never outlawed the old faiths or persecute them. Now, however, things have changed. The Church sends envoys out to assert dogma and get people to reject the old ways. At the same time, the Vodacce traders have turned from ancient partners to bitter rivals, cutting into Aksumite trade, breaking treaties and always blaming other Vodacce Princes. Emperor Makonnen has taken to using trade ships full of soldiers to ambush Vodacce pirates and capture their ships, and has sent diplomats to Castille, Ussura and Vesten to get them to pressure the Vodacce.

Within the last decade, Aksum has been fighting Manden over trade exports. While Aksum lacks Manden's rich resources, it has pressured them by using predictive analysis on troop and fleet movements, minimizing Aksumite losses and maximizing Mandenka casualties. Weary of war, one year ago both kingdoms agreed to a political marriage to bring peace. Crops continue to fail, and rumors speak of darkness encroaching on Aksum. Relic hunters have spoken of unholy horrors in ancient ruins, and in the south, the crops are wilting into gelatinous messes.

The Nebiyi Monitors of Aksum have had many names over the centuries. Logopolians, Chroniclers, Mathemagicians. They practice the art of advanced analysis via elevated math, analysing the universe and making it sing. To do this, they must dedicate their lives to the numbers, studying and enhancing their memory, perception and analytical skills so they can recognize important conjunctions between people and events. This is more than just logic and calculation, and Monitors describe it as akin to navigating a complex river with many paths, finding the one that leads back to the main course. Monitors study math in conjunction with strict mental exercises, using both book learning and special mnemonics to reinforce computations into muscle memory and deductive patterns. While most rely on written computations to some extent, the greatest are said to do their work in empty rooms, unaided.

The near-instant process of analytical calculation appears magical to many, but is actually based on decades of mundane practice handed down through Aksumite history. Even Aksumite children learn the basics of math using rhyming songs and number games. Aksumite culture prizes logic and predictability, and thus with proper focus (and luck) a trained Monitor can predict nearly anything based on sufficiently detailed initial conditions. This is more than a science - it is a spiritual art, involving meditation, prayer and ritual chants to aid in the predictions. Most credit the Jok with intervening to reveal truths, as making simple longhand equations results only in meaningless numbers. It is only by combining spiritual numerology with advanced math that the Monitors are able to predict. No outsider has ever become a Monitor - apparently, only Aksumites have the gift for it, possibly as a result of how they are raised and surrounded by mathematical determinism at all times, or perhaps because the Jok do not grant the gift to other peoples.

Aksum divides its people into five distinct economic classes. All of them are literate and even the most humble farmer understands basic mathematics. Everyone is given a chance to learn, but political and economic power are not shared evenly, though all classes maintain some control of their own destinies. Because the classes interact freely and regularly, it is not hard for a foreigner to accidentally insult a powerful person and get challenged to a duel of words and debate. (These duels are much more common in Aksum than martial ones.)

The Zfaxi are the peasant class. Their life is generally pleasant, with elementary-level education even in rural areas, run by the local churches. Every major town has a clergy-physician and a practicing Melbur sorcerer, who serve the public not only with work but also teaching. A typical zfaxi day is full of work, prayer, family time and pursuit of hobbies. The zfaxi are not typically beholden to landowners via debt, though they do often have restricted movement. They farm, raise animals and perform day labor to feed their families, and may try to raise in station by selling crafts or pursuing additional education. This is a process requiring time, lots of effort and some luck. The Vwie are the middle class - wealthy merchants and traders, but without religious or royal power. They control the export and import of goods and most of the internal trade of cities. This class also covers civil servants. The vwie receive a university-level education, unlike zfaxi, and may move freely if they can afford it. This class covers most architects, military officers and merchants, and their work days tend to be shorter and easier than those of the zfaxi.

The clergy are a third, vital class in Aksum, as important here as the Vaticine priests are in Castille. All clergy are given deep respect regardless of their rank in the Orthodox Anidi Hibiri Tefet'iro Church, and they can move freely through the land. They are subject to Church discipline rather than most criminal law, and their actions are unlikely to be questioned or reprimanded by civil authority regardless of what they are - certainly nothing worse than a slap on the wrist from a provincial negus. Historically this privilege has rarely been misused, but as Aksum falters under difficult times, corruption grows more common among the priesthood, and the abuse of their privilege grows more likely.

Next time: Nobles and Imperials

Lands of Gold and Fire - These Guys Are Not Ethiopia BTW

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - These Guys Are Not Ethiopia BTW

There are two distinct subclasses of noble royalty in Aksum. The first class of royalty, which includes the negus, live in stone palaces and take an active role in commanding their domains. A negus or niste night command troops in their region and ensure their readiness, especially given the recently ended war with Manden. Beyond this, they live a life of luxury, with little responsibility. The second class are nobles that have, due to various circumstances, lost their land, wealth and influence. Most of these are little more than zfaxi with a title, but they will not give that up. A displaced noble will often assume their loss of status is transitory and that they will return to wealth and power. Many, however, are forced to sell their lands and make bad deals with criminals just to retain their high lifestyle.

The imperials are the highest class, made up of the family of Negusa Nagast Makonnen and his queen, Zufan. The Negusa Nagast's word is divine and his orders unquestionable. The imperials are the smallest and highest class, with immense wealth and privilege. They are considered to be living examples for the rest of Aksum, and the great deeds of past rulers are often cited in proverbs. The burden of being exemplars does wear, however. The imperial family are held up to extremely high standards of behavior, and any ruler that cannot live up to that are pressured to abdicate, which is considered one of the greatest deeds they can do. The fame from acknowledging one's limitations and abdicating is usually sufficient motive for a weak or incapable ruler to step aside for a cousin. The Emperor Girma Solace proved to have poor temperament for leading, and on advice of his royals, he abdicated and headed south to advise the local negus, dedicating himself to a life of simplicity and religious study. He became acclaimed for his willingness to step down, and after his death, he was sainted.

There are many titles in Aksum. The Negusa Nagast is the King of Kings; the female version is the Nigiste Nigist, the Queen of Queens. This the shortened imperial title - the full version adds 'Iziabeher, Elect of God, who presides over the Kingdom of Aksum from the city of Aksum.' Each rules from the capital city, Aksum, ever since Tafari moved the capital there from the port Addis Addus. Traditionally, the Negusa Nagast is advised by a high council of royals, who have much influence despite not being imperial. There have four times in the past been a dual monarchy, which by law required both sovereigns to agree on actions while they ruled. No one remembers why the law to allow this exists, and most don't even know about it except historians.

The Itergit, or consorts, are the blessed and crowned concubines of the emperor or empress. The title is both male and female. Every ruler is permitted one itergit in addition to their spouse, a tradition dating back to the earliest days of Aksum. The Le'ul (Prince) and Le'elt (Princess) are the children and grandchildren of the Negusa Nagast, and is a title that grants imperial status. If the current ruler dies or abdicates, the title is lost and given to the family of the new ruler. The Nurgust are the general imperial family, those who are no longer le'ul and le'elt. Nurgust traditionally remain in the Imperial palace and are given a stipend for expenses. This, depending on the ruler, may mean a life of comfort or careful surveillence. Nurgust still retain quite a lot of political influence, as they have free interaction with the other imperials, but do not have nearly as many expectations placed on them.

For non-imperial titles, there's the Negus and Niste Night - the king and queen. This refers to the ruler of a province, granted by the Negusa Nagast. It is inherited, and can only be stripped by order of the Negusa Nagast. The negus or niste night serves as the emperor's hand, carrying out the letter and spirit of the law, and those who hold this title are carefully watched by the emperor and high council. Under them are the Ras, roughly equivalent to a duke or duchess. They control a section of land and gain income from all businesses and labor there. Their estates are greater than a single town but smaller than a negus' provincial kingdom. This title is often given to heads of cabinet positions, who retain their land while serving, but if they are dismissed, their lands revert to the emperor. Thus, they have great incentive to be good ministers. Under the ras are the Bitwoven, but only two at any time - one for the Right Hand, the other for the Left Hand. Each oversees a department of spies, informants and translators, both to protect Aksum's secrets and to stop the spies of other nobles. The Left and Right often compete with each other viciously to bring in the best intelligence. In theory, this fosters better information gathering, but it also leads to issues when the agents meet in the field and get into problems without realizing or remembering they both work for Aksum.

Lij is the title given to the children and grandchildren of a negus, to signify their status. The Dscah Ru, or court mystic, is a counselor to the Negusa Nagast, a skilled practitioner of Melbur. They summon and control abonsams - dangerous, yes, but done on behalf of the kingdom. Currently, the position is vacant, as the previous dscah ru fell under Bonsam's influence and fled the nation. The Negusa Nagast has decreed the position will not be filled. Under all these other ranks are the Abeto Hoy, the general nobles. If they have wealth or property, you stress the first syllable. If not, you don't, as they must work for a living. Many of these leave home to seek their fortune abroad. However, even those nobles are entitled to a few days hospitality at the estate of other nobles - even enemies. This is an ancient tradition.

Besides the noble ranks, there are also imperial court offices. The Ederase, or regent, acts in the stead of the Negusa Nagast when the Negusa Nagast is too young or sick to rule, gaining the power to appoint nobles. In theory, they work in the trust of the emperor; in practice, they are sharply limited by their popularity. An unpopular ederase's orders are not obeyed, as the nobles declare they will wait for the emperor's ruling. Thus, they often gather favors or blackmail in case they must use it. The Tsefazi Taesas, or scribe by command, is the most potent position in the court, for they always walk two steps behind the Negusa Nagast, listening to and writing down all edicts. They are also given trust over the Great Seal, keeping record of all appointments and laws made. They sign all documentation, not the emperor.

The Agge Neguses, or mouths of the king, serve as heralds to the emperor. Historically, there are two at any time, in case the emperor must send multiple messages or one of them gets captured. The agge negus speaks with the emperor's voice, and has much prestige but not much influence. Currently, both agge neguses are abroad, and a temporary third has been appointed just in case. The Lique Mekwas are the emperor's doubles. There are generally three or four of them, who serve to impersonate the emperor and follow him into battle. This is the most trusted position in the kingdom, and since the assassination of the Second Prophet, it is always kept fully staffed.

The Aqabe Sea't, or Keeper of Time, is a priest of the Church, always. They keep the emperor's schedule and have authority over all other clergy in the Imperial Court. This leads to conflicts when they leave the palace, often. Last, the Blattageta, or Lord of Pages, is the palace administrator and commander of the blatta, or pages, who serve the imperial family's needs and enforce palace protocol. While a page is not a warrior, they do have authority to evict anyone who causes problems, behaves vulgarly, or violates protocol.

Foreigners are often surprised at how easy it is to meet local nobles. In Aksum, the nobility rarely maintain social isolation or unapproachability, even royals, though it can be hard to tell when you're dealing with a noble if you aren't sure what to look for as a result, as they have no special regalia or iconography. The imperial family are a different matter, and security dictates that no visitor may enter their presence without thorough vetting and several guards. However, it is still possible for a sufficiently charming foreigner to get an imperial audience in Aksum more easily than in Theah.

Women of northern and central Aksum wear clothing made of smehha, a cotton cloth woven in long strips, then sewn together. Peasant smehha is usually rougher and less flexible, but easy to clean and fast to make. Noble smehha is usually silky and adapts to movements, but takes quite a while to make - several months, generally, with weeks of soaking in a special mixture to soften the cloth. Merchants typically wear a colored stripe on the bottom of the dress, while nobles have many bright colors in ornate patterns. Men prefer knee-length shirts, pants and collars of different colors. In the colder months, they add a hem-ki jacket made of animal skin, with the type of animal indicating status along with the colors. Pastoral animals are for peasants, while rarer ones are for nobles, and some imperials wear jackets said to be made of monster hides. In ceremonies, both men and women wear delicate shawls made of Church=provided fabric. Each family maintains a distinct pattern and look to show their history and standing, and the shawls end in beads hung from strands every three inches. Social class determines how many beads you get - peasants get one per strand, imperials five. Foreign clothes usually draw curious attention and mild mockery, especially heavy clothing in summers.

Next time: Life in Aksum

Lands of Gold and Fire - Many Crafts

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Many Crafts

Aksum has over 170 languages, about 70 of which are spoken locally. The official language is Ze'eg, and it is the only language used for official documents. It is entirely unrelated to most Thean languages, though it has borrowed some Numanari and Vodacce loanwords. Northern Aksumites are usually able to speak at least parts of Thean languages, however, especially in port towns. Now, food! Zfaxi eat what they can grow, fish or afford, mainly root vegetables, greens, sourdough flatbreads, eggs, eel, fish and milk. Typically, food is spiced with a local spice called woti, which adds a smoky heat and covers unpleasant tastes. Vwie and clergy also use woti, but have more varied diets, with more beef, chicken and lamb. Clergy receive a portion of all food grown in their territory as donations, and merchants can often afford wine. Nobles, of course, have the most and best food, importing various meats, cheeses, fruits and alcohol. This wealth is also shared by any military commander of more than 100 men.

Members of the Orthodox Church do not eat meat or dairy on Wednesday or Friday, except for during the 30 days before the first day of the Lingering of the Prophet. Aksumite spiritual doctrine holds that this fast represents humanity seeking forgiveness for the assassination of the Second Prophet, and so instead of meat and dairy, one performs rigorous prayer. The national drink is tej, a form of honey wine made with powdered leaves, gesho twigs, fermented berries and (naturally) honey. Vesten have compared it to mead with an earthy undertone, and the longer it ferments, the more potent it is. Its sweet flavor masks a very high alcohol content, and reputable tej houses will list fermentation times on the menu. Less reputable ones knock you out with it and take your stuff. A nonalcoholic variant, berz, has become quite popular recently, and now costs more than tej itself.

We get a sidebar on important nobles. Bitwoven Nebiat is head of the Skia, and while he appears to use his power for the good of the empire, his true motives are unclear. He feigns ignorance of anything unsavory, despite possessing vast amounts of secret information on many nobles. The emperor trusts him implicitly, but it is unsure whether he is loyal or instead has blackmail. Bitwoven Mazaa is a short, cheery woman who doesn't seem like a spy at all, though she is not nearly as naive as she appears. She is deeply loyal to the Negusa Nagast, and good friends with Princess Mehret. She does not trust Nebiat at all; he considers her unimportant. Habte, the current ederase, is older than the emperor and hasn't been able to find his own replacement yet. He spends much of his time napping in the garden, as he is not currently needed, though wilier nobles realize he knows the imperial family in great detail. One of the blatta, Atrua, has been possessed by a Jok spirit to monitor the imperials and judge if they are worthy to be given a new form of math. She is unlikely to be discovered unless a rogue abonsam gets involved, though that is possible at present, as there is no dscah ru. She could easily banish such a beast with her Jok powers, but would need to reveal herself to do it. Meanwhile, she just waits to find the right, worthy person to receive a new form of oracular math.

Aksumite music uses a modal system of sounds with long intervals between some notes, varying by region. They use the masenqo (a single-string bow lute), the krar (a six-string lyre) and the begena (a ten-string lyre). The highlands prefer the washiant (a bamboo flute), and in the south, they use the holdudaw (a hollow animal horn). Northern instruments are often metal where southern ones are bamboo. The Church uses the sistrum, a metal shaker that makes soft clanks, to keep rhythm in prayer. Dinists prefer the kebero, a large hand drum. Royal ceremonies require use of the nagarit, an eight-foot by fourteen-foot drum played with a large stick. The traditional dance Eskista is unique to Aksum and performed by both men and women. It is highly technical, and mastering it will draw praise even from the emperor. It focuses on unique bouncing and rolling of the shoulders and chest, and is performed to string music. Amrou is a similarly precise dance of the upper body, using neck movements rather than shoulder. It requires years to learn and a lifetime to master, incorporating moves in which the neck goes one way and the dancer steps another. Rural areas also perform the less-structured Gonbel dance, which involves spinning and moving the entire body with the music. It has no rigid choreography, instead being largely improvised, and is considered a dance of happiness and joy.

There are two distinct artistic categories in Aksum - pre-Anidi Hibiri Tefet'iro Church and post-Church. Pre-Church, there were many subjects. Post-Church, pretty much all Aksumite art of any kind reflects the religion. Even after that, there's two types of art - iconic and representational. Iconic uses an ancient style, with almost cartoonish figures and almond-shaped eyes. Typically, this art displays religious symbols, churches, manuscripts and usually just one person in profile. These drawings can be found on many cliff faces and statues, and pre-Church, the style was used to show hunters and meteors striking the earth. Churches are often painted this way with scenes of the land. Representational art mainly gets used on parchment and other flat and regular surfaces. It tends to use bright colors, distinct figures, and either a single subject or multiple panels telling a story. This is less stylized art, using more modern techniques, but still tends to follow rigid rules of presentation to a degree that Theans tend to feel they all look similar. The idea is to present a distinct story creatively while following a specific set of rules.

Aksum had the first Ifrian metalworkers, and they created many wonderful tools, swords and pieces of art. (Guns, however, were new to them and created only after outsiders brought them in.) They typically work in copper or brass, and the most common metallic art is the metal Prophet's Cross, which has slowly replaced wooden crosses. Older metal crosses occasionally use gold or silver, but modern ones usually just use a foil or plating. In Aksum, these crosses often have a curved base, like an upside down bowl, mounted onto a sphere to allow for easy turning in any direction. Crowns are also often made for the royals and imperials. Weaving is a common hobby among all classes, and it is said that some weavers can weave a basket so tight it can carry water or catch spirits.

Aksumites are very serious about sports, ever since Nigiste Nigist Zaduxis started the Decimal Games. Each area embraces a different game. Highlanders prefer javelin tossing, as it trains hunting skills, while the capital and coastal cities prefer Kest, a strategic board game similar to Go. Southerners often practice A'Nazaha Wa-Tahtib (Tahtib for short), a form of stick-fighting martial art. The central cities are known for their long-distance running. Every three years, each region has its own contest that lasts four days, to prepare for the Decimal Games. Representing your city at the Games is a high honor and recognition of skill. While to date no one has ever disrupted the Games with murder or sabotage, they grow increasingly cutthroat and have become a matter of strong regional pride.

Next time: The Church

Lands of Gold and Fire - The Other Orthodox Church

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - The Other Orthodox Church

The main religion of Aksum is the Aksum Orthodox Anidi Hibiri Tefet'iro Church, which means 'One Unified Nature' in Ze'eg. It was brought by the Second Prophet, Khalil. The locals, when not in earshot of a clergyman, tend to shorten it to the Hibiri Church. This is not technically disrespectful, but is seen as undignified. Several of its traditions date back to a small Khemeti sect codified during the Second Prophet's journey from the Crescent back to his homeland in Aksum. It is his return there that made the Church so potent in his homeland, and the old religions basically died out after Tafari's conversion. Some pockets remain in rural areas, but they grow smaller with each generation. The largest other religion, Ajuk, keeps a foothold only because Ajuk is the Sky God, prayed to for rain by farmers.

The core of the Hibiri Church is that the first two Prophets (and the eventually coming Third) are incarnations of the same soul with the same purpose. Each is a new aspect of the Prophet's awareness, and all are the same person. This unifier soul binds all Prophets, regardless of race, gender or origin, because this selfness is spiritual, not bodily. The Church maintains that only two Prophets have so far existed, and the Third is yet to come. They believe there will be a total of four incarnations of the Prophet, and that it is the Church's duty to pave the way for the Prophet's return. The holy book is the Aksum Orthodox Anidi Hibiri Tefet'iro Church Codex, also called the Yeberalachewini K'alati, and it is split into two sections. The first part is the teachings of the First Prophet, which is identical to the version taught by the Vaticine with only minor variation. The Hibiri Church claims their version is the oldest, of course. The latter (and much larger) portion is the teachings of the Second Prophet.

The Second Prophet apparently was even more prolific with his teachings during the Lingering, a seven day period in which he lay dying after being attacked by seven assassins. This period each year features a fast from dawn to sunset to show humility and forgiveness, and charity and acts of grace are common, in an attempt to counteract the evil of the killing. These teachings were collected into the Ameshashu Git'imochi, the Twilight Poems, which are a mix of teachings, prophecies and hidden messages ciphered to all but the most pious, with warnings meant for the Third Prophet. Many of these things appear as completely unintelligible mathematical formulas when decoded. Some have claimed to crack these formulas, but they've never been able to prove it.

The Hibiri Church is friendly with both the Vaticine and al-Din faiths, but believes in the doctrines of neither. They have their own saints and Hierophant, and many saints were lay folk that provided service to the people. Both the Hibiri and Vaticine have exchanged clergy to share information and rituals, and despite all differences, they are friendly. The Inquisition does not go to Aksum, and the Vaticine considers the Hibiri Church to be a necessary Ifrian adjunct. As for al-Din...well, they tell a very different story of the last days of the Second Prophet. They agree that Tafari was Khalil's son, that he was Emperor of Aksum, and that much of the Aksumite account is accurate and documented. However, Dinists hold that Khalil left Aksum before his death, and that the Tomb of the Betrayers holds cultists that Tafari found and held responsible for his father's death. This does not explain where the Twilight Poems came from at all. Hibiri priests believe the Dinist version is an attempt to reconcile the fact that the Dinists had no body to bury. It burning away was an easy explanation for them to say why none could locate his body. The two groups do not agree with each other, and historians studying the events have found evidence for both versions, which is very frustrating.

Ajuk, the Sky God, is the last indigenous god that remains in Aksum. He graces the fields with rain and brings growth. His worshippers claim that he remains while all other gods have faded because he is a very practical deity with a very useful job. This rather pragmatic approach to godhood works well in Aksum, and even some who belong to the Church have claimed that Ajuk may be one of Theus' riddles. Either way, he is not forgotten. They celebrate festivals in his honor, generally related to crops. His priests are called the Emuron, or diviners of the Sky God's will. Many say that the worship has worked - Aksum rarely gets floods, and rain seems more likely in areas with high concentrations of Ajuk worshippers.

Melbur is the sorcery of Aksum, and it's somewhat infamous. It is, after all, bargaining with demons, often compared to the Sarmatian Sanderis. Practitioners are called dasusuo, or wise ones (not to be confused with the Jok Wiseones). Most dasusuo are nobility, though rural legends often claim that hinterlands witches have similar powers. The most prominent dasusuo is traditionally the dscah ru, aide to the emperor, who risks bargaining with the abonsam so that the emperor remains pure. With the position currently vacant, Aksum has no one to defend the imperial family from abonsam or guide youth in the craft.

Affinity for Melbur begins as a child, with whispering voices making promises to the youth. Frequently, an abonsam will serve as the child's invisible friend, making petty deals like punishing bullies or stealing toys in exchange for torture of animals or brutalizing siblings. Because of the corrosive nature of this bargaining, it is vitally important that young sorcerers be identified and trained as soon as possible. Normally, the dscah ru oversees this and manages the lesser magicians that take in children as apprentices as well as running the programs for identifying these kids. Unfortunately, this means no one is doing that right now, which could lead to an entire generation of new villains if not taken care of soon.

The government of Aksum is essentially pyramidal, with the Negusa Nagast at the top representing divine right. The most prominent military and governmental posts go to the Imperial family, to ensure loyalty. It is generally assumed that, as the Imperial line are descended from the second Prophet, they will have natural insight and talent for leadership. Beneath these are the various neguses and niste nights, each essentially rulers of large fiefs that report to the emperor but have near total autonomy and authority in their domains. Traditionally, these are hereditary posts, though the emperor can depose them...though it might risk civil war if they're popular and powerful. There are ten total provinces, each with their own negus or niste night. Each of these is further subdivided into districts, called woreda, which generally consist of a town and all farms around it. Within these are the kebele, the smallest governmental unit, made of a ward or neighborhood.

Each negus has ten governors in service to them, though due to province sizes, some governors rule over more than one woreda. This means there's plenty of room for power brokerage, and with the recent losses, some governors have grown so weak that internal power struggles are practically guaranteed. Outsiders are often bewildered by the sheer bureaucracy and redundancy of the system. Councils make low-level decisions and push them up the ladder for approval, which then sends them to a larger council, then a mayor, then a council of governors, then a negus or niste night. Large problems therefore take quite a lot of time to be addressed, and even small issues can get very bogged down in petty political struggles of bureaucrats. The sheer oversight involved, however, does mean undermining the system via corruption is fairly easy to identify and stop.

Tafari instituted kingdom-funded education for all, and there is a broad and multicultural base of general knowledge and history, as it has always been held that preserving cultural elements and building on them is the prime duty of the state. This provides a higher quality of life and steady income for the Church. Education is free, but the zfaxi can rarely afford the time needed for more than basic education, as children are more valuable on the farm or at home crafting. Vwie and the other upper classes take full advantage of the public education system thoroughly and generally see it as a necessity. Universities and colleges are privately funded, and take a donation and letter of reference to get in. No law prohibits the zfaxi from attending, but it's generally impossible due to the requirements. To date, only four zfaxi have ever attended university, and only one, a woman named Adina, has graduated. While universities in Aksum are broadly comparable to those elsewhere, their focus is usually on math, literature and history. Graduate students may go on to study engineering, architecture, politics, administration, philosophy, culture or natural science.

Aksum began minting its own coins under Nigiste Nigist Zaduxas. It was not the first civilization to make metal coins - just the first in Ifri. In addition to trade, the coins served as Aksumite propaganda, showing the Nigiste Nigist's face, a stalk of grain, and the words 'May the Kingdom be powerful.' Eventually, a disc symbol was added to represent a crescent, later replaced by a cross when the Hibiri Church was embraced. Coins are now minted in gold, silver and bronze, with gold coins being the smallest and heaviest. The silver and bronze coins do not bear the grain stalk. Coin quality is tightly monitored by the government, with low-quality coins quickly removed from circulation. Gold coins are almost exclusively for external trade, to increase the reputation and perceived might of Aksum. Rural villages rarely use coins at all, favoring barter, with coinage being more common in large cities, particularly trade cities or ports.

Next time: The military and the Skia

Lands of Gold and Fire - Secret Police

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Secret Police

The Negusa Nagast is commander in chief of the military. Frequently, they delegate most or all of their command to a close relative. Keeping direct control the army in the Imperial family strengthens it and provides security, so it's always family. The amount of the military personally managed by the Negusa Nagast depends on their personal views, with the current one being quite careful to keep a close eye on the army. However, each sarawit (regiment) answers to a negus and is known by its home district. Each sarawit breaks down into subunits by orders of ten, all the way down to ten-man units. Organizationally, this allows local governors to call on small amounts of the military if needed, though doing so against the wishes of the Negusa Nagast is suicidal. The army uses war elephant cavalry (horses being quite rare in the area) and infantry armed with spear and shotel. Before the invention of guns, their archers were renowned as the Alhidaf, of legendary accuracy. This is fading away - Alhidaf archers make up less than 5% of the current military. The nation lacks the wealth to fund a fully modernized army with guns, so the officers rely instead on intensive infantry training and a focus on tactical superiority via intelligence and speed. Meanwhile, the Aksum navy is largely undefeated in their own waters, largely due to the use of Jok artifacts in the shape of rocks scattered along the bottom of the ocean, which rip the nails out of invading vessels. Aksum's own ships use the ancient art of jegri, which binds their planks together via knotted cords instead.

The Skia are a secret society created by Asmach Gelila after the death of the Second Prophet. She believed Aksum needed protection from threats both internal and external, and that protection had to be free of oversight. She approached Emperor Tafari to approve the society and gain it ultimate authority. While the Skia individually have a lot of power, using it exposes them and ruins their ability to operate in secret. Thus, they instead prefer to use their influence, money and predictive knowledge to manipulate others, and rarely act directly. The original Skia had only eighteen members, based on the numerological power of 18 as a lucky number. Members have died or retired, but they are promptly and quietly replaced. Four of the current members died in battle at the Tomb of the Betrayers, facing Dscah Ru Rada before he fled Aksum. Now, they must refill their membership quickly, and their resources are stretched thin in fighting foes and finding new recruits. The current goal of the Skia is to end the war with Manden permanently. The Skia know there are supernatural problems in Khemet and Mbey, and beleive that a unified front will be required against Bonsam. To this end, they have been trying to arrange the marriage of PRincess Mehret and Prince Maghan Kon Fatta. As a contingency plan, they also want to marry Ras Mekonnen of Aksum to Lady Teru of Manden several weeks before the Imperial wedding. However, given their position and how stretched they are, they are deeply at risk of exposure. If an enemy does interfere with either wedding, they will need to act decisively, and risk tipping their hand, unless they can get some band of PCs to act on their behalf.

The Zuck' Shok, the Imperial Guard, are 20 soldiers chosen from a young age and across all of society, training as a unit to protect the Imperial family and the throne. They are broken down into specialist fighting styles, focusing on the spear, the sword and the gun, equally split between each. A member of the Zukic' Shok serves five years, and once that term is up, they may take any career they want as a reward. The short duration is designed to keep them fresh, inspiring soldiers to join and promoting propaganda through the Kingdom of the emperor's largesse. There are always at least two Zukic' Shok with the Negusa Nagast at all times - one a master of spear and sword, the other a crack shot armed with multiple pistols.

Aksum has a very varied geography, ranging from desert to mountain to tropical forest. The low-lying aird plains are divided into two sections, both abundant in resources. There are a number of rare and endangered animals in Aksum, and its mountains are some of the only places that have snow in Ifri. The Simmini range is home to beasts like the Abro wolf, whose fur is worth a small fortune for its color and warmth, or the Lagurme bird, whose imressive wingspan and golden color are awe-inspiring, and who are often trained as hunters. Aksum is also uniquely home to the Revi Zebra, largest of all zebras. Water is generally considered precious, due to the limited rainfall, and the northern farmers have recently developed a technique of terrace farming that involves stepped flat platforms to collect water, which is then transported to the crops. The five seasons are Metker (Summer), Teg (Fall), Gega (Winter, Uetl (Spring) and Helu (Winter/Spring), with the coldest day falling in the middle of Helu and the flood season occuring in Metker once each decade.

Aksum City is the capital, a five day trip from the port of Addis Addus on a six-lane, gold-painted road. AFter the Second Prophet's death, monks and artisans began work on a detailed mosaic along the road. It has been ongoing for centuries, its level of detail so great that multiple lifetimes have not seen it completed. No one can get the aritsts to say what will happen once the story is finished, which will likely not be for at least a century if not more. Aksum was built on a gentle slope, with three hills around it as a defensive shield. The city was always designed as a metropolis, with most of the buildings in the western half, futhest from the city entrance. The largest structure is the Imperial Palace, with noble homes around it and each social class spiraling outward, with the lowest layer serving asw a protective barrier against invasion. The reach the palace, you must go through the entire city, first through a guarded gate that is the only entrance, then through the market square in the east, then the peasant homes, the merchants, the church, the royals - and only then will you reach the palace. Aksum itself has few fortifications, as it is built in a natural remote fortress. The town is surrounded on all sides by cemeteries marked with grante stele of various size, and mass graves on the far outskirts for the zfaxi. In the east, there are three beautiful churches, and the south is the Imperial burial ground and principal necropolis. The mountain walls are lined with civic buildings, encircling the city. Steps are carved into the rock to lead to them, and the buildings are covered in religious paintings. Even in dead of night, the people work to sell goods or move wares. Statues of past emperors line the Palace steps, and the city is always patrolled by multiple army units to secure it. No matter where you are, the Imperial Palace and the Obelisk of Aksum are always visible.

The Obelisk of Aksum is a massive stele at the heart of the city, built by the Emperor Tafari during the Lingering of the Second Prophet. Tafari, a master of Melbur, focused his will through his father's ring and performed massive amounts of calculations while chanting to the abonsam. In response, 40 of the dark creatures emerged from the ether to obey him, working in perfect unison. No other had ever summoned so many, much less controlled them so easily, and certainly not while performing a church ritual. In under an area, the abonsam had built the Obelisk. It has three false doors at its base, with decorative windows and the words of the Prophet written on each side. At the top of the massive stele is a semicircular base with iron frames on each cardinal side. When asked why, Tafari t old the people it would becomne clear with time. In the 9th century, a pair of relic hunters named Esra and Gorfu presented Empress Ozoro with a five-foot metallic hexagon in exchange for her blessing of their marriage. Ozoro had studied ancient stele, and recognized the device from their symbols. The thing was put atop the stele, and once there, a massive rain began that lasted for three days, ending with lightning striking the Obelisk. In a 14th century invasion by the abonsam, the emperor's prayers caused a wave of energy to erupt from the Obelisk, eradicating one wave of the creatures and making the rest stop just long enough for the defenders to repel them. That night, the rains came again, lasting for three days and again ending in a lightning strike on the Obelisk. The granite stone is still worm to the touch, and the scent of ozone is noticeable.

The Tomb of the Betrayers is on a hill 2.5 miles out from Aksum City, surrounded by the Awowa mountains. It is the burial place of the seven assassins of Khalil. Foreigners often ask why it's so close to the city and so prominent, rather than having the assassins tossed into an unmarked grave. The Aksumites laugh and say that they do not endure such evil, and the tomb is a reminder of that, a monument to the Prophet. It has multiple doors on all sides with stone locks but no clear entrance - all these doors are false and cannot be opened in any way. The tombs irregular stones appear seamless and locked in place, with the precision of their joints unmatched in all of Aksum. The marble doesn't even seem to have aged. No one has seen its interior, but one of the original architects claimed it was one chamber with seven rooms, one for each assassin. The center chamber was marked by a six-foot cross with seven silver coins inside, and seven eternal torches lighting the interior. Rumor has it that the assassins still live within, cursed into half-life. The villagers swear that on holy days, they can hear faint screams of pain and agony. No one could possibly open the tomb, surely - no force can harm it and it does not burn.

De Gas Ruz was once the most defensible city in the region, with its metal-and-stone walls and hundreds of cannons. It is also one of the top trading ports of Ifri. It was a bastion of the Hibiri Church until about nine years ago, and still has over 30 churches and shrines. However, while the people continue to pay taxes and support the royal laws, the Bishop that ruled it was ousted by the merchants due to heavy taxes on trade and his questionable activities. It was a bloodless coup that happend so quickly that it took weeks for the cpital to even hear about it, when the man was brought to Aksum by the Auger's Guild to swear loyalty to the emperor. No one knows for sure what happened in that meeting. Some say that the war with Manden meant no resources could be spared to fight the city, or that the guild had damning evidence on the clergy, or if the emperor just liked the idea...but now, De Gas Ruz is the only city in Aksum not run by a noble or priest. Under the rule of the Auger's Guild, the town is focused on money - and only money. They don't care about shady deals, and it has become a hive for questionable merchants. You can get anything there, but you must be careful. It is, however, still the front line of any naval defense.

Domo De Melbur has changed much in its centuries of existence, starting as little more than a few huts for Melbur sorcerers. Now, they are a sprawling monastery with walls of ivory and stone, hide on a flat-topped highland mountain. It was purposefully chosen for its defensibility and isolation but ability to maintain its own crops. There was a fear that making deals with abonsam was ab ad idea, so the sorcery was permitted solely to improve trade, and a permanent squad was placed at the base of the mountain, with orders to allow only official passage and to slay any escaping abonsams. This would allow Aksumite traders to fly on the wings of demons, escaping sea dangers easily. As more and more went to the monastery to learn Melbur, the buildings were replaced to increase comfort, but not distraction. The building is as nice as any negus' castle, but the residents must meditate for 12 hours at a time in the cold rain, under the eyes of the High Monk. Typically, those who bear the touch of Melbur go there young, between the ages of 12 and 18, to learn their skills. They learn to resist corruption and to learn the Hibiri rites of exorcism. The worship of abonsam is banned, but Melbur is a sacred art, taught with extreme care. The monastery is always staffed by a High Monk (and master of Melbur) and 12 other monks in varying degrees of mastery, equally divided between men and women. The soldiers remain even now at the foot of the mountain. Aksum's emperors, it is believed, allow the practice to continue because they know they could never eradicate the old ways, and it is better to teach resistance or control than to allow the corruption to spread on its own.

Thousands of stelae can be found all over Aksum, well predating hte Hibiri Church. Tehy are ancient-style burial chambers, designed to honor the dead with carved stone, though the making of stelae has been lost in urban centers. Only the rural areas still have the knowledge. Every one of them, from the oldest to those made less than a week ago, must be ordained by the Imperial family for location, depictions and materual. They never deny anyone the right to build one, however, despite their piety, and actually seem to actively promote the building of stela. In 1356, they relocated an entire village until the building of a six-foot onyx stele was completed, carved with the symbols of old gods. The reason for this is known only to the Negusa Nagast, given by the Sika'Dwa stool. It binds the ruler to the Chamber of Wonders, which no ruler has ever spoken of to any other person. Inside the Chamber is a map of Aksum, marked with the location of every stele and sites for new ones. This map and the knowledge of it were given by the Jok, though none could say way. Each stele is a rechargeable beacon of telluric energies, allowing the emperor to control that energy, with each new stele enhancing the system. The symbols on the stelae represent their capacity, all of which can be controlled from the Chamber of Wonder using complex calculus to predict and control the telluric flows. (I believe this is meant to be how the Obelisk is powered and recharged.)

The hliest site in Aksum is the City of the Covenant, at the exact center of the nation. Only the most pious and devoted may enter, though many pilgrims come to pray outside it. Anyone within five miles of it feels a strong sense of awe. Only a handful actually live there, all members of the monastery that protects the city. They pray, train and meditate all day. At the center of the city is the Church of the Covenant, a domed stone with three buildings carved out of it. Inside lie the earthly remains of the Second Prophet, his writings and the last items he blessed before death. Each building is painted pure white, then given to a monk to use as a canvas for theological writings and art.

The Last Testament of the Prophet lies higher in the mountains, a great cliff face covered in a carved message dictated by the Prophet from his deathbed. It is painted in bright colors, gold leaf and silvered coins. Hundreds of the devout carved the words. They make no sense, are a poem without meaning, but countless have come to see it. It is a nonsense poem which is said to illuminate and enlighten those who can fully grasp and understand it. Or it might be meaningless. None can truly say.

The Lake of Remembrances is the largest in Aksum. It is 55 miles long, 40 wide, and 70 feet deep at its center, lying 600 feet above sea level. It is fed by seven rivers, with 20 more seasonal ones in the rainy season. It has dozens of tiny islands, whose numbers shift and change depending on how much water flows into the lake. Mapmakers say 25 exist, but only 15 are visible. Eight have communities or monasteries on them, slowly moving inland as the water rises. The most devout worshippers of Ajuk, the Emuron priests, are transported to the center island after death, buried under its monastery. Worshippers believe this brings rain and good fortune for the coming year. To date, only ten priests have been cosnidered holy enough to be buried there, however. Unlike the other island churches, the Ajuk monastery has never been damaged by rising waters and the islanders on that island never go hungry.

Next time: People.

Lands of Gold & Fire - Evil Wizards

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold & Fire - Evil Wizards

Current Relations posted:

The Kingdom of Khemet: As always, Aksum's relationship with Khemet is a profitable pleasure. While the Kingdom has fallen on harder times than Aksum, the government works to keep them strong from past relations. Khemet is the major importer of firearms and a wall against the corruption that is Mbey. Negusa Nagast Makonnen sees the Kingdom not simply as a trading partner, but as a bulwark against other attackers and thus works to prop up the darkness-shrouded kingdom.
The Kingdom of Maghreb: There has been little contact between the two kingdoms, as the war has taken Aksum's attention. During the year's reprieve, a few envoys have been sent to re-establish a friendship of some kind.
The Kingdom of Mbey: Mbey is a cursed land. Aksum has sent spies into the kingdom to gather intelligence. The Skia has secretly been supplying Jaineba and other sources of resistance in Mbey through various proxies.
The Manden Empire: The attempt at marriage of the Aksum princess and Manden prince places the war between the two on pause. The rumors that Aksum's princess does not want the marriage have placed the truce between the two on shaky ground. Many fear rejection means that the peace between the two will evaporate, and all-out war will only end with one kingdom a smoking rubble or assimilated into the other.
The Nation Vodacce: The Vodacce people are conniving dogs. Plans are lining up to cut off their trade routes into Ifri and cripple their empire.

Negusa Nagast Makonnen has ruled Aksum for 40 years and is nearly 60. He is once a more passionate man, and is still more interested in stopping riots and calming people than in finding the actual cause of unrest. He's mellowed, however, and no longer lives in the shadow of his father, who was more general than king. Makonnen is a tall, thin man of great wisdom and confidence, though he speaks softly and rarely. He prefers to let others speak most of the time, so that when he does do it, his words carry a lot of weight. Even if he wasn't the divine king of Aksum, his natural charisma would make people listen to him. He has lost two sons and two daughters, with only his fifth child, Princess Mehret, surviving. He knows that he is growing older and that Aksum desperately requires a focused leader. His advisors tell him that Manden can't be trusted, and so he works to ensure that Mehret is prepared if she has to lead.

Princess Mehret is strong and confident. On the night of her birth, a Wiseone arrived bearing a gift of Orun Irin metal from the Jok, and told Makonnen and his wife that their child was "half the solution." When asked for more, he just nodded and left. Mehret grew up distant from her father, who was often busy, but on her fifteenth birthday he came to her and asked her what she wanted made from the sky metal they'd been given. She chose to have a spearhead and an amulet forged of it, and carries both always. She has never met Maghan Kon Fatta of Manden, but has been taught he is the other half of her solution, that their union is prophesied and will save her kingdom. Recently, however, she has begun to doubt this. The Wiseone never said what the other half was. She yearns to go among the people, and routinely scares her family by disappearing for a few nights to travel Aksum in disguise. She knows it's dangerous, but something about it has been convincing her that the Mandenka prince is not her solution.

Niyyat Senai, the Lady of Futures is brilliant. She is tall, elegant and possibly the best Nebiyi Monitor in a generation. She is the Lady of Futures because, so far, she's never been wrong. Her work has prevented floods, aided the military and, most recently, supported the claim that Princess Mehret's destiny is to marry the Mandenka prince. The problem is that Niyyat Senai has been locked in a single room for three years. A false Niyyat, an abonsam called Ataro, has eaten some of her hair and nails and taken her shape. She has been posing as the Monitor in an effort to start a war with Manden. Makonnen trusts her calculations implicitly and suspects nothing. Ataro is an agent of Chitendu in Mbey, hoping to force Manden to fight on two fronts. Currently, Ataro has not eaten Niyyat because she needs the calculations performed, and thus barely keeps her alive. Niyyat performs her work, and then Ataro gives it that abonsam twist. Niyyat has told Ataro that the marriage is destined...but that may have been a lie, designed to help her get free, or at least survive. Ataro wouldn't know. Her Strength is 6, her Influence 10.

Dark Wizard Rada used to be the dscah ru for Aksum, for a little over six years. He claimed to have been the illegitimate son of a negus slain in the war that had saved the queen's life. Makonnen thus appointed him assistant to the dscah ru in honor of this debt, and he served for four years before the dscah ru died in his sleep and Rada got the full job. He began to study the writings of the Second Prophet and the Lingering, learning all about the seven assassins. The abonsam whispered in his ears, and he decided that Aksum needed him to seize the throne and return prosperity. Mehret, meanwhile, discovered that Rada was, in fact, the grandson of a banished traitor, Ras Kidane, and while she didn't know of his plans, her questioning led him to flee the palace. He used his abonsam magic to make himself nearly invulnerable, but her sky metal spear left him a burning wound that forced him to flee, aided by a pack of kishi. He has since raided and committed acts of banditry throughout Aksum. His goal is simple: control Aksum as the emperor. He knows he can't do it alone...but if he could just break into the Tomb of the Betrayers and get the aid of the assassins, that'd change things. So far, his attempts have failed five times. He has Strength 5, Influence 8.

Next time: Khemet

Lands of Gold & Fire - The Black Land

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold & Fire - The Black Land

Khemet is the land of two rivers, the land in forever night, at the edge of fire. It sits at the edge of the Ubari Desert, a shining jewel of obelisks, pyramids and waterways. It is a center of trade and culture, yet also a land divided. For the wealthy, it is a paradise of ancient treasures and opportunities. For the poor, it is forever shadowed, slowly being torn apart by corruption and greed. Khemet lays claim to a history that stretches back farther than any, predating even the Numanari. Visitors often note the sheer number of ancient structures - the pyramids, yes, but even the villages have buildings that have been around for thousands of years, pottery containing ancient scrolls, and more. To the natives, these are just reminders of the past. Of course they exist - the ruling dynasty has taken great pains to ensure the history is preserved. Finding old artifacts is just a thing that happens, like finding your grandpa's diary in the attic. A curiosity, little more. Thean treasure hunters sometimes come to look for valuables, but the Khemeti have no love of tomb robbers.

Long ago, Khemet was graced by the Jok. The earliest tales speak of a land trapped under a dark sky, which the sun could not touch, until the Jok banished the unnatural darkness. It had been brought by an ancient enemy seeking a home in which to build eternal night. The Jok used bright blue seeds and sky metal, working with the people to drive off the corrupted and set right the wrongs, granting a Sika'Dwa stool to a wise leader. They left behind nine of their own, nine gods who would live in Khemet and care for it. These were the Ennead, and their temples still stand, though they begin to crumble as the darkness returns.

The Ennead sought peace, but knew the corruption might return. To fight it, they worked to raise the obelisks. Legend says the Great Obelisk at the mouth of the Iteru towered over the people, covered in potent symbols, and that it was under its shadow that the Ennead gathered the leaders of Khemet to crown the first king, Ahtunonen, entering the Covenant of the Most High. They agreed to bless the land and its people, to teach their magic, so long as the rulers remained true to the people and the people true to the Jok. Ahtunonen swore, and the obelisk glowed blue as he did. Ahmun, greatest of the Ennead, sealed the pact and brought the sun back to the sky. Of course, much of the history during and after the First Sunrise is full of legend, rumor and even just blank spots. It is known that before the Numanari Empire rose, Khemet knew unprecedented peace and prosperity. The rivers watered the land, making it fertile, and great temples were built to the Ennead. The Ennead walked the land, helping to raise more obelisks, each glowing and guarding in the night. It is said that they trusted the Khemeti so much that they removed their own hearts, placing them inside nine pyramids.

With the aid of the Ennead, the city of Masr was built atop Mount Fahrad, to rule over the land. King Ahtunonen led the priests and the people with wisdom and compassion. No one is totally sure who the Jok Ennead truly were. Some say they were just legend. The Vaticine holds that they may have been potent spirits or magical entities, but not gods and not equal to Theus. Scholars debate if the many structures in Khemet prove the Ennead were real. The popular Montaigne view is that the greatest Khemeti works were in fact made by the Jok, who were some kind of nonhuman entity similar to the Sidhe, as the Khemeti could never have made such grand monuments. Avalonian and Sarmatian scholars tend to reject this as infantilizing the Khemeti and failing to give them proper credit, seeing the Ennead as either a mythical elevation of people with great talents or as supernatural entities that merely helped and worked alongside the Khemeti.

How long the period of peace lasted is up for some debate, but the departure of the Ennead is agreed to have signaled its end. No one knows what began this final conflict, but Ahmun left across the northern sea to seek counsel from lands beyond. When he returned, the Ennead had been drawn into a war against the very forces he'd meant to befriend. They left for the north at the head of an army, leaving the alchemist-king Idris Theyt to rule. His wife went north as general, but when she died in battle, the sorcerer-king Theyt went mad. He became obsessed with bringing her back, pouring great amounts of his own ka into giant emerald tablets to control the natural order. The darkness began to seep back in as he did, and demons stalked the land.

Seven of the Ennead returned from the war, heading back to Iu-Neserer. As they went, they pulled water with them, flooding Khemet and washing away many of the wonders they had helped to make. Only the highest points survived, along with some potent obelisks that shielded part of the population from harm. In the wake of the flood, the kingdom was decimated, and the obelisks began to dim. The survivors fought over the scraps just to survive, using the new magic discovered from Theyt's works: Heka, magic fueled by the power one's ka, one's own soul. Queen Nahashepsut, greatest of the surviving rulers, rode down from Masr to subdue rebellions and bring back hope. She reunited the kingdom, ending all dissent, and gathered up the district leaders, decreeing Khemet to once more be a kingdom, now and forever, and that her bloodline would hold back darkness. Her descendants have ruled ever since.

Knowing the people remained angry, Nahashepsut distracted them and united them by going to war against Aksum. Once, Khemet had been the greater land, but not now. Nahashepsut reached out to them for aid, then lied to her people, saying she had been denied. Khemet went to war, invading the Aksumite border towns. The war lasted a generation, until Nehemek, son of Nahashepsut, led Khemet to victory. Wealth flowed back to them as the Khemeti empire was rebuilt. They even sacked the greatest Aksumite treasure city, using it to rebuild Masr. Eventually, however, the people wanted peace, threatening to revolt. King Akheneset, grandsom of Nahashepsut, brought order, sending his son Ahmun-Hashet to Aksum to negotiate peace. During the trip, Ahmun-Hashet turned to the ways of the Second Prophet, and when he returned, he also got his father to convert, becoming one of the most devoted of the Prophet's followers. Soon, Dinism swept the kingdom, and Khemet began trading with the Crescent Empire, using them as a source of money, technology and training in new skills. With their alliance in Aksum and their Crescent friends, Khemet once more prospered.

Priests and scholars of the Vaticine Church also flourished in the area after the conversion. They had documents about ancient Khemet, but until then had been unable to visit. Now, exchange spread, as missionaries came to learn and teach, and Khemeti emissaries went abroad. Small Khemeti enclaves appeared in many Thean cities, bringing their food and culture with them. Throughout it all, the ruling family has descended purely from Nahashepsut - even going so far as to only marry their own family or close relatives in the ruling classes. They passed down the secrets of Jok magic, never sharing it outside the line. It is said that her jealousy over the Jok power led Queen Twosret to seek a lover outside of her cousin-husband, King Makaret. Twosret was the rightful ruler, but had largely been displaced by her popular cousin Makaret, a general, before their marriage. Even her father had favored Makaret, teaching him the Jok secrets instead of Twosret. It is said that the enraged queen took a handsome stranger as her lover for seven days and nights, and when she returned from the summer palace in Kyber, she reconciled with her husband. Nine months later, her son Siptah was born.

On the night of his birth, Twosret announced that Makaret was assassinated by enemies in the court. For the safety of her son, he would be raised in seclusion. There would be no birth celebration - only a time of mourning. Still, it was a time of plenty, and Twosret was praised enough that rumors of her paranoia were largely overlooked. Priests declared the crown prince a gift, and both the Jok priests and the Dinist clerics blessed him. This kept the rumors spreading that all who witnessed his birth, down to the least servant, died before he ate his first meal. However, as Khemet's fortune grew, so did the queen's paranoia. She doubled, then tripled the guard on her palace, increasingly growing unwilling to meet anyone new. Rumors began to spread that she had a hand in her husband's death, though they were severely punished. Only Siptah was spared her anger.

Things reached a head when some unknown party attempted to kidnap the ten-year-old Siptah. The queen had every conspirator executed, and ruthlessly beheaded all of Siptah's guards, moving him to the summer palace in Kyber and turning it into a (lush, gardened) prison. She ruled as regent while Siptah remained isolated. Twosret promised her nobles rewards if they would send their children to be his playmates...permanently. This only spread more rumors, that Siptah was strange and otherworldly, though those who spoke of it too much vanished. Khemet rapidly fell into decline, as famine spread and banditry became common. Within 5 years, the nation was known as a hive of corruption and crime. Pirates ruled the rivers, politicians took bribes to ignore criminal cartels, it was terrible. The Queen took an Aksumite consort, Amlak Bey, in the hopes of bringing some stability. It did little but make the acrimony between the Ennead worshippers and the Dinists worse. Since then, Twosret has survived six assassination attempts, some say by strange magic and guardians.

Worse, a strange omen has happened. The days have grown shorter - quite literally. Where once the sun was hot and strong, it is now weak, setting earlier - though if one crosses the border, the light returns. There is no scientific explanation - Khemet is cursed. By the time Siptah was 15, there were only eight hours of light per day. Plants have withered and beasts have come out of the mountains to hunt. The Khemeti adjust as best they can, but it is clear that the dark times are back. In the brief periods of light, business is done, but only the bravest or most foolish go out by night, when only the best warded cities are safe from bandits and animal attacks. Khemet is now called the Black Lands, due to the unnatural night and strange monsters that have come to it.

Next time: Prince Siptah - Threat Or Menace

Lands of Gold & Fire - Yeah I Have No Idea What's Up With Siptah

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold & Fire - Yeah I Have No Idea What's Up With Siptah

Prince Siptah has had dozens of servants and teachers, has met with visiting rulers and dignitaries...but no one can remember what he actually looks like. He is described as a bright boy, caring and articulate, a strong prince who will rule well. The only physical description, however, is that his eyes are black as kohl. Some say the prince himself is the color of a shadow and radiates heat like a furnace, that he absorbs the light. These rumors, and those who tell them, do not last long, of course. Getting in to see Siptah is no easy task, though - the queen's paranoia means she doesn't trust people to come in...and those who do are not allowed to leave. Visiting Kyber would require quite a bit of cunning, especially as trespassers are killed on sight. The Prince himself has no desire to leave Kyber - all he wants is brought to him, after all. He tells visitors who ask that he's waiting, biding his time until he takes the throne and puts right all that is wrong in Khemet. He says he cares for his people but cannot yet move against his mother. He cannot be harmed by fire or light, both of which harmlessly absorb into his body. He has a strange beauty, but his appearance is removed from the mind of anyone that leaves his presence.

Anyway, the nobles of Khemet are called the Most High, and have been ennobled since the time of the Ennead and the Covenant. Initially, the Covenant said that those who fought and worked for Khemet would be its ruling nobles, serving the Ennead as emissaries and managers - intermediaries with the gods. This has long since passed. Today, they are a ruling class that is held separate from others. The rest of the population, called the enez by nobles, are seen as a breed apart, lesser, without the blessing of the Covenant. The Most High hold that they have been divinely blessed by the gods, and strict, sacred rules govern interactions between them and the enez. They may not marry the enez, on penalty of the enez spouse and any children being executed. There is no social climbing, with one exception: if an enez does something that the royal family favors, the royals may grant the status of Most High, symbolically transferring the Ennead's grace in a ceremony before the Great Obelisk. Essentially the easiest way to do this in current times to gain Queen Twosret's favor is to dedicate a child of the Most High to service to Prince Siptah in Kyber. Such children know that for as long as Siptah is secluded, they will never leave or see their family again. Many have sent favored children and tutors or warriors to serve, eager to curry favor with the future king.

The enez are...everyone else. They are divided up primarily by economic standing and loyalty. Because it is practically impossible for enez to become Most High, they have structured their own classes based on proximity to nobles. This structure controls all interactions in Khemet. The highest level of enez is the hurr, the free, whose success has placed them just below the Most High in status and wealth. They own land, businesses, slaves. They command other enez, and while it is taboo for them to associate with the Most High still, it is often broken for business reasons.

Below the hurr are the alhadirin, the attendants that serve the royals and Most High. They include all kinds of servant, from the manservant that clothes a royal to the rower pulling the barge. Rank among servants is practically as important as social class, and the alhadirin generally take great pride in their service and the trust extended to them. Under them are the skilled craftsmen, called alkhaliq. They rely on the support of wealthy patrons, and most noble and hurr families consider it fashionable to support as many alkhaliq as they can afford, as the craftsmen make goods not just for sale, but as tribute to their patrons. Below them are the eubayd, the priests of the Ennead, who serve as the voice of the gods. They dedicate their lives to maintaing the temples and performing funerary rites, attending to births and so on. They also educate children at large town gatherings each week or are hired by the wealthy as private tutors.

Under the eubayd are the maharib, the warriors. These are both the general army and those in private noble guards. If a child is found to have talent in battle, they are given to a special maharib training school called a farn ('furnace'), studying until the age of 14 (or three years, whichever is longer), then faces trials to become a full maharib. The prince is known to have a squad of elites at Kyber called the Falcons of the Wind who guard him personally. Under the warriors are the quawiun, the laborers, who are the largest group. They work in all kinds of positions, from fishing and farming to building. While they are low on the structure, everyone understand that without them, no one eats, so they are generally given respect. The lowest rank is the mafqud, the misplaced. They are those without a settled societal role, or whose jobs are not seen as respectable, such as waste workers, adventurers or treasure hunters. Unlike the Most High, one can move up and down the enez social ladder as you prove yourself. A mafqud with martial skill can enter a farn and become a maharib, or join the priesthood and become eubayd. The hardest thing to do is become hurr, as wealth is the prime requisite, but it isn't impossible.

Twosret's least popular decision of the past years has been the institution of slavery. The decline of Khemet has driven many to poverty, and many towns and districts have been unable to pay their tax. This has led to riots and assault of tax collectors, which has meant the military now accompanies the collectors and soldiers are sent out to towns where unrest is high. Instead of slaughtering these towns, however, Twosret has instituted a new policy. If you can't pay your taxes for three consecutive seasons, you must send one of your family members into service to the state. Of course, this doesn't meant their debts are forgiven - any cost of living is added to the debt. It's slavery, and everyone knows it. Thousands have been enslaved by the throne, and it's kept the economy going, but just barely. Twosret has been making bargains with slavers to get more workers as a result, even working with the ATC and coastal raiders.

The largest influx of slaves has been from a pirate armada of Crescents who captured a group of Yachidi (that'd be Not Jews, remember) from a trip they were making into Sarmatia and sold them to Twosret. She has presented these to Khemet as a shipwrecked people who lost all their possessions at sea, but few believe this. There is now a 200-man 'refugee' camp in a part of Masr known as Gommek. The Yachidi live as slaves there, and any children they have are born into slavery. Traditionalists in the court and most peasants are utterly horrified, but have found no way to free the Yachidi or the thousands of debt slaves. Outsiders have also sometimes been detained and fined for any number of offenses, and if they don't speak the language, they can't even defend themselves. The fees often escalate on any pretense, until slavery is assured.

Death, for the Khemeti, has always been seen as a transition. The dead are interred in family crypts outside towns and cities, generally under hills. Enez tombs are simple, usually, but these can be dazzling vaults for the Most High. Those of royal blood use the Valley of the Kings, just under Masr. Priests of Isira and Anuros prepare the dead after death, cleaning, embalming and wrapping them in white linens before entombing them. Wealth and possessions are put in the tombs to accompany the ka into the afterlife, and each body is given a funerary mask, with the simplest made of mud and plaster and the richest of silver and gold inlaid with gemstones. Relatives often visit these tombs to entreat the ancestral ka for intercession with the gods. Mummies and tomb treasures are considered to be strong in ka energies, which is also used in Heka magic. Evil Heka users often raid tombs to steal objects full of residual ka energy for their workings. Maharib are often hired to protect tombs, as are militany eubayd priests of Anuros, who wear jackal-headed helms.

Since the days of Nahashepsut, Khemet has been very openminded about gender and sexuality. 'Zer' is the third pronoun of khemet, referring to those who present in a fluid manner rather than as male or female. The traditional family is a couple (of any gender) who are dedicated to each other and can track their family legacy back for several generations on both sides. They become heads of the household along with all legitimate children. Couples often have multiple secondary partners, too, which may produce children. Many households have special quarters for these partners and children to grow up alongside the main family. The children of these pairings are called akhar, and in ancient times were forbidden to marry legitimate offspring. This is largely ignored now outside the Most High and royalty, who still have a prejudice against akhar. This all is meant to reflect the Ennead, whose gender presentation was highly variable, and who could change their forms. They also had generational lines, with some gods descending from others, and a greater community around them. Even in death, the family is celebrated in tombs and offerings, for who can argue with the gods?

The primary language of Khemet is Sahidic, which has many regional dialects that often vary by social class but tend not to differ too heavily. Food has shifted since the sun started going away. Once, Khemet produced wheat, barley and other grains, but they grow poorly these days, and Khemet relies much more heavily on fish, livestock and hunting. Salted and cured meats, once a delicacy, are now a major export, and preservation of fish and game is a huge industry, so salt is in lots of demand.

Since ancient times, the followers of Seknephet, goddess of creativity, have served as storytellers and performers. Music is heavily used in celebrations, focusing on tambourines, bells, lutes, drums, harps and flutes. Songs usually tell stories, and a skilled storyteller will know hundreds, which mix history and legend. Temples, palaces and homes often have stories carved into the stone as hieroglyphs, mosaics and frescoes, or woven into carpets and tapestries. Even jewelry often tells a story in its design, emulating gods or patterned after planets, animals or famous historic figures. Dance is also used to tell stories, with each district having its own version of a dance (and associated story). They are typically ceremonial, telling stories of the gods, and heavily rhythmic...and overwhelmingly loud.

Next time: Religion

Lands of Gold & Fire - Religious Divides

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold & Fire - Religious Divides

Khemet is split between worship of the Ennead and Dinism. The Dinists have more temples these days, but the Ennead have been around longer. In prior generations they essentially got along, but tensions have been rising as the darkness descends. Twosret has officially declared both religions equa, but it really is just a matter of time before open conflict erupts. The Ennead-worshippers are an ancient faith, dating back to the rescue of Khemet from the forces of Bonsam and the raising of the Obelisks. The gods remain evident in Khemet, their names on the nine districts and their pyramids housing the remnants of those that died in the defense of the kingdom. The gods may have departed, but their worship continues in hopes that one day they will return. Each district has a patron deity, whose worship is principal in the region, but it isn't rare to worship others of the Ennead as well, depending on your needs. Every major city has temples to each god, and there are small shrines in just about every town and even at crossroads and oases. Priestly barges travel the rivers to help sailors pray, and many travelers carry tiny statues of the gods with them. The eubayd dedicate their lives to serving the gods. Eubayd may not marry or have children, instead adopting orphans and runaways as wards to raise in the temples. They oversee holy rites of birth and death, marriages, divorces and so on. They serve as mediators and teachers, too, a tradition dating back to the Ennead themselves.

Basat was the shapeshifting goddess of magic, cats, childbirth, healing and protection. Some say she is sister to Ahmun and Apostis, others that she was an unrelated Jok, and some even claim she came from east or across the sea. She was a seductive goddess, who lured Isira away from her brother-husband Seti and had with her a child, Horun. From her temple-palace in Basatan, she taught magic and appreciation of beauty, at least until the death of Isira by Apostis' hands and Horun at Seti's. After that, she was a mourning figure, a black panther stalking the shadows for revenge. She also shared the use of pictogram magic with the people, and her followers embrace the use of Heka. Her symbol is the cat.

Isira, goddess of the family, the underworld and the afterlife, is one of the most potent of the Ennead. Stories tell of her walking battlefields with her son, the death god Anuros, giving eternal life to worthy maharib, who fight demons for her in the underworld. She was lover to Basat, and fought her brother Seti after becoming pregnant with Horun, who was prophesied to lead the Ennead after Ahmun. Isira was betrayed by Apostis and murdered, her body scattered in the deep waters, and so Basat had the first pyramid built above the pool where her body lay, inscribing on it the message: "Seek Isira and discover everlasting life." Her symbol is the ankh.

Horun is the youngest of the Ennead, child of Basat and Isira. He was prophesized to become even mightier than Ahmun, and was raised as a god of war, the skies and birds. He could become a great falcon, and was the foremost fighter against the darkness, beloved by the people. Stories speak of his murder by Seti, who was jealous of him. He was laid to rest in the district that bears his name, beneath the great pyramid there, amongst the greatest treasure trove of the gods. His followers say he will one day rise again, aided by Isira when she too is reborn, and will fly over Khemet to lead the people to greatness. His symbol is the falcon.

Seknephet is the lioness goddess of creativity, bounty, fire, love and the harvest. She is wild, unable to be controlled by any, an force of unstoppable creation and great artistic passions, of love and of vengeance. Stories say that once, she was twin girls - Sekmet and Nephet - who loved each other so much that they became one person. This new goddess wandered the land, far from her temple and her home in Seknephtem, and her capricious nature is blamed or praised for every harvest. Her temples are often full of those praying for inspiration or crop growth, as well as help in love, but even her followers know she is whimsical and that while she can grant blessings, the fallout is unpredictable at best. Her symbol is a paw print with claws.

Apostis, god of snakes, chaos and darkness, was once the great brother of Ahmun, his mighty opposite. While darkness was his, he was believed to balance night and day, sharing Ahmun's power. However, he grew jealous of his brother and turned to demonic corruption in secret, even going so far as to consort with a demon to create Ammit-Set, a great beast with the head of a crocodile, the body of a leopard and the ass of a hippo. Apostis pushed Seti's hatred for Isira and Horun, and after Seti slew Horun, Isira confronted Apostis, who had Ammit-Set fight her and used the battle to kill her. Ahmun captured Apostis, dragging him back to Iu-Neserer in chains, and Ammit-Set disappeared. Apostis has few worshippers, though they do exist, going to his temple in Apostisra by night to call on him for vengeance against foes. His symbol is the snake.

Ahmun was the sun god and leader of the Ennead, the general that led them to Khemet to fight Bonsam's darkness. It was his light that drove the evil back, and his worship is most widespread. He is patron of the capital district, and his temple in Masr is the largest of any temple in Khemet. He is lord of the sun, prophecy, strategy, rivers and the seasons, and he led the withdrawal of the Ennead after his daughter, Isira, was murdered. His followers believe he will be the first to return, to lead them out of darkness. His symbol is the sun over the half circle.

Anuros is the jackal-headed son of Isira and Seti, the lord of death and judgment. He used his power to see into the hearts of the dead. If they were worthy, they would enter the afterlife. If not, he would devour their soul. After Isira's death, he became the sole guardian of the afterlife's entrance, but could never again cross its boundaries. Stories say that gathering the dead after the flooding of Khemet drove him mad, and his followers know that he is as likely to lash out at prayers as to grant them. His symbol is the jackal.

Toroth, ruler of wisdom, knowledge and fair judgment, is neither male nor female, but a mix of both. Zer fostered centers of knowledge across the land, opening schools for all that wished to learn. Zer priests are some of the best educated and work to spread knowledge among the people. Judges and mediators pray to zer for the power to judge fairly, and during the war, zer maintained a meticulous record of all knowledge, in an effort to preserve it from the dark. Ancient stories say zer hall still exists, left behind before the flood. Zer symbol is the crane.

Seti is the god of storms, the desert and famine, son of Ahmun and brother-husband to Isira until she rejected him in favor of Basat. He went mad with jealousy and turned to Apostis for love. The two hatched a plan to ruin the gods' rule, and Seti slew Horun, Isira's son, convincing Anuros to keep him from returning from death. Ahmun drove off Seti, who fled ahead of the gods into exile, where he now repents his evil deeds. His followers in the district of Setim are relatively few, but he is often called on by travelers and sailors for protection from bad weather and desert hazards. His symbol is the scorpion.

As for the Dinists, their power grew after the conversion of Akheneset, spreading like wildfire. Their mosques were built to rival Ennead temples, gathering in ever greater flocks. Now, the Dinists are equal in number to the worshippers of the old gods, which tends to confuse the Ennead-worshippers. Yes, they say, acceptance, reason and learning are good, but don't the pyramids exist as proof of the gods? Isn't the magic of the gods greater than any Prophet? There is also fear that, as the schism between Dinists and the Vaticine happened, the Dinists will split Khemet. The Dinists don't care, focusing on spreading good works, acceptance and reason, and have brought a strong connection to the Crescent Empire, which has greatly aided Khemeti economy in times of need. However, many now wonder about the influence of sorcery on Khemeti society, claiming the shortening days are proof that dark magic is afoot, which must be understood and stopped. The Ennead sure haven't returned to fix it, after all. The Dinists increasingly call for action, seeing the old ways as having failed.

The Vaticine, meanwhile, has increasingly been turning its eyes towards Khemet. They see the works of the Ennead as strange and alien, remnants of a sorcerous age. Their prohibitions on sorcery are strong, and they see Heka and sacrifice to the Ennead as wrong, as well as use of their protective monuments. Church scholars claim that humanity must solve the riddles of Theus themselves, and that relying on the gifts of strange, prehistoric monsters hobble that. The Invisible College's scholars claim that even the works of the Ennead must follow natural law, and want to study them to understand their workings. Officially, the Vaticine considers the Khemeti in need of conversion, mired in the past, much like the Crescents, who reject the Third Prophet's truths. Unofficially, they mostly sponsor artifact hunters and scholars to visit Khemet and learn more about the Ennead and their ancient past, though such scavanging is not appreciated by the locals.

Next time: Heka

Lands of Gold & Fire - Magic Words

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold & Fire - Magic Words

After the floods that followed the departure of the Ennead, the people needed magic. The king Theyt, who learned how to bend one's ka for magic, showed them how to imbue part of themselves into objects, written representations or even spoken phrases, using it to bend the world to one's will. The imbued thing draws magical power from the world, shaping it, and the stronger your ka, the stronger the working. To do it, you must understand the connection between an object and what it represents for other forces and materials in nature. By inscribing onto a sympathetic object, you can make amulets or spells that manipulate that nature, even transmuting the body or empowering weapons. There's just one catch: every working requires ka, and the bigger the work, the more ka it needs. This ka is the life essence of a person, and that needs time to recharge. Too much use and you will grow sick and die.

Of course, there's shortcuts. You can siphon ka from others, bleeding them for their life energy, or you can funnel ka from tomb treasures or mummies to fuel your magic. Illegal smuggling networks deal in stolen artifacts from tombs to power sorcery, often for sinister purpose. Still, most use of Heka is for the good of Khemet's people, so far. It is of course still sorcery and therefore evil to the Vaticine, however, regardless of its origins. (And, in fact, to many Dinists, if overused.)

The royal court of Khemet is now split between the supporters of Queen Twosret and those who would prefer Siptah take the throne immediately. The queen's paranoia and corruption have many believing she is the cause of the kingdom's darkness...which is not wholly wrong. Assassins who face her have found themselves not only facing the normal warrior-guardians of the Most High but also strangem, sorcerous creatures - possibly demons. One would-be assassin, shortly before dying, claimed that Amlak Bey was actually a demon, but the people like him and who's going to believe an assassin, anyway? Meanwhile, Twosret allows corrupt officials and criminals to prey on the poor as long as they support her, pulling her guards back to Masr and Kyber so that she is safe, even if the kingdom is not.

Those who support Siptah know they're taking a risk. They have no idea what kind of king he will be, and most have never met him or have any idea what he's like. They just argue that anything is better than Twosret. They range from well-meaning, heroic defenders of the people (like his fiance and cousin, Nunia) to foreign-backed criminals intent on using him as a puppet. However, Siptah may prove more difficult to control than those people think. While little has escaped Kyber about him, rumors say he is thoughtful and loves his country. Detractors use his isolation to ascribe many flaws to him, saying he is weak or sickly or stupid or crazy. And, of course, rumor has it that he is inhuman, possessed of unnatural powers. Which is true, of course.

The nine districts were established in ancient times, each ruled by one of the Ennead and protected by the obelisks. Those have gone cold now, and merely serve as the markers of where each district ends. The districts are Basatan, Isiran, Horun, Seknephtam, Apostisra, Ahmun, Anuros, Toroth and Setim. They once fought each other, after the gods left, but Nahashepsut united them again. Still, each does have its own agenda, even today. The Most High act as governors of these lands, vying for power against each other. Twosret encourages their rivalries to keep them all off balance, and each district works to enrich itself in trade at the expense of the others.

The districts have historically used wildly different currency - silver hoops, gold coins, barter. Twosret has minted the hedj, a standardized silver coin, but it's yet to catch on, and barter remains largely the tool of daily life. The hedj is mostly in the hands of merchants, priests and nobles. The economy's been crashing since the sun faded - with only eight hours of daylight, there's not a lot of time to do business in, and it's all very rushed. Most citizens at market are brutally honest to the point of rudeness about getting work done fast - no one wants to be caught out at night, and just about everything shuts down when the sun sets. Except crime, of course. Criminals rule the night, as even the law enforcers fear the darkness. Even they know that it is wise to be wary, however.

Locations! Masr is the capital, overlooking the Valley of the Kings. It is one of the oldest places in Khemet, having survived the flood. It is a mix of Numanari Empire and more modern designs, and its four gates are named for ancient rulers - Ahtunonen, Nahashepsut, Nehemek and Akheneset. A fifth gate leading to the Valley is being built and will be named for the late Makaret. The city is divided into four quarters, plus two structures at the center: the Royal Palace and the temple of Ahnum. Both are immense, visible for miles, and designed with extreme splendor in mind. Their walls are inlaid with gold and jewels, and the temple is inscribed in the hieroglyphic language of the Ennead, telling the story of their coming and departure, and the history of Khemet all the way to the present. The temple is staffed at all times by the most devoted eubayd, led by the fanatical Nephet Malin, who guards many ancient relics, including Ahnum's own scepter.

The noble quarter is in the east, home to the Most High. These are large, open structures with many tiered gardens and balconies to watch the sun rise, and walls covered in mosaics that tell ancient legends and family histories. The servants live in the edges of the villas, as do the maharib guards. The market of Masr is the largest in Khemet, home to goods from across Ifri and even beyond. You can get nearly anything there, including slaves or stolen relics. A tavern, the Ibis Rest, is just west, and is the chosen haunt of servants looking for work. A new winery, the Red Vine, recently opened, owned by a Castillian expat named Emilio Cortez and his husband, Hasan. They hold many wine tastings there, with wines from across the world, and it is very fashionable to go there, with foreigners often invited to add to the mystique.

The richer enez live close to the city center, while the poor live on the outskirts of the cliff in the west. There are many taverns and restaurants there as well as mosques. The north is the smallest district, home to foreigners, and also the neighborhood of Goshek, where the Yachidi slave community lives alongside a number of Dinists from the crescent. Foreigners from elsewhere in Ifri are often annoyed at having to live apart from the rest of the city. The mafqud live outside the walls, in shantytowns that have sprung up to house them and those waiting to enter. These are home to black markets and animal traders, and the only road clear of the shacks is the new one that leads down into the Valley, though even this is plagued by bandits at night.

The Valley of Sovereigns, aka the Valley of the Kings, is the resting place of the ruling dead, and also the tombs for a number of Most High families. It is a great honor to have a vault there, and nobles fight to secure space in their family crypts, so they can be called the greatest of the honored dead. The valley has a number of smaller hills in it, long since hollowed out for tombs. In the center are the royal vaults, with doorways built into the ground and stairs down to the actual crypts. The Valley is both sacred and terrifying for most people, and is known to house restless spirits and flesh-eating ghouls.

The Iteru River is the lifeblood of Khemet, making its way through the nation's heart to the ocean. It was made when the Ennead departed, leaving a flood and a great chasm behind them, which remained filled with water. It is both beloved and a source of problems - it floods its banks every rainy season, sending many families running inland, but it also prepares the land for planting. It also has many river pirates and raiders on its waters. The most dangerous area is the bay of Apis, on the Pechent Peninsula. This is full of crocodiles, and many wonder if Ammit-Set swims beneath the waters as well. However, it is often used as a meeting area for boats doing business or avoiding the floods. The river mouth also contains the Great Obelisk, made by Ahnum in times of legend. It is several miles high and made of purple crystal, carved with protective hieroglyphs. Recently, it has begun to glow green-blue, as have many other crystals in Khemet. Many wonder if this heralds a return of the gods.

The Great Pyramids are renowned across the continent. There are nine, one for each god, and they stand as monuments to the Ennead. They were built both as divine tombs and as storehouses for relics. Each is ten stories tall, capped with basalt inlaid with gold and topped by purple crystal capstones made from the same materials as the obelisks. At night, their glow illuminates the countryside. Each is protected by maharib, and violation of the pyramids is great sacrilege, though in recent years the guards have been stretched thin and less able to keep treasure seekers out. If you were to get past the traps and not get lost in the mazes, you would then find a great silver lake in a huge cavern under the surface. Each lake is identical, deep and reflective, and there is always a boat waiting for visitors. If you ride it, you will be forced to face the voices of your loved ones, your foes and your personal fears and demons, tempting you to jump into the waters. It is only after that that you can reach the tombs. Few have returned to tell of them, but they are said to be full of treasures, crystals and sky metal, and that they have magical mirrors that allow you to speak to the gods. Only the greatest explorer, Adom Abasi, who went into Isira's pyramid-tomb, returned with treasure - a scarab amulet said to hang around the neck of Isira's funerary statue. The queen tried to confiscate it, but Adom Abasi will not say where he hid the scarab, and it has inspired many others to try their luck as well, usually fatally.

Next time: People and places.

Lands of Gold and Fire - Yes The Book Explains Siptah

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Yes The Book Explains Siptah

The Citadel of Kyber is a wonder, made in ancient times as a summer palace and more recently renovated by Twosret as a home for Prince Siptah. It cannot be seen from the outside - the massive walls are so high they block view of even the highest parapet. There is only one entrance, a set of immense gates, hundreds of feet tall, made of steel and gold. They are guarded at all times by skilled maharib who confiscate all weapons from visitors. Inside, the palace complex is gorgeous and full of rare and exotic plants and animals. Fountains are everywhere, as are musicians, students and maharib in training. The south end houses a menagerie of imported animals, and there is also a giant library, a huge communal dining hall and several classrooms. The prince's rooms are above the apartments for his attendants and tutors, with a large receiving hall at the entrance. The prince himself spends most of his time in his apartments with his mother's advisor, Councilor Gannan, coming to oversee things. He studies, plays with his companions or visits his astronomy tower. Kyber is easily the most secure place in Khemet, but it has had multiple attempts by kidnappers to breach its walls. There are rumors of a secret passage through Mount Hararan, but they also speak of monsters in the tunnels, and many think they are lies. Still, attackers have somehow breached the walls multiple times, and no one is sure how.

Relations posted:

The Crescent Empire: The Crescent Empire remains the most necessary and worrisome ally to Khemet and the royal court. With the rise of the new empress in the empire, Khemet has renewed opportunities to secure an important trade and military partner. The religious connections alone between the two nations thanks to the spread of al-Din certainly make the two countries a likely pair of friends. But since the enslavement of the Yachidi in Khemet, the royals have been concerned about the empress' intercession on behalf of Khemet's new slaves. Cordial relations must continue at all costs.
The Kingdom of Aksum: The most powerful of Khemet's allies, Aksum has remained and will remain Khemet's priority in the region. Though allied publicly against Mbey, Khemet finds their healthy trade relationship a necessity in these quite literal dark times. Through Aksum's support, the royal court knows they will not fall, and Khemet continues to maintain its staunch support of the Aksum court. Whenever Aksum calls, Khemet will answer, if for enlightened self-interest above all else.
The Kingdom of Maghreb: Where once Maghreb might have been a worthy ally, the beautiful kingdom has fallen onto hard times and become a greedy old friend. Khemet's leaders see Maghreb as asking far too much of their once useful alliance without much in return and have decided to wait until the kingdom shows signs of usefulness once more before engaging in too much interconnection. Still, the populations of both countries remain closely related, often by blood, so it would be almost impossible to be rid of these neighbors completely without going to war.
The Kingdom of Mbey: Though many see Mbey as an evil, fallen place, the leaders of Khemet see an opportunity. A Khemeti may curse the ground the Mbeyan walks on when he passes, but with the Atabean Trading Company doing much work in the Mbey slave markets, the possibilities for trade between the two kingdoms grows more possible. Should a real alliance become a reality, all of Ifri could see darkness stretch further across the land.
The Manden Empire: Of all the kingdoms in Ifri, the royal court believes Manden to be the largest threat to Khemet's rise back to power. Their wealth in gold and their unity of their four states not only outstrips Khemet in economic power but has inspired many of the lower classes to look to Manden as an example of a kingdom dedicated to harmony with its people. The nobility and the royals disdain Manden's dedication to a plurality of voices, and have limited their connection to the empire outside of necessary relations. These relations lie primarily in maintaining overland caravans for pilgrimage and trade.
The Atabean Trading Company: The icy fingers of the ATC reaches out to Khemet's warm heart in negotiation, and many whisper it won't be long before Queen Twosret makes a deal with the company. Recently ambassadors from the ATC have come to court asking for trade and use of Khemet's rivers as easy transport paths in exchange for a steady stream of slave labor to build Khemet back its former glory...with Twosret gaining the credit. What an alliance with the ATC means for Khemet only time might tell, but surely the dark shadow over Ifri will spread like Khemet's eternal night.

We now get people writeups! Prince Siptah is exactly what Khemet needs. He is son of Twosret and her mysterious lover, born the night King Makaret was assassinated. He grew up in Kyber, surrounded by attendants, tutors and guards. He has proven to be brilliant, speaking all languages of Ifri and many Thean ones before turning 12, and he has been readied for when he turns 16, when he was supposed to leave Kyber and join his mother at the capital. There's just one problem - his birthday has come and gone, and Twosret still has not called for him to be co-ruler. Spitah suspects why he is being ignored - for the same reason that, while the rest of the land is dark, the sun is bright over Kyber even when it rains, and the nights are short there - and nowhere else. Siptah knows this is because his father was a god. He has kept the magic power within him a secret from his mother's royal spies, spending his time forcing it down. If he did not, he would glow like a small sun. He knows it's only a matter of time before his power becomes too much to contain, and he wants to seek his father for aid. He also wants to leave Kyber and become king. However, his love for his mother keeps him waiting, trusting in her judgment despite his advisors warning him that if he waits much longer, she may kill him. He is also deeply interested in the Vaticine faith, despite the fact that his dad is probably one of the Ennead.

Damora Kai is the leader of a caravan of Ba'hani, a tribe of desert people that never fully integrated into Khemeti society. She and her tribe travel the desert, establishing oases and aiding travelers. They survived the years of chaos in Khemet by being neutral in all things - including local politics. They follow an ancient pact made by their ancestors to Basat, to guide all those who need aid in the open, dangerous lands. The Ba'hani are matriarchal, and Domara is just their latest in a long line of Kais. She is a potent woman who is always guarded by a pair of jackals she has raised from birth. She is deeply frustrated with the current events in Khemet and the rampant exploitation of the poor. While her tribe is pledged to be neutral, she has bent the rules many times to aid those in need, which leads many of the Ba'hani to wonder how long they'll be able to stay out of Khemeti conflicts.

Queen Twosret is a direct descendant of Ahtunonen and a true inheritor of the throne, but she was engaged at a young age to her cousin, the general Makaret. She wasn't happy with this, and worked to be the best possible ruler in hopes of proving to her father she deserved to know the deep secrets of Heka. When the king chose to teach Makaret instead, she learned the great lesson - power is not earned. It is taken. She took a lover, who gave her the son she always wanted, but she never realized he was a god. When her son was born blessed, she knew he had a grand destiny...and therefore, he must not be allowed to take over her throne. Her paranoia over being set aside makes her listen to a dark voice at night, which offers her the power to control Khemet forever. She does not understand that the voice is a demon, and she has made a dark, vile pact. Even now, she barely resists its constant urging to murder Siptah, held back only because she loves him with overwhelming fervor. The people, she appears a concerned, caring queen. In private, she goes into a mad rage when quesitoned, demanding only the best from anyone around her. She knows people suspect her of killing her husband, but she has a duty and the power to maintain and grow Khemet. To do that, she must have the throne - and now her son is in her way. She is Strength 5, Influence 9.

Amlak Bey is the consort to the Queen, the Aksumite ambassador and one of the most powerful men in Khemet. He is distantly related to the Aksum imperial family, but he had to work his way up from the bottom. He hoped to use his father, dignitary Nasir Bey, to gain political power, but where Nasir was respected and careful, Amlak was deceptive and underhanded. When they were sent to the Crescent Empire as ambassadors, Amlak sought out sorcerers. He became obsessed with magic and the binding of demons. In his first attempt, his father interrupted him and the demon was loosed, killing Nasir Bey. Amlak blamed Mbeyan assassins and returned home a hero, the survivor that brokered peaceful exchange with the Crescents. He converted to al-Din in order to gain support from the rare Dinists of Aksum. (This may not have been his best idea.) Soon after, he went to negotiate peace with Khemet, where he met Twosret and fell madly in love. He quickly won her over and she saw his use, both as advisor and ambassador to Aksum and her own Dinist followers. He was moved into the royal apartments of Masr, where he summoned a potent demon to tempt Twosret. He knew she'd never accept if he offered her power - she had to make that decision herself. Now he sees she is ready to take the throne from her own sun. He plans to marry her and usurp her throne. He is Strength 4, Influence 5.

Next time: Ifrian PCs.

Lands of Gold and Fire - How 2 Ifrian

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - How 2 Ifrian

First up, new backgrounds!
General Backrounds
Company Agent: You worked for the ATC. Earn a Hero Point when your past misdeeds as a member of the ATC get you into trouble.
Isifungo Senkosi Seeker: You hunted for the mystic metal Zahmeireen to keep it out of the wrong hands. Earn a Hero Point when you commit to a course of action that is dangerous or morally questionable in order to pursue a corrupted Zahmeireen artifact.
River Pirate: You were a river pirate. Earn a Hero Point when you use your knowledge of hidden smuggler docks, expertise with port worker slang or a carefully placed bribe to solve a problem.
Walhu Escapee: You were a slave. Earn a Hero Point when you save someone from slavery, capture or danger by taking their place.
Aksum-Only Backgrounds
Alhidaf Archer: You were a member of the best archers in the world. Earn a Hero Point when you adhere to old traditions or outdated ancient practices to solve a problem.
Anidi Hibiri Tefet'iro Missionary: You were a Hibiri Church priest. Earn a Hero Point when you seize an opportunity to preach, proselytize or try to convert someone to your religion and it gets you into trouble.
Dasusuo: You were a Melbur sorcerer. Earn a Hero Point when you put yourself in danger to save an innocent from falling to the influence of the abonsam or similar dark supernatural forces.
Nebiyi Monitor: You were a math genius. Earn a Hero Point when you solve a problem by using obscure knowledge, a complex calculation or deciphering it.
Khemet-Only Backgrounds
Awal Thmani Dancer: You were a sword-dancer duelist. Earn a Hero Point when you avoid a conflict by convincing people to focus on their similarities over their differences.
Masr Alley Dog: You were a street rat. Earn a Hero Point when you solve a problem by lying, cheating or swindling someone who has it better than others.
The Most High: You were a noble. Earn a Hero Point when your bloodline's reputation for corruption (magical or material) gets you in trouble.
Priest of the Ennead: You were a priest and Heka sorcerer. Earn a Hero Point when you take on danger to find more info about the Ennead, decrypt a mysterious pictogram or defend your beliefs and it gets you in trouble.
Maghreb-Only Backgrounds
Blade Singers: You were a sword-singer, a warrior of mysticism and history. Earn a Hero Point when you help an ally to solve a problem by supporting them, backing their play or following their lead.
Camel Raider: You rode a camel. Earn a Hero Point when you get yourself in trouble in order to save your beloved camel or when it rescues you.
Corsair: You were a pirate. Earn a Hero Point when your insistence on avoiding, mistrusting or misleading authority gets you into trouble.
Imajaghan Noble: You were a land-owner and noble. Earn a Hero Point when you get in trouble after standing against a crowd, defending an individual or small group against a crowd, or speaking out against your "betters."
Manden-Only Backgrounds
Alagbato Iya: You were a member of the Guardian Mothers. You must identify as female to take this. Earn a Hero Point when you put yourself in danger to protect another from immediate harm, whether physical or emotional.
Horon Noble: You were a noble. Earn a Hero Point when you defy superiors, refuse to obey orders or similarly buck authority to do what you think is right.
Kurufaba Attendant: You were an agent for the government. Earn a Hero Point when you take a risky or morally ambiguous action for the sake of Ifrian culture or resources.
Sofa Serf-Soldier: You were one of the warrior-serfs of Manden. Earn a Hero Point when you solve a problem by taking advantage of others underestimating you.
Mbey-Only
Adeyemi's Vassal: You stole and wielded corrupted Zahmeireen. Earn a Hero Point when you use dark magic, a corrupted artifact or questionable tactics in order to defeat evil.
Kangam: You were one of the respected leaders of Mbey. Earn a Hero Point when your insistence on leading by example gets you in trouble.
Rooi Heks: You were a sorcerer of the Red Touch. Earn a Hero Point when you convince another not to do something that would have resulted in Corruption.
Simb Warrior: You were a simb wrestler of the Second People. Earn a Hero Point when you end a fight before your opponent has a chance to act.

New advantages!
1 Point
Personal Stash (Knack): You can activate this when you receive Wealth to get 1 more Wealth.
Daredevil: After making Raises during a Risk, you may immediately spend all of your Raises to take a single Action before anyone else can act this round.
Helping Hand: You may activate this to give an ally the benefits of assistance (3 bonus dice) without spending a Hero Point. You may use this only once per session.

2 Point
Not On The Manifest: Costs 1 less for Maghrebi. You must have Married to the Sea. Your ship may store extra Cargo based on your Sailing skill. However, any Cargo stored in this extra space must be gained via illicit means, such as piracy.
Bodyguard (Knack): You can activate this when an ally would be dealt Wounds to spend Raises to directly reduce those Wounds, 1 for 1, rather than redirecting them to yourself.
Hand of Peace: Costs 1 less for Aksumites. Until you or your allies take an aggressive action in a scene, you may apply Pressure to any number of targets at once, though any given target can still only be affected by one instance of Pressure at a time.
One Against Many (Knack): You can activate this when spending Raises to deal Wounds to a Brute Squad. If you do, double the Wounds dealt.
Shadow Stalker (Knack): Costs 1 less for Khemeti. You may activate this to move in silence, vanish into darkness or otherwise demonstrate your affinity with shadows automatically.

3 Point
Blood of Fire: While you have at least 1 Dramatic Wound, you get a bonus die on all Athletics, Brawl, Warfare and Weaponry Risks.
Blood of Gold: While you have at least 1 Dramatic Wound, you get a bonus die on all Convince, Empathy, Perform and Tempt Risks.
Rich: Not changed, but costs 1 less for Mandenka.

4 Point
Kurufaba (Knack): Mandenka only. When you agree on a deal, spoken or written, you may activate this. If the other party breaks the deal, you may give them an Infamous Reputation of your choice, which gives their opposition a bonus die whenever that reputation can be used against them. You may maintain a number of such deals at any time based on your Wits. Once you're full, you may not activate this again until a deal ends, by any means. (This is basically what Manden has instead of a Sorcery.)
Moral Compass: Costs 1 less for Mbeyans. You must have completed a Redemption Story to remove Corruption (or get it during chargen). Whenever you help another PC complete any Step in a Redemption Story, that PC loses 2 Corruption instead of 1 at the end of the Story.
The Sword That Sings: Maghrebi only. Any time you use your ranks in Weaponry or Perform, you may instead choose to use your ranks in the other for any effect. You may spend a Hero Point once per round to add your Weaponry and Perform ranks together for a single effect. (This is what Maghreb has instead of a Sorcery.)

5 Point
I Stand Against You (Knack): Costs 2 less for Maghrebi. When rolling dice on a Risk, you can activate this to get bonus dice equal to twice the number of enemies you face. Each Villain, Brute Squad or Monster counts as one.
Blood of Sovereigns (Knack): Costs 2 less for Khemeti. When you make a Risk in which your noble status would be a direct and immediate benefit, you may activate this to get (Panache) automatic additional Raises.
Embrace Your Destiny (Knack): Costs 2 less for Mandenka. During an Action Sequence, you can activate this to be allowed to act before Villains on each Raise until the end of the round.
Lead By Example (Knack): Costs 2 less for Aksumites. After making a Risk, you may activate this and choose anyone that rolled fewer Raises than you. They may change their Approach to match yours and they gain 2 Raises.
Light In The Darkness (Knack): Costs 2 less for Mbeyans. After the GM spends one or more Danger Points, you may spend an equal number of Hero Points and activate this. The GM still loses the Danger Points, but whatever they were spent on doesn't activate.
Zahmeireen Weapon: You have a non-corrupted Mbeyan Zahmeireen blade.

Next time: New secret societies.

Lands of Gold and Fire - Secret Economics Heroism

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Secret Economics Heroism

The Atoka-ona Farasin originate with a griot named Olamide Ololade, who specializes in the history of Manden's wealth and economics. She headed to Castille early in life, to study the effects of the Inquisition on the economy. While there, she got the attention of the Invisible College, who approached her and offered to exchange private economic data and analytical techniques for information on Manden and Ifri. She made the deal, growing fascinated by the idea of rogue scholars preserving and spreading scientific knowledge for the future. When she returned, she applied her new techniques and was horrified to identify the spread of evil in Manden's economy - black markets had grown common, and Manden's careful trades were fraying at the edges. She used the techniques of the Invisible College to found her own organization, to protect Manden's economy and resources. She named it the Atoka-ona Farasin, the Hidden Compass, as it focuses on guiding the economy. She began by recruiting two people and charging them to each find two more.

As with the Invisible College, no member of the Atoka-ona Farasin knows more than two others. No one has any idea how big the society actually is, but Olamide believes, based on their accomplishments, that the membership is in the dozens. Members communicate using economically distributed codes - they buy selected items at selected markets using specificed amounts of currency to convey specific information, and code ledgers to move information over distances. Their primary concern is finding and protecting the riches of Manden's soil, to hide their existence from Bonsam's minions. They also track and catalogue black markets, rerouting any funds that destabilize the economy using their own resources or leaking information to the public as needed. They also help the Invisible College out, but their primary focus is the Mandenka economy and protecting business from evil manipulations.

Selling economic secrets or information to the Atoka-ona Farasin is worth 1 more Favor than usual if that information or secret poses a direct threat to Bonsam's plans or minions. Preventing a foreigner from plundering Ifrian wealth, by force or diplomacy, is worth 3 Favor. This is considered to include both material wealth and culture - they may be economists, but they love Ifrian culture deeply. You can exchange Favor for Wealth 1 for 1, calling on the society's resources, but depending on how you use it, you may be expected to pay it back at some point. Moving money secretly and securely costs 3 Favor, and may also require you to give a percentage to the society to further their cause.

The Ch'ewi (literally 'salt') are...not quite a secret society. They're not really secret and they're barely a society. The issue is that it's hard to explain this uniquely Aksumite idea to Theans. The best translation for what it is might be social movement. The Ch'ewi movement began not long after Aksum embraced the Hibiri Church. Some say it was sponsored by them, others that the Skia started it, others that it began with a communal gathering of salt miners. It doesn't really matter. What matters is Aksum holds Ch'ewi in great regard. They preserve and give flavor to life, as salt does to food. Being Ch'ewi is a way of life, a quality or strength of character and action. A soldier that protects the people might be Ch'ewi, the woman who pulls children from a fire is probably Ch'ewi. Some deliberately attempt it, others are just Ch'ewi for a moment because they must be. The key point is that they heal and help those in need.

Now, Aksum needs Ch'ewi more than ever before. The abonsam stalk the land without a dscah ru to stop them, and they are clever foes, while Ch'ewi come and go. Still, people feel the pull of Ch'ewi in their hearts. They find themselves drawn to each other, and what began as a social ideal has gradually grown to a loose affiliation of people who pool resources to help those in need, having found that working together magnifies what they can do greatly. Small groups come together, voting to decide on where to focus and relying on the quick-moving news that is the Aksumite grapevine to find those ine need. They may be less formally organized than most societies, but they do keep in contact now - moreso than ever before, given the abonsam dangers.

Aiding a Ch'ewi agent is worth 1 additional Favor, so 5 instead of 4. Helping others is a sign of being Ch'ewi, after all. Defeating an abonsam, abonsam cultist or character with Vile Dice (more on that later, it's dumb) is worth 10 Favor. It costs 4 Favor to inspire someone to become Ch'ewi, even if only briefly, which translates to a non-Villain NPC acting to help you or save you, with Strength assigned by the GM. There is one other thing: being Ch'ewi is not exclusive. Unique to secret societies, they are more a quality of spirit than a rigid membership, and so you can be a member of the Ch'ewi and also a member of another secret society simultaneously.

The Children of Esu are a legendary society of monster hunters. Monsters have plagued Ifri for centuries, and so they have wandered the land, telling stories and fighting evil. They began in Mbey, but now cover the continent, rarely staying in one place for long. They typically work alone or in mentor-student pairs, communicating via coded stories or songs, as well as simple yet nuanced trail signs to warn about threats or safe havens. Younger members typically focus on directly fighting monsters while their elders invent stories and songs that reveal monstrous weaknesses for those that listen. Occasionally, they will gather in larger numbers to share information on deadly threats, usually using a festival or gathering as cover.

The name of the society comes from the Ori Esu, patron of the crossroads. They wander, of course, as various nomadic professions, but more symbolically, they see themselves as at the crossroads of good and evil, of life and death. Esu teaches that once you choose a path, you must walk it to the end, no matter where it goes. Traditionally, members wear handcrafted Esu masks when doing their duties. A mentor typically gives a rough mask to a new recruit, which the recruit personalizes and completes over the course of their training. If Bonsam is weak in an area, most villagers probably know who 'Esu' is when they show up to tells tories, but will politely pretend not to. In more corrupted places, the secrecy of the mask is taken very seriously.

Recently, while hunting an abonsam working for the ATC, a group of the Children ran into a Kreuzritter hunting party that had tracked a corrupt Company agent from Theah. After the initial standoff, one of the Children recalled an old tale of a group of noble, pale-skinned monster hunters that had visited Ifri in the past, and the two groups worked together, succeeding massively in the hunt and making informal plans to share information and assistance in the future. Die Kreuzritter have insight into Thean threats and the Company's inner workings, while the Children know far more about the nature of Bonsam.

Writing a story or song that inspires another to join the Children or gives insight into a supernatural threat's weaknesses is worth 4 Favor. Restoring hope to an oppressed community is worth 6 Favor, even if there wasn't a supernatural threat involved - but this generally takes more work than just 'swoop in, defeat monster, leave', as it requires restoring the community's good spirit. You can spend 2 Favor to have the Children pass a message via their network of entertainers. It may take a while, but will be secret and will get there. The cost is reduced to 1 Favor if you can code the message into a popular song or story, and even then the code will not be broken, though someone may notice if you send a lot of messages to the same area in a short time. You can spend 4 Favor to meet with a local member and learn about the local landmarks and monsters, allowing you to reroll any or all dice on Scholarship rolls related to local information for the rest of the Story. You can only have this benefit for one area at at ime.

Last, the Keepers of the Sun are a society in Khemet dating back to the warrior-priest Ahmunemhat, in the earliest days of the kingdom. At first they were just a select group of eubayd, known as Lightbringers, but eventually they formed a codified set of teachings on how to live correctly and rightly. After Ahmunemhat passed, his successor, Kaaper, discovered a golden sun mask among his belongings, and began wearing it while leading the organization his mentor had founded, to remind people to focus on good deeds under open sun. The Keepers flourished as a beacon of instruction and good faith, weighing and committing themselves to justice for all, regardless of class. The mask became a badge of office for the leaders, until the reign of Nahashepsut.

She outlawed them after they began to criticize her decision to go to war, and they were forced into hiding. This has lasted to today - the Keepers work covertly to expose dark secrets to the light of day, especially now that their wisdom and oversight are so needed. They believe the shortening days are caused by wayward action and corruption among the Most High, and they work to expose and punish corrupt nobles and criminals, always leaving their symbol behind - the sun rising over the horizon. Their current leader is a person called Mahat, though few know anything about them - they wear the mask and voluminous robes to avoid identification. Mahat is extremely active, and almost all members of the Keepers have met them at some point.

The Lightbringers are primarily vigilantes, but also teachers and mentors to others. They are concerned with spreading the moral teachings of the Ennead and setting an example for Khemeti life. Selling them information that identifies or relates to a truly heroic noble is worth 3 Favor, as they seek to spread renown of the worthy. Defeating a villainous noble is worth 8 Favor, as the Most High have a responsibility to lead by example and betraying that is true evil. You can spend 10 Favor to call Mahat to aid you. They will help you out for one scene as a Strength 10 agent. It costs 2 Favor to get information about people you can trust and get help from, as the Keepers watch closely over those who do not give in to darkness.

Next time: Sorcery.

Lands of Gold and Fire - Raaaaa Heliopooooolis

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Raaaaa Heliopooooolis

Heka is the sorcery of Khemet, developed after the Ennead left the land by the alchemist-king Theyt. He found that imbuing one's self, one's ka, into an object via words or symbols, you could bend the world to your will. The stronger your ka, the stronger the magic. Heka requires you to understand the connection between an object and its symbolic representation for other forces or materials. By inscribing a sympathetic object, you can make amulets or spells to manipulate the world. The catch is that all magic requires an investment of ka - life force. Overuse it, you get sick and die. You can, of course, siphon off ka from other people or from powerful objects, such as tomb goods or mummies.

Heka is a lesser form of the hieroglyphic magic of the Ennead. Theyt hoped to use it to revive his dead wife by storing massive amounts of life energy in some emerald tablets. It didn't work, but the magic proved quite useful. His study also revealed the whole thing where you could siphon ka off of grave goods and the dead to fuel Heka. Those who use plundered tomb artifacts to fuel their magic are said to practice Dark Heka, and no one is entirely sure what it does to the souls of the dead, if anything. Heka uses a small vocabulary of symbols to imbue ka into amulets, sculptures and inscriptions to gain sympathetic power. It is divided into the elemental signs - earth, air, fire and water - with each providing different blessings. Heka requires a deep understanding of language, culture and symbolism, to better visualize your intent while you work your ka. It is assumed that when you take Sorcery (Heka) at chargen, you have studied hieroglyphics, and learning it in-story will require you to do that study as part of your Story.

The first purchase of Heka gives you two Talismans from the same element, and one Inscription that you know the Talisman for. You must know a Talisman before you can learn its Inscription. Future purchases either give you one Talisman and one Inscription, or a Spell. To learn a Spell, you must already know the associated Inscription. To use the power, you must first create it. A Talisman takes the form of a statue, token or pendant created from natural materials, inscribed with the relevant pictogram. You can give it to another person to use, and no matter who uses it, it disintegrates once used. An Inscription is the relevant pictogram written or inscribed onto an object or structure, and once used, the pictogram disappears. A Talisman or Inscription cannot be erased or destroyed without use of magic.

At the start of each scene, you begin with one prepared Talisman or Inscription per instance of Sorcery you have. You don't have to do pre-prep of these, and can choose which they are when you use them, which you can do freely. However, if you run out for the scene, you must make more. To make an Inscription or Talisman, it must be your turn, and you must either spend a Hero Point or take a Dramatic Wound to infuse your ka. You can make any Talisman or Inscription you know, chosen at the moment you make the object. It lasts for 24 hours before losing its power, but after that you can recreate or reinscribe it by spending the cost again. Activating a Talisman or Inscription, regardless of if it's one of your free ones or one you make, takes a moment of concentration and some ka. Outside a Sequence you can do this without cost, and the effect lasts until a scene begins if it's not an instant effect. During a Sequence, you must spend a Raise or take a Wound to activate an Inscription or Talisman. Talismans have immediate or short-term effects, while Inscriptions are more potent and, if not instant, last for the rest of the scene.

Spells, as a note, are the most powerful form of Heka, requiring no physical object. They activate an effect with a mere spoken phrase. Their creation takes more time and effort, as you must come up with a unique phrase for yourself that represents your understanding of the element and hieroglyph you want to use. You only have to speak this phrase to activate the spell. When you activate it, you may freely use either the Talisman or Inscription effect of that hieroglyph without need for the actual physical object involved, making it much cheaper and easier to activate. However, while the spell remains active, using other, activating any other Talisman or Inscription costs two Dramatic Wounds rather than a Raise or Wound, as too much magic can be fatal.

Earth
Strength is the hieroglyph of the bull, representing stability. Its talismans are often in the shape of bulls.
Talisman: When you activate this, the bearer gains the ka within. For the rest of the round, they get a free Raise on any action using Brawn.
Inscription: When you activate this on a weapon, it deals extra Wounds on each hit equal to its wielder's Brawn for the rest of the scene.
Protection is the hieroglyph of the crocodile, representing endurance. Its talismans are usually made from river mud.
Talisman: When you activate this, the bearer's skin grows tough, like a crocodile's. The next 3 Wounds they would take are prevented.
Inscription: When you activate this on an object, structure or ship, the next 3 Hits (or equivalent) that it would take are prevented.

Air
Speed is the hieroglyph of the falcon, representing swiftness and flight. Its talismans often include leaves or feathers fallen from the sky.
Talisman: When you activate this, the bearer moves with preternatural speed. They do not need to pay Improvisation costs for any action for the rest of the Round.
Inscription: When you activate this on a ship or other conveyance, it moves at double speed for 24 hours. This does not work on living beings. (Well, actually, it kills them, but as a GM I'd rule against allowing it to be used at all because stealth instakill.)
Weightlessness is the hieroglyph of the feather, representing light. It is generally inscribed with a quill into clay or on paper, and its talismans usually have a feather attached.
Talisman: When you activate this, the bearer becomes more graceful. For the rest of the round, they get a free Raise on any action using Finesse.
Inscription: When you activate this, whatever it is inscribed on has its weight reduced by three times your body weight for 24 hours or until the end of the scene (depending on if it's a sequence or not).

Fire
Courage is the hieroglyph of the lion, representing bravery and steadfastness. Its talismans are often clay lions with tiiiiiny straw manes.
Talisman: When you activate this, the bearer becomes braver. For the rest of the round, they get a free Raise on any action using Resolve.
Inscription: When you activate this on a structure, ship or other conveyance, anyone inside the structure or conveyance gets an extra die on all actions using Resolve for the rest of the scene.
Warmth is the hieroglyph of the flame, representing light, heat and knowledge. Its talismans are always baked in kilns or hearths to trap heat within.
Talisman: When you activate this, the bearer is made as warm as they would be if sitting by a fire, which lasts either 24 hours or a scene, depending on if it's a sequence.
Inscription: When you activate this on a structure or object, it heats up to a temperature of your choice for 24 hours.

Water
Healing is the hieroglyph of life. It is often inscribed while the object is wet or in water, and talismans often take the form of small bottles of purified water.
Talisman: When you activate this, the bearer heals 2 Wounds.
Inscription: When you activate this on a structure or over a construction site, it removes all poisons and impurities from the area, with a maximum size of (10*instances of Sorcery) square feet.
Insight is the hieroglyph of the eye, representing dreams. Its talismans are always blue, with a stone in the center for the eye's pupil.
Talisman: When you activate this, the bearer gains understanding. They may ask the GM 3 yes/no questions concerning information they arguably might have, and the GM answers honestly. You can't save the questions up for later.
Inscription: When you activate this on an object or structure, you gain understanding of its past. You may ask the GM 3 yes/no questions about the structure or object, all concerning information you arguably might have. The GM answers honestly, and again, no saving questions for later.

There is also a brief section on Dark Heka, the ability to draw ka from tomb goods and mummies. The black market for tomb goods is at odds with the general Khemeti reverence for the dead, and no one is entirely sure which tomb goods are most likely to have ka energies. Few Khemeti will admit to tomb robbing, but the discussion of Dark Heka is considered an interesting theoretical one, and it is generally agreed that the most ka-rich objects are generally prized possessions and the corpse. Methods of extracting this ka are quite simple, as well. What keeps most sorcerers from using it, besides considering it wrong and evil, is the curses. Few mention them at first, but they're real, and tomb robbers know it. Many say it's just bad luck; they are wrong. Some whisper of vengeful spirits that often appear when stolen ka is used. Some say Dark Heka's effects are not themselves evil, but rather that the evil is in drawing ka from the objects and bodies of the dead. Either way, several link the rise in Dark Heka to the darkness sweeping Khemet. There are no mechanics, but I'd rule that any given grave good or corpse can pay the price for a Heka effect, but then angry fucking ghosts are added to the list of things the GM can spend a Danger Point to have happen.

Next time: Melbur, which isn't Sanderis, really

Lands of Gold and Fire - Dark Powers

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Dark Powers

The sorcerers of Melbur are Aksum's dasusuo. They are exceptionally powerful, because each of them is bound to a demonic abonsam, able to call on the abonsam for terrifying miracles. Of course, the demon wants nothing more than to corrupt them. Typically, the abonsam contacts the dasusuo at a young age, acting as an imaginary friend. Aksumites tend to be very careful about kids talking to air as a result - some of them really are chatting with demons. The children are offered whatever they want, but always at a cost, and that cost grows darker and heavier over time. Because of this, it is vital to find young sorcerers early, before the abonsam can corrupt them entirely. This duty belonged to the dscah ru, who would find the children and send them to proper training. With the position vacant, no one is doing that officially, and the job falls to the active dasusuo. It's not easy without the emperor's backing, however, and more and more children are growing up without proper guidance. More and more dasusuo are also developing their own little magical kid brigades, with no oversight, and they often end up in conflict.

Mechanically, uh, Melbur is basically Sanderis. Each time you purchase Sorcery, you get one Deal and two Minor Favors you can basically use freely. Invoking a Favor costs a Hero Point, and if it's a Minor Favor you have, the cost is simple, for a Minor Favor you don't, it's still simple but takes some effort, and for any Major Favor, the cost will be very high indeed and give you Corruption. There are no differences. We are told, however, that the abonsam and the dievai, in the rare occasions that they meet, hate each other. Dievai also almost universally make deals with adults, while abonsam almost universally make deals with children. Dievai tend to see themselves as better because of this.

The other difference is that there is only three deals that overlap: Fire, Knowledge and Darkness. All other Deals of Melbur are new.

Blood abonsam are variable in appearance but always covered in or deeply interested in blood. They can manipulate the blood in the living, allowing them to heal, control or harm others, or to cause terrifying bloodlust.
Major Favors
Completely exsanguinate something, killing it as the blood pours out every orifice immediately.
Take control of the blood inside someone, allowing you to select their actions when they spend Raises, as long as they aren't suicidal and are capable of performing the action in the first place.
Minor Favors
Find the precise location of any living being you want, with perfect accuracy.
Cause someone's wounds to bleed more, making any Wounds get increased by 1 until the end of the round.
Heal a target of 1 Dramatic Wound.
Cause the target to suffer indiscriminate bloodlust, attacking the nearest target on their next action.
Know the location of all living creatures in your immediate surroundings. You can automatically detect anyone hiding without spending a Raise.

Corruption abonsam tend to resemble normal people, but sickly and diseased. They control disease, and are able to make incurable, magical diseases.
Major Favors
Infect a target with magical plague. At the start of each day, the target suffers 1 Dramatic Wound. Anyone who touches them is also infected, and also becomes contagious. The disease cannot be cured except by magic.
Destroy a single Brute Squad instantly, healing yourself of Wounds equal to their Strength.
Minor Favors
Infect a target with a mundane disease you are familiar with. It can be cured normally.
Immediately cure a disease, which also immunizes the target to further infection by that disease until the next time you use this favor.
Cause 1 Wound to everyone present in a scene.
Desecrate an area so that anyone who has strong faith in a deity, such as a priest or true believer, will not willingly enter it except under extreme circumstances.
Cause a corpse or other inanimate but organic material to rot away to dust.

Earth abonsam are hulking, brutish-looking monstrosities. They can control the ground as they like, commanding any stone, gem or mineral at will.
Major Favors
Animate nearby earthen material into a giant Monster. It can obey single-word commands such as 'stay' or 'attack' but will ignore anything more complex.
Cause a sinkhole to appear, large enough to engulf a city.
Minor Favors
Make your skin as hard as stone. For the rest of the round, whenever you would take Wounds, reduce the Wounds by 1.
Change a small amount of earthen material (like dirt or iron) into a different kind of earthen material (like gold or sand) until the end of the scene, when it reverts.
Shatter a large amount of earthen material, such as a wall or boulder.
Cause the earth to ripple under someone's feet. Until the end of the round, they must spend an additional Raise to take any action besides standing still.
Merge yourself and anyone touching you into an amount of earthen material sufficient to encompass everyone involved. While in the earth, you are aware of your surroundings but cannot be detected. Only complete destruction of the material will expel you, unharmed.

Fear abonsam are typically masters of disguise that appear entirely human. They can command fear in others, even monsters.
Major Favors
Strike someone dead from terror instantly.
Gain Fear ranks equal to your highest Trait until the end of the scene.
Minor Favors
Learn the target's deepest, darkest fear.
Make someone wary of you. Until the end of the round, they must spend an additional Raise to take any direct action against you.
Cause everyone nearby to panic as if they'd witnessed something horrible, usually fleeing the area.
Ignore the Fear quality for one scene.
Reduce the Fear rating of every Monster present in the scene by 1.

Next time: The Red Touch

Lands of Gold and Fire - Less Dark Powers

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Less Dark Powers

Mbey has fallen to corruption, and may yet fall further. However, it has survived, as well, because of corruption - a very different kind, a corruption of sorcery and sorcerers that can help. Only Mbeyans practice the Red Touch. They are those who have been touched in dreams by the Jok. The Jok are very potent creatures, and direct interaction with them causes reality to bend and twist. It is in the bending of reality that the rooi heks, as these sorcerers are known, find power - a power others often ignore or treat as collateral damage. Most see the blight magic that is the Red Touch as evil, but this is largely due to preconceived notions and the menacing red sheen around the eyes of the rooi heks. Most nations think of magic as good or evil, and in Mbey, it must be understood that 'red' magic has to balance both.

That is to say: an evil villain can use the Red Touch for terrible power. They are already corrupt, and so manipulating the gifts of the Jok and corrupting them is natural. The heroic rooi heks, however, uses their power to cleanse the souls of others, taking darkness into themselves to give other people the chance to be good. They must walk a delicate line, spreading chaos in the world via the Jok power and also being willing to take on the negative consequences of evil acts done by others. They must sacrifice their own mental and spiritual health for the good of others.

The first time you take Sorcery (Red Touch) you get one Disruption, and one more with each additional purchase. You can only learn the Red Touch either from another rooi heks or in dreams from the Jok. Some claim the first rooi heks was made by Bonsam, though this seems unlikely. Whatever the case, it is certainly true that the rooi heks allows their soul, willingly, to be tainted by darkness. Just enough to give them the power. It doesn't take away free will - not at first. While anyone can gain Corruption, rooi heks can also gain Blight, which is like Corruption but less dangerous. Whenever the rooi heks interacts with someone who has Corruption, they can spend 2 Hero Points to remove 1 point of that Corruption from the target and gain 2 Blight. This can only be done once per person per Main Story. The Blight can then be spent to fuel Disruptions.

However, Blight is added to your Corruption for purposes of checks to see if you turn into a Villain when you gain Corruption. Because this mechanic suuuuuucks. There's a fan-made PDF out there that replaces it with 'the GM gets extra Danger Points from your Corruption' and you should use that instead. If a rooi heks ever has 10 or more Blight, they immediately lose all Blight and gain 1 Corruption. So fuckin' spend your dang Blight. Disruption activations and effects often require spending Hero Points. If you have Blight, you can instead pay the cost in an equal amount of Blight. You may not, however, spend Hero Points on costs that specify Blight.

There are seven Disruptions, each the result of using the mighty power of the Jok through a mortal frame. The Red Touch is easily one of the most unnatural-feeling sorceries on the planet, even moreso than Porte or Hexe, because...well, it breaks reality and twists sorcerous power against itself.

Touch of Decay: You are able to warp the spirits that live within all objects. You touch an item and spend 1 Blight; the object now cannot be used. A gun falls apart, a suit of armor corrodes and rusts in seconds, a support beam crumbles to dust. Besides the narrative effects of this, you can instead create an Opportunity, which can be used by anyone as normal...including you, and you can activate it even when it's not your turn. Basically, once you use Touch of Decay in a Sequence, it takes effect when the Opportunity is activated, allowing you to interrupt an ongoing action using the object. This cancels the action but the Raise is still spent on it. Touch of Decay will hang out until you activate it or the scene ends, whichever comes first. If used on a magical item or Signature Item, the object is unusable only until the end of the scene, rather than forever.

Ill Luck: You are able to warp someone's luck. You can spend 1 Blight to become a beacon of bad luck. Everyone in the scene - you, other PCs, villains, everyone - gets -1 dice on all Risks for the rest of the scene. For every 2 additional Blight you spend, the penalty increases by 1. Why would you ever do this, you ask? Because you can spend 1 Hero Point - and only one - to immunize a single character to the bad luck before they make a roll. For that round only, they gain the penalty as a bonus instead. Only one person can be blessed this way at any time, and it only lasts for one round.

The Crimson Agreement: You can invite a Jok into your body to possess you. You select Death, Shadow, Blood, Memory or Heart as the type of Jok to determine the effects. This power is actually very similar - and explicitly tied to - Kap Sevi. (It also implies the Jok and the Lwa are the same kind of being.) Unlike a Lwa, however, you aren't limited in what you can call down...and you have your own price. The Jok, essentially, wants to get out of your body as fast as possible, and will leave at the end of the scene unless you spend a Hero Point to maintain control over it. Once the Jok leaves, you can't call on another Jok until the next sunrise. If you do spend the Hero Point it remains, but it's going to remember. The Jok very much do not enjoy being in your body. Whenever the Jok does leave, the GM immediately gains Danger Points equal to your current Blight, representing the displeasure of the Jok at being summoned.

Backlash: You can warp other magic. The next time Sorcery is used by the target, any costs are doubled - a losejas must gain 2 Corruption for a Major Favor, a Strega must pay double Lashes, etc. If there is no associated special cost, then the power costs double the normal amount of Hero Points to activate.

Muddle: You can warp minds that tap into otherworldly power. Touch someone and spend a Hero Point. Next time they receive information from a supernatural source, whether a Rahuri ancestor, a Sidhe owing a favor, a dievas or talking to an animal via Dar Matushki, the information is muddled, garbled or confusing. It's still accurate, but not necessarily true - misdirection, half-truth and changes of perspective are fine. It just won't be a lie. While you control OOCly what information is given, neither the rooi heks nor the victim are aware of when or how it happens, and the rooi heks has no IC control of what information is warped.

Deny: You can turn off magic. When another sorcerer in the same scene is you activates a sorcerous power while you can see them, you may immediately activate this. You may wager any number of Hero Points and Blight. If you pick a total that is greater than the number of times the target has the Sorcery advantage, their sorcery just fails to activate, though all costs associated with it are still paid. If you pick less than or equal to the number, however, the target's power goes off as normal. Supernatural effects that do not come from Sorcery, such as the Seeker of Soryana advantage or Monstrous Quality powers, require 3 points total to Deny.

Pay With Pain: You can warp sorcerous blood. You may pay a Hero Point to activate this for a scene. (I think. Cost is unclear.) After you do, anyone that uses a sorcerous power in your presence takes 1 Wound per Hero Point (or other associated cost) spent to activate it. This doesn't prevent any effects, even if it renders the sorcerer Helpless - it just hurts them.

Next time: Zahmeireen

Lands of Gold and Fire - Magic Swords

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - Magic Swords

So, Gelwaar is already a kingdom in darkness within Mbey. On its outskirts, however, there is a place of even greater suffering, a wound in the earth. It is a massive mine that is deeper than any other in Ifri - perhaps any in the world. Its name is Walhu, and that name is now a synonym for misery and death. For centuries, its workers were exceptionally well paid, because of the dangers involved. They sought out the most precious material in all of Mbey: Zahmeireen, a metal twice as strong as iron and half the weight. Further, zahmeireen reacts to magic and grows in strength alongside its master. It is a metal that has a soul, in a sense. Many of Ifri's greatest historical warriors wielded weapons made of zahmeireen. The metal was forged into great tools for heroes and villains.

all of this changed with the coming of the warlord Motuoka Gathaal. He was a ferocious, vicious killer, who conquered Walhu and built a prison on top of it. He sent messages to the other warlords and rulers in Mbey, offering to take their most dangerous criminals and prisoners for a small fee. And then he set them to work, digging out zahmeireen for him. Now, the metal that comes out of Walhu is different. Impure. Whether it is because of the coming of Bonsam or the suffering of the workers in Walhu for the past few decades doesn't matter. All metal that emerges from the mine is corrupted by pain and blood. The prisoner-slaves are forced to mine it under terrible conditions, often dying of exhaustion. On top of criminals, Walhu is now home to political dissidents, noble rivals of leaders and those who speak out against the tide of darkness. Each year, more innocents arrive, and they now outnumber the guilty by orders of magnitude, though those criminals within Walhu are the worst in Mbey. The guards pay very little attention to what goes on in the mines, as long as metal comes out and prisoners stay in. This means that prison gangs are common.

Ghallik the Speaker is an Aksumite Wiesone, sent to Walhu on charges of treason. He was a folk hero to some and made many allies in the mine. The guards don't care much about the petty disputes, but now they hear whispers of a prison rebellion coming. Jasai Tfala was once a major crime lord, and now runs a large gang in Walhu. It is not entirely clear how they got into the mine, especially with the influence they held outside. Surely they couldn't have come in willingly, right? Nyoka is a notorious loudmouth, and somehow her tongue got her thrown into the mines. However, her bite matches it - she is a thief and killer, easily the most dangerous single prisoner in Walhu for some time. Also the loudest.

The prisoners are made to work to exhaustion every day, going in with a pick and a single candle per person. The surface tunnels are long since stripped of zehmeireen veins, so they must dig ever deeper. Those that return receive a meager meal - their only one of the day - and given a few hours of sleep before it's back into the mines. More zehmeireen emerges now than ever before, and the Mbeyan smiths are busy making it into weapons. The metal appears less vibrant than it once did when refined, but that seems harmless to most. They are wrong. That much is clear if you look over the older prisoners.

In its raw state, zehmeireen resembles raw glass or crystal, but with a flat, metallic texture. It shines and pulses in the dark, and apparently looks quite pretty as a vein. It is also deadly. Exposure to unrefined zehmeireen over long periods causes an unnatural ochre glow in the eyes, visible only in darkness. Eventually, the whites of the eyes blacken, the hair thins and falls out, and a slow stream of blood tears leaks from the eyes. This condition, called Ukuthiwiri Oe ('demon's gaze') eventually causes death, typically from blood loss. Those aware of the risks associated with zehmeireen handle the raw metal with clothes and gloves lined in silver, which reduces the effects. The slaves of Walhu have no protection - that'd cost money.

When refined, zehmeireen loses its deadly quality, and its innate glimmer fades, leaving a flat, brown metal with an ochre gleam. It's easy to tell if a zehmeireen item is forged from corrupted metal or not - shine a light on it. Corrupted zehmeireen has the ochre gleam; uncorrupted does not. The metal is deeply valued throughout Ifri, and many collect it for various purposes - as weapons, for occult rituals, and more. Most notably, there is a sect of Mbeyan warriors called the Isifungo Senkosi, the King's Oath, who were entrusted long ago to wield zehmeireen in pursuit of justice, and their current leader, Zulkeha T'khul, has set them to collect corrupted zehmeireeen in order to ritually purify it. However, most of the corrupted blades have been stolen by the traitor Osei Adeyami, who wants to use them to arm a militia to fight Bonsam. Other notable names are Lady Zaleed the Cunning, a zehmeireen smuggler from Manden, Ras Kenta Manuke, an Aksumite noble plotting to use the weapons to fuel his quest to seize the imperial throne, and Captain Gormand of the Hope's Bane, who is gathering the stuff so he can make it into a misshapen idol meant to awaken something off the coast.

When you buy the Zehmeireen Advantage, you get a zehmeireen weapon. You select an Origin for it and two Facets. Its Origin may never be changed, but a three-Step Story allows you to swap one or both Facets. Further, you can upgrade it by completing Legends, which are sword achievements. The same rules can be used for non-weapon artifacts, such as a zehmeireen amulet, and the GM can rule which Origins, Legends and Facets are suitable for such a device. The game notes that items made of Cyrene red steel should be treated as Signature Items, as should those made of pure Orun Irin sky metal. However, especially rare and powerful items, such as the Sinifere Sarif blades of mixed red steel and sky metal should be treated as pure zehmeireen blades. Corrupted Zehmeireen is special. Anyone who has a corrupted zehmeireen item treats it as a Signature Item, even if they don't buy the advantage for it. However, anyone who doesn't buy the Advantage gains double Corruption from all sources, and the GM can spend a Danger Point to have the weapon removed from the PC's grasp. If you purchase the advantage, these penalties go away. To convert it to pure zehmeireen, you need a special ritual known only to the Isifungo Senkosi, and also a 3-Step Story involving contacting them and gaining their trust.

Origins
Fate: You found your weapon somewhere. You don't know why. When using the weapon as part of a Risk, you may reroll any 1s.
Legacy: You inherited your weapon from someone. You get 2 bonus dice on any Risk in which the history of your weapon or those that wielded it might be helpful to sway others.
Martyr: Your weapon is always wielded by those who would die for others. Once per session, you may deal a Dramatic Wound to yourself to gain (Weaponry) Hero Points immediately.
Master Crafted: Your weapon was made for you. If you take Signature Item and your signature item is the weapon, it costs only 2 points.
Treasure: You recovered your weapon from someone or something evil. Once per session, you may activate a Knack Advantage without paying a Hero Point.

Facets can only be taken once - you can't stack the same one twice. These are your weapon's magical properties.
Bane: When you take this Facet, select a type of monster, such as undead, abonsam or drachen. When you deal Wounds to such a Monster with it, you always deal 2 additional Wounds.
Dangerous: When you deal Wounds with your weapon, you may spend a Hero Point to deal extra Wounds equal to the Trait used in your Approach.
Destructive: You may spend a Hero Point to destroy an inanimate, roughly human-sized object with your weapon instantly. You may spend multiple Hero Points to destroy objects of larger size at the same rate (2 for an object twice the size of a man, etc).
Elemental: You may sheathe your weapon in fire, lightning or another elemental effect for one round by spending a Hero Point. Any time you use the weapon against a being that the element could damage, you deal 1 additional Wound. If they are especially weak to that element, you deal another 1 additional Wound. Further, while this is active, you prevent 1 Wound whenever you are damaged by the chosen element.
Life-Stealing: Once per session, you may spend a Hero Point when you cause Wounds to heal 1 Dramatic Wound.
Peaceful: When you are preventing Wounds, you may spend a Hero Point to prevent additional Wounds equal to the Trait you used in your Approach.
Quick: Once per round, when you take an action that causes Wounds to another character, you can spend a Hero Point to immediately act again. Your second action still costs Raises, you just get to do it immediately rather than have to wait for your next spot on the turn list for the round.
Veiled: When you attempt to evade notice or move silently as part of a Risk, you can spend a Hero Point to get 2 bonus dice.
Warded: When you are a target of a magical effect, you can spend a Hero Point to ignore its direct effects on you. Any other effects still happen, but you are not affected in any way.
Wounding: It costs 2 Raises to prevent a Wound this weapon deals, not 1.

Legends are Sword Achievements, much as there were Ship Achievements. They work the same way - meet the conditions during play, and you get a one-time bonus or new ability. The GM can, as always, invent new Legends, with the general rule being that they should be either hard, interesting and unusual, or evocative and fun. (Or, you know, more than one of those.)
Blade Master: Have an established weapons master note your skill. When making Weaponry Risks, you may reroll a single die, though you must keep the second roll.
Final Blow: Defeat a Villain in single combat. You may spend a Hero Point when you cause the third Dramatic Wound to an enemy to deal (Weaponry) additional Wounds.
Hero For Hire: Earn Wealth in exchange for services provided by you and your blade. You earn 1 more Wealth than usual whenever you are paid for your warrior skills.
Hero of Legend: Achieve 5 Legends. You get your choice of the Indomitable Will, Reputation or Valiant Spirit Advantages.
Named: Have a stranger comment on you and your weapon based on stories of your glorious past deeds. You get a bonus die on any Risk in which your sword's name is relevant.
Never Give Up: Be made Helpless. Once per scene, when you would take your fourth Dramatic Wound, you may spend a Hero Point to prevent that Dramatic Wound.
One Against Many: Defeat a Brute Squad by yourself. Any time a Brute Squad causes Wounds to you, you may spend a Hero Point to reduce those Wounds by 1.
Reforged: Have your weapon destroyed and get the shards remade into a new blade. You may choose a third Facet.
Warrior Without Fear: Defeat an enemy with the Fearsome Monster Quality. You may spend a Hero Point to ignore (Weaponry) Fear Ranks for the round, as long as your weapon is on your person.
Well Traveled: Visit every nation on your continent of origin. You get a bonus die on social Risks while outside your Nation or when in your Nation and interacting with foreigners.

Next time: Vile Dice

Lands of Gold and Fire - What If Corruption Had Even More Random Elements

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Lands of Gold and Fire - What If Corruption Had Even More Random Elements

So, because Ifri has a Satan working directly there, the evil abonsam spirits are pretty active in trying to corrupt people. The way this works is that the invisible abonsam spirits will typically hang out around people and wait for them to get into a really shitty situation, then offer them the chance to get out by doing whatever is necessary, justifying basically whatever you'd need to do to get out the simplest way possible. The way this works mechanically is that whenever you're in trouble, you can make a pact with an abonsam to gain Vile Dice. The GM will always warn you first and remind you of the rules for Vile Dice. The more Vile Dice you have, the stronger your character's darker impulses and brutal instincts, so you grow crueler and more violent.

The first time you take the offered help of the abonsam, you get 1 Vile Die to add to all rolls. Every time after that, you get another Vile Die and one of your normal dice is transformed into a Vile Die. The game suggests using dice of a different color to represent the Vile Dice. No matter how many Vile Dice you end up with, you can only make Raises out of a number of dice equal to your unmodified dicepool - any extras you don't or can't use get discarded. Vile Dice get added to every Risk you make, and are not tied to any trait or skill. However, every time you use a Vile Die as part of a Raise, it counts as an evil act. So if you use two Vile Dice, you gain 3 Corruption - 1 for the first, 2 for the second.

You can clear out Vile Dice with a Redemption Story. If you have no current Corruption, then a standard 5-Step Redemption Story will get rid of all your Vile Dice at once. You can also do 3-Step Redemption Stories to clear out Vile Dice one at a time, regardless of how much Corruption you have. You always lose the 'extra' dice first - only once they're gone do you start converting dice back into normal dice. If you have gained Corruption from using Vile Dice, you may clear all of it at once if your Redemption Story ends with you restoring your abonsam's stone to the Gelwaar resting place it once had, rendering it inert. Any Corruption from evil acts committed without being caused Vile Dice remain.

Note that to gain Vile Dice, you need to be doing something mean and nasty to get the abonsam to help you out. It can be difficult to do this in some scenes, and when that happens the GM can just say 'yeah no there's no abonsam offer right now.'

Anyway that mechanics sucks, let's talk about dueling instead. Single combat traditions obviously exist in Ifri. It'd be stupid to say they don't. It's always been a big part of most Ifrian cultures, a way to show skill and fitness for adult life, a way to resolve conflicts and tensions, and a way to prevent war. There are a number of rituals and rules to ensure fairness, if not safety, and only a coward or fool breaks them. This kind of ritual single combat is especially common on festival days or other holidays. Among the Ikodoku tribe, a traditional wedding involves formal spars between families of the couple, while among the Asabu, ritual duels are performed after a storm ends. Among the Masaesyli, children spar often in training for their rites of passage. With all this ritual combat playing such a big role, it's not surprising that Ifri has many fighting styles - wrestling, boxing, striking, grappling, stickfighting, fencing. Anyone that says they are a master of 'Ifrian combat' is lying because there isn't one style of Ifrian combat to master.

Wrestling matches often involve submitting, pinning or forcing a foe out of a ring. Fencing may use hooked shotels, wide akrafenas or slender takobas, among other blades, and sticks can be pointed, like the long asaya or short iklwa. Or not. One popular fighting style involves boxing with a wrapped hand and using a shield in the other. Understanding all this matters to understand how dueling works in Ifri. The techniques have been refined over centuries of effort, and traditions have been blended and mixed. Formal warrior dueling began as a sport and form of cultural exchange. Duelists used their duels to resolve conflicts, yes, and to earn respect. It was a way to recognize and honor differences while making common ground.

The most common Ifrian term for dueling is 'odo ija', the river fight. Duelists often challenge each other by asking to meet by the river or asking to have a talk by the river. The name recognizes the duel's cultural importance, and has nothing to do with where the fight actually happens. That said, many dueling houses (which in Ifri are any official enclosure that has at least one marked circle for combat) name themselves after the four Great Rivers. Duelists in Ifri have a complex reputation. While duels allowed for sharing and mixing of culture and ritual, some fear that it separates combat from its cultural role and widens the gap between the youth and their heritage. Some fear that Duelists will only learn fighting techniques, not the values and stories that often accompany them. Others say that it turns combat into a sport for fame rather than a way to resolve problems or create bonds. Some Duelists respond to this by using traditional music in their initial displays of skill, or only teach those who will learn the stories behind the techniques. Many prefer to donate any prize money from wins to help others. Others, however, say that duels and ritual combat are different, and that single combat is in no danger of fading, so there's no reason duels should be weighed down by the rituals.

Everyone, however, can recognize that odo ija and Thean-style dueling are not the same. There are four major differences that often cause cultural misunderstanding among Thean and Ifrian Duelists. First, anyone can go talk by the river. Odo ija tournaments may limit participation by age or experience, but no one is barred from initiating or participating in a duel, and the Duelist's Guild pin has little weight in Ifri. Any dueling house that requires Guild membership quickly loses native business. Secondly, most duels in Ifri begin with solo performances of skill, which can be as a simple as pre-emptive posturing or as complex as ornate and elaborate weapon dances. The current trend is for three to five minutes of performance to show off agility, strength and grace. If a Thean Duelist does not perform, they are likely to be mocked by the audience, and this has led some Thean Duelists to believe that Ifrians have no respect for dueling. Thirdly, Ifrian duels allow any style of single combat, while most Thean duels require weapons be used. Ifrians also allow a wider range of moves. Some Theans relish the challenge, but others use it as further basis for the stereotype of not respecting duels. Lastly, odo ija duels usually end with one Duelist recognizing the other's strength and surrendering. Formally, there are four points when the duel can end. First, by refusing the challenge and recognizing the other as superior in skill. Second, ceding after the display of skill. Third, after the first strike or first blood. Fourth, after being rendered unable to continue. If a duel lasts to that final, it is said that the river has run dry, and most Ifrian Duelists look down on those who often dry out the river. They have no pity for those who refuse to accept their own defeat when it becomes clear. This last is usually the easiest for Thean Duelists to pick up and understand.

Chaka is a style named for a legendary war leader, and it's based more on war techniques than ritual combat. It is unclear if Chaka invented war for his people or stole strategies from others, but either way, he is renowned for his skill and success in battle. The style focused originally on using two sticks, one to attack and one to defend, and is now mostly used with an attacking spear and a large, sturdy shield. Duelists have developed it to work with any bladed weapon and shield, however. It has a poor reputation among most Duelists for being too ruthless, but those who routinely fight until the river is dry like it for its brutality and speed. It is especially popular in Mbey. The bonus is the Isihlangu Lock. When you wield a bladed weapon and a shield, you may perform the Isihlangu Lock Maneuver, locking the outside of your shield against the foe's guard to make an opening to exploit, though you leave yourself open doing it. This deals (Finesse+Weaponry) Wounds, but for the rest of the round, you cannot perform any Maneuver that reduces Wounds you take. (You may still spend Raises normally to reduce damage, however.) You may use this technique only once per round.

Awal Thmani is a Khemeti fencing style that is performed as a series of elaborate dance movements in duels. Traditionally it uses the khopesh, but works with any one-handed sword or stick. It can be done with a shield or parrying weapon, or without. Not all who learn it use it for the sake of winning, however. Many dancers learn Awal Thmani to adapt to their own purposes in entertainment, and this has led to revival of ancient Kehmeti traditional music and story. Duelists defending the style often say this is a good thing, a success in dueling creating a cultural bridge to once-lost cultures. The bonus is the First Eight Maneuver. Whenever you wield a one-handed sword or stick, you get access to the First Eight Maneuver, a series of rapid slashes, punches and chops in the shape of the infinity symbol. Using the First Eight costs two Raises, and it deals (Weaponry+Brawl) Wounds. It can be used only once per round.

Omuhelo is a style named after one of the combat rituals using it. It is an athletic form of unarmed combat, relying on quick, one-handed handstands and other inversions of the body, as well as many jabs and sweep kicks. Duelists have adapted it to use with a one-handed weapon, usually a stick or sword, but the weapon is rarely used in favor of kicks. Those who practice Omuhelo often spend part of their training learning their ancestry and going on long journeys to meet distant kin or places from ancestors' pasts. The inversions the style uses are said to connect you to the reverse world where the dead live, and understanding your ancestors and what to expect from that connection is important. The style is usually very interesting to watch, and many Duelists perform solo at festivals to show skill, or fight duels that never get past the performance stage. It is one of the better-known Ifrian styles in Theah due to its showy nature. When you have at least one free hand, you may perform the Gazelle Kick Maneuver. This is a spinning, inverted kick that deals (Athletics) Wounds, minimum 1, and causes the next time the target deals Wounds this round to deal (Weaponry) less Wounds. You can use this only once per round.

The End.

Options now:
Heroes & Villains
Nations of Theah, Vol. 1
Nations of Theah, Vol. 2
The Crescent Empire
The New World

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Nations of Theah, Vol. 1



This book opens with Wick's two-paragraph intro in the dedication, which again is his only bit in the book. He says the idea of the book is to give you a baseline of information for the nations, but no so much to choke people on the canon, a mistake he says 1st edition made. We'll see if they succeeded. The head dev for this book, Danielle Lauzon, is mostly notable for her writing credits on Demon: The Descent, some other Chronicles of Darkness titles, Chill 3e and Cavaliers of Mars. This book covers Avalon (and the other Glamour Isles), Castille, Montaigne and Vestenmennavenjar - collectively, the western nations of Theah. (Well, Vesten is arguable but it's not even on the continent proper so who cares?) The uniting factor of these nations besides, arguably, geography, is a general malcontent among the people, generally directed at...well, their neighbors. Fear of war, fear of Sidhe, fear of Inquisition, fear of cultural domination.

We open with Avalon. The United Kingdoms of Avalon are a land of legends and glory, resurrected from the ashes of war by mighty leadership and Sidhe magic. It is so far held together by the currently undisputed compact between Queen Elaine and the Sidhe. She received the Graal from them, and with it the right to rule. That came with a price. The Sidhe now annex lands once held by humans, and their Glamour overtakes the lands they live in, warping them to suit their own needs. In the process, they don't generally care what happens to the human inhabitants, and sometimes that's lethal. Tensions rise between human and Sidhe, yet Elaine speaks only of unity and goodwill towards them. And that's hardly the only issue the islands have got.

The history of the Glamour Isles is long and bloody. Avalon has fought for centuries to conquer and subjugate the other two, and Inismore especially has long suffered under Avalonian rule. Their last time they were conquered was as far back as the reign of the original O'Bannon. Even when they were able to free themselves from Avalon, they fell into civil war, with each clan seeking the throne. The Highlands have a history of uniting behind their High King to fight off Avalonian rule as well. The islands have seen three hundred years shaped almost entirely by war, and while Elaine's rise has brought peace, it has cost them their sovereignty.

The Isles were as involved in the War of the Cross as any other nations. Avalon sent ships to Eisen, and Montaigne and Castille both invaded on the regular. Near the end, Avalon's soldiers finally expelled the Montaignes, and Castille sent their Armada to Inish waters to take advantage. The clan leaders panicked, but the warrior legend Jack O'Bannon personally took up the sword and singlehandedly slew many invaders, driving Castille away. His actions and the blessing of the Fal Stone earned him the Inish throne. This gave the Glamour Islanders a chance to rebuild at last, though in the wake of the Castillian defeat, the Highlanders fell to civil war. It was not until ten years after the War of the Cross ended that Elaine emerged with the Graal, declaring herself Queen. The Graal made the O'Bannon bend knee to her, soon followed by King MacDuff in an attempt to save the Highlands. The Graal told the islands that Elaine had been accepted by the magic of their homelands as ruler, and since then, there's been a full decade of peace and prosperity.

Avalon itself is the seat of Elaine's power, and ground zero for the Sidhe incursions. It's hard to recognize it after a decade - things have changed massively. Economic growth has hit every part of society, and Avalonian merchants have expanded outward on the backs of Avalonian privateers, making the nation a major trading force. Its many ports have seen explorative missions launched to the Crescents, the Atabean and beyond. Many Avalonians look west, to the New World, for expansion, but tensions at home keep Elaine and her court busy. Underneath the prosperity, old resentments fester, and those who see Elaine as an unfit queen wait for their chance to strike.

Inismore still desires freedom. The Inish have spent 20 years rebuilding their kingdom, and they are not happy to spend ten of those shackled to Avalon. Well the average Inish would still raise a glass to the health of Elaine and the O'Bannon, they'd be more than happy to see Inismore free. They speak of the old days of legend, when the Inish fought the dark creatures of the land, tamed the island and lived in harmony with the Sidhe. Many cheered for the O'Bannon's return, but they didn't expect him to be so damn volatile. The old stories said he'd return in the hour of need, but he seems to have gone mad, disappearing for weeks at a time and fueling fears that one day, he'll just wander off and never return.

The Highland Marches have probably come out of things worst for swearing fealty to Elaine. They have not received the growth and resources that Avalon and Inismore have enjoyed nearly as much, and they seem to occupy a lesser place in Elaine's court. The Highlanders have to work twice as hard to get any recognition at all, no matter how much Avalon prospers. They have, at least, had a cultural renaissance, rededicating themselves to their heritage and ways. Holidays and traditions are returning...as are clan grudges and old gods. The Marches are extremely traditional and rather sexist, with women unable to lead households, run businesses or own property, and with Elaine's rise, a movement for women's equality has erupted among nobles and peasants alike - the Bonny Swans. Their fight for equality has fueled the anger of the conservative Seperatist movement, who see Avalon as corrupting Marcher values and believe that they should break away. This, along with the discontent over Sidhe annexation, may be enough to force the Highlands out of Avalonian control.

Queen Elaine was the bastard daughter of a king, and has risen to become one of the most powerful women in Theah. She was fostered to a noble's house as a child, convinced her life would be boring and unassuming. At 19, she was engaged to a young man, and she was pregnant at her wedding...which got interrupted by the wizard Derwyddon, who took her away from the altar and led her into the land of the Sidhe, Bryn Bresail, on a quest to recover the Graal. Elaine spent many years among the Sidhe, suffering many problems - including loss of her unborn child. Derwyddon prepared her for the trials of the Three Queens of Bryn Bresail, who tested her right to rule. When she returned, she found ten years had passed, her father was dead, her fiance was vanished and she was...still 19. She united the lands under her banner, creating the Unified Kingdoms. With each year that has passed, she has grown wiser and more confident, beloved by Avalon's people...but their love and her kindness are not enough for the challenges she faces. The Highlands sink into poverty despite her best efforts, and the O'Bannon just wanders the land rather than ruling his people. He may be loyal, but he's a terrible leader and uncontrollable. Derwyddon has left her court, leaving her without an expert on the Sidhe. The Seperatists gain ground daily, and many criticize her for not striking them down and instead leaving them to MacDuff to deal with. The Realists dislike her support of Glamour and the Sidhe. Others gossip about her personal relationships with Duchess Colleen MacLeod and her knight, Lawrence Lugh. He is her constant companion and personal guard, and some say he is an exiled Sidhe prince, others just a Knight of Elilodd. He certainly has potent Glamour, and many fear that Elaine is in too deep with the Sidhe to accurately assess that as a threat. Elaine takes it all with grace, doing what she can and making contingency plans for the rest. She struggles, knowing her people suffer but that she can do little to help. She is proud and slow to anger, but once her temper is provoked, her rage is impressive. She loves Avalon over all else, and while she enjoys some distractions from that, ruling the islands takes almost all of her time.

Duchess Colleen MacLeod was born Colleen Carlyle, daughter of a Duke of a small county across the water from the Highlands, which she grew up enamored with. It surprised no one when she married Monty MacLeod, second son of the Duke MacLeod, a powerful Highland clan leader. When Monty's elder brother died in an accident, he became the Duke, and Colleen quickly rose in status, despite being a woman in the Highlands. She has become a symbol of gender equality for the Bonny Swans. Publically, she supports King MacLeod, but in truth, she believes the Marches will never prosper until they are independent. She wants a peaceful separation, and to that end has maneuvered herself to become the Highlander ambassador to Elaine's court. She feared at first that she'd have to pretend to like Elaine, but that proved unnecessary - they quickly became true friends over their shared love of learning, and Colleen has become one of Elaine's confidantes. The Separatists have tried to discredit her by spreading rumors that the two are lovers...and, in fact, those rumors were what got the two women to acknowledge their love for each other, soon beginning a quiet relationship (with Duke Monty's blessing). Elaine has managed to balance her relationships with both Colleen and Lawrence Lugh so far, and has publically admitted to neither. Colleen is a practical, outspoken woman who doesn't give up easily, and she's still a closet Separatist despite being Elaine's lover. She's got a strong Marcher accent despite her Avalonian birth, and her feelings are often in turmoil because of her love for Elaine and her love for her adopted nation.

Derywddon, High Wizard of Avalon, is the most mysterious man on the island. Countless rumors circle about him - he ages backwards, they say, and when he dies, so will the Islands. He is the living incarnation of their magic, they say, as old as the islands themselves. Neither of those is true, but the truth is crazy: Derwyddon is the son of a Sidhe and one of the first Avalonian rulers to make a deal with Bryn Bresail. He was born speaking prophecy from the cradle, which scared his father so much that the man begged the Sidhe to take the boy. His mother raised him gladly, but knew his mortal lifespan would kill him one day, so to preserve him, she bound him to the timeless heart of Bryn Bresail. For as long as he remained there, his age would grow impossibly slowly. He grew up among the Seelie court, studying their magic and giving the Three Queens his prophesies for a dozen mortal lifetimes before he ever went back to the lands of men. That'd be when the Old Empire invaded Avalon in the 6th Century, and he realized he had to do something or the Glamour Isles would be wiped out. He left Bryn Bresail despite his mother's warnings, bargaining with the Three Queens to gain the power to draw down a wall of mist on the isles until the dangers had passed. That pact hid Avalon for nearly a century, frozen in time but safe. To do it, however, Derwyddon had to sell away his place in Bryn Bresail, forced to wander the mortal world, apart from his mother, in service to the Seelie and the Isles. This is why he serves Elaine - his future was foretold before she was ever born, foretold by his own prophecy. He spoke of a ruler who would reawaken the bonds of the Sidhe and the mortals, whose decisions would either bring a golden age or ruin and destruction. Derwyddon came to prepare Elaine, and only he knows the full truth of her ascendancy. It is unclear, however, if his true motive is, in fact, to just get back in the good graces of the Sidhe and go home once more. He is a master strategist, a genius who has been working to ensure everyone he has foreseen is where he has foreseen that they need to be. However, while he is a master wizard and a skilled manipulator, he refuses to influence the free choices of any person, instead allowing them to choose their own future, which may be why he looks so frustrated whenever he shows up. He has been aging faster the past few years, and this may be part of why he is rarely seen at court any more.

Elaine and Derwyddon are largely similar to their 1e incarnations, though Elaine being both explicitly bisexual and actually in relationships with Lawrence Lugh (and Colleen) are new. Derwyddon's history is new but it fits his old role fine. Colleen is a new character entirely and a good one - we needed more Separatist heroes.

Next time: EVEN MORE PEOPLE

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Magic Elf Invasions

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Magic Elf Invasions

Daniele is the Sidhe emissary of the Seelie Court to Elaine's own. They are easily the most controversial person in Avalon, and much of that through no fault of their own. They are an ethereally beautiful Sidhe, witty and kind and contemplative. They identify as neither male nor female, dressing as whichever takes their fancy any given day. They play music, sing, speak half a dozen languages and ride horses a lot. They are polite and honorable, an excellent politician and resemble Queen Elaine to an uncanny degree. No one actually knows their history, except perhaps Elaine and Derwyddon. Their appearance on the tenth anniversary of Elaine's ascendance and their appearance leads many to suspect they are Elaine's lost child, while others believe they are the true Elaine, kept among the Sidhe while a double was sent back to rule. Some believe Daniele is Elaine's sibling, stolen at birth by Derwyddon as part of a bargain. Daniele is, in fact, truly devoted to seeing Avalon survive, provided that the Sidhe are allowed to be equal partners. They are very candid, particularly by Sidhe standards, and seem to show concern for both mortal and Sidhe. When not at court, they are often out wandering the countryside to calm down tensions between mortal and Sidhe.

Jack O'Bannon, King of Inismore is...erratic, to put it mildly. He's been unstable ever since his return at the end of the War of the Cross, and it's only gotten worse over time. Still, there's no one quite like him, and the Inish do love their king. The most widely accepted rumor of his history is that his mother was a Sidhe lady who tried to make him a Sidhe as well, but drove him to madness. He then fled to the mortal world. Others say he is the O'Bannon of legend, returned by the Sidhe to be champion of Inismore in time of need. In those legends, the O'Bannon leaves when the land is safe and his duty is over, going back to rest until his next needed. All stories say that an O'Bannon appears from nowhere to save Inismore, and that each time the O'Bannon comes, he is a little crazier. Jack O'Bannon appeared in the Castillian invasion and slew six hundred soldiers by himself before claiming the crown. Who was going to stop him? The Inish were ecstatic, but now, the cracks are showing. Jack is preoccupied and spends little time on rulership. He sends his Fianna warriors on various missions whenever he sees a chance. The people do credit him with their current prosperity, not least because they don't like Avalon much and prefer to credit a local. It is only the O'Bannon that keeps Inismore from rising up against Elaine, as he has granted her his personal protection. Many believe the Graal is all that keeps Inismore safe, and that is why he did so. However, many wonder how much longer the madman's force of personality will be enough to keep the alliance going, how much longer it'll be before the Inish just get fed up of Avalon's rule. Jack is a rugged man who looks to be in his mid-thirties, with gray hair. He's appeared to be mid-30s for 20 years now. He does not, however, match the description of the blood-soaked madman that slew the Castillian invaders - mostly because he usually comes off as lean and calm. While he is insane, he is still powerful and quite shrewd. Even if he is not part-Sidhe, he wields powerful Glamour magic that is beyond the scope of that used by the Knights of Avalon. He often seems to be a moody trickster, and is often absent from his castle in Donega, wandering the countryside disguised as a commoner for reasons unknown. One of the story hooks suggests he is hunting for the crown of Inismore, or that he is looking for trouble so he can extend his time in the mortal world.

King James MacDuff II was raised from a young age to lead Clan MacDuff. He never expected to deal with the kind of problems that have plagued the Marches since the War of the Cross. After the War, the High Council rebuked his father as High King. The MacDuffs had ruled the Highlands since Robert the Black in 1219, and the civil war that followed the rebuke lasted eight years before James and his father could return stability - and at the end, just James II, as his father had died. The Highlands barely limped along after the civil war, and restoration seemed to take more than anyone had to give. When Elaine appeared with the Graal, MacDuff saw it as a chance to rebuild his nation using her funding. He believed it'd bring prosperity, enough to grow the Marches to a strength that they could stand alone again. He bent knee, choosing stability over independence. It has cost him dearly. He's had to fight constantly to keep the peace, and while his faction is currently the High Council's majority, the Separatists are louder and block him at every turn. They can't overthrow him, but have tried to murder him. They've failed to kill him, but they did get his son, Robert. James has grown quiet since then, in a time when strength and decisiveness are needed. It's been ten years since he swore loyalty to Avalon, and he's yet to declare his intention to break away after growth, fearful of the chaos it'd bring. He is, however, still a political genius, and has held off both the Seperatists and the harder social questions fo the Highlands in favor of trying to figure out what to do about the Sidhe and how to change the Highlands into a nation others will respect. He has aged dramatically over the past decade, his black hair and beard shot through with silver. He's still a strong warrior, but his face is weary, though his strength and speed remain. He's exhausted from the work he must do, and prone to long contemplation before he commits to any action. He wants to support the Bonny Swans, but feels he can't without alienating traditionalists he desperately needs the support of against the Separatists.

Jeremiah Berek is the leader of the Sea Dogs of Avalon, a noble originally known more for his parties than his piracy. When Elaine called for ships, he funded several fast and powerful ones from Wandesborrow's shipwrights. The first, the Black Dawn, he decided to captain himself. Instead of being a simple naval defense, he pretty much immediately became a pirate, donating most of his proceeds to the queen. A decade later, he's no longer the fop he once was. He is one of the most famous, powerful pirates on the seas, and while he's been knighted, he spends little time at court, preferring to travel aboard the Black Dawn in search of gold. His loyalty is unquestionable, and his stateroom has a picture of her in it. Rumor has it they were childhood friends. His wealth has greatly expanded, and he belongs to the Brotherhood of the Coast as well as leading the Sea Dogs. The Dogs were once just his crew, but now control dozens of ships. They mostly hang around Avalon, and they control the Carleon docks and much of the capital's import and export. All of this has made Berek exceptionally wealthy, but if you get past the flashy exterior, he's still a self-effacing man far more at home doing work on a ship than hanging around any manor or court. He's very interested in leading colonization efforts to the west.

Now, let's talk about the Realists. This is an organization of extremist Objectionists that believe that magic is not just evil, it's not real. They believe magic is a dangerous collective hallucination that can alter the world around you. Magic doesn't exist, they say, but those that believe in it will it into existence. Therefore, people must stop believing in magic to end its evil influence. This is a conservative strain of thought that is far beyond what even the Inquisition holds to be true. Indeed, it's practically heretical, as the Prophets themselves acknowledged magic's existence. Most of Theah sees them as an unwanted blight, and they've had to flee various nations in search of a home. Elaine's doctrine of total acceptance of all religion let them find shelter in Avalon, despite its vast amounts of magic. They aren't very popular, though, what with the preaching against Glamour and the Sidhe. What they really want to find is a place across the sea, a home they can live in that is free from magic. They eagerly seek word of any place that'd be a good home for a small church. In Avalon, they cluster in any town that'll allow their meetings. Each group is led by an Elder, and the organization is run overall by a former Vaticine priest named Prestor Mathor. Their largest chapterhouse is in Carleon, though they have presence in most major Avalonian cities. They avoid towns with ancient magical traditions or superstitions, and avoid all contact with the Sidhe, holding them to be exceptionally dangerous manifestations of the magic hallucination. They preach to anyone that'll listen to turn away from magic before it consumes Avalon. Traditionally, they wear humble, modest and dour clothes with high collars and dark colors, and generally wear head coverings to hide their hair. Because sure, Not Puritans.

Walter "Sawbones" Kelly is a doctor who changed from being a philosopher after his mother got sick while he was at university. He wanted to cure her, but he failed due to the limits of his education and the local hospital's capabilities. After her death, he set out to master medicine. In his search, he ran into a Sidhe that offered him supernatural genius in exchange for a favor - deliver a message to a Sidhe in Montaigne. Kelly took the job. He hunted for four years and never found the Sidhe, so it never got delivered, but his benefactor seems to be satisfied with the effort. He headed to Inismore, working as a field medic with his newfound genius, and became fast friends with a Fianna warrior named Maeve MacGowan after he saved her leg from infection. She became his bodyguard, though he was never in much danger. After Elaine took the throne, MacGowan had a falling-out with the other Fianna due to her support for the Avalon queen, and she headed to Avalon to pledge her service, finding the military there practically nonexistent. When the Black Dawn set sail, Maeve and Walter joined the crew together, and to this day, Sawbones Kelly keeps the ship the healthiest in the fleet. He is possibly the best doctor in Theah, but he's happy to live as a privateer medic. He is afraid of the Sidhe and prefers not to spend time around them, so he likes it on the sea over being at home. He's a jolly, friendly man, and probably the most eloquent of all the Sea Dogs.

Captain Eilionoir NicDappel - Eilidh, to her family, Helen to the navy and Captain to her crew - has always been caught between worlds. She's daughter to an Avalon navy captain and a well-educated Highlander plantation owner. She split her childhood between the two nations, but it was her father's plantation estate that made the bigger impact on her. Still, her fascination with her mother's sea stories fascinated her, and she was quick to sign on with Elaine's naval forces. She earned her own ship quickly - some say because of nepotism, but she's a good sailor. She's determined and loyal, and her ship is one of the most disciplined in the entire Avalonian navy. She's no fan of Jeremiah Berek, however, seeing him as self-centered, reckless and spoiled, itching to get Avalon into a war, even if he does have a writ from the Queen. The only thing that keeps from trying to disband the Sea Dogs entirely is her loyalty to Elaine and her knowledge that Berek is loyal, too, even if he is an idiot. She isn't in charge of the navy, but is one of its most respected captains. She is very pragmatic, though she is not cold about it. She has deep passions, and while slow to anger, her rage is ferocious. She just puts her feelings aside when she has to make decisions, focusing on tactics and details. Her loyalty to Elaine is not due to the Sidhe or the Graal, but because she believes the queen is a wise a ruler.

Shockingly, Lawrence Lugh doesn't actually have a writeup. The Sidhe do, however. They live infinitely long times and have immense magical power. They are capricious, mercurial creatures who have fought terrifying, primordial foes and have had great power for thousands of years. However, they are somehow tied to human civilization. In ancient times, before humanity existed, the world was split between forces of wonder and darkness. The Sidhe ruled until mortals came, populating Theah, and they became fascinated. The Sidhe began to mimic human behavior to better interact with the mortal world, challenging people with puzzles, riddles and quests for their own entertainment. They rewarded success and punished failure. This lasted for centuries, and some mortals grew powerful on the weight of mystic Sidhe gifts. It was an age of legends.

That ended when humans fought each other, as various mortal civilizations rebelled against magic and its users. They overthrew gods and demons, driving out the Sidhe or destroying them entirely. Some Sidhe hid, while others fled to Bryn Bresail, their homeland on the far sides of the fae gates. The Sidhe noticed in this time a change in their immortal nature, and a change in the nature of magic. The rise of humans, their unchanging mortality, warped the Sidhe, locking off their fluid, ever-shifting forms into fixed, limited ones. The Sidhe split into two factions. The Seelie embraced this mortal perception of their form, adopting the trappings of human civilization out of fascination and necessity. Many, however, had no desire for mortal influence over themselves and rejected this decision. The three Faerie Queens of Earth, Sky and Sea chose the Seelie, banishing the malcontents. They formed their own faction, the Unseelie, embracing their more chaotic nature and taking on terrifying forms to torment humanity.

As distrust of magic spread across Theah, the Sidhe withdrew from most of the world, leaving their gates open only on the Glamour Isles, due to their undamaged pacts with King Elilodd. They gave the islands magic tools - the sword Firinbrand, the MacLeod Faery Flag, the Fal Stone and the Graal. The Unseelie were outraged, cursing the Seelie to see a day when their gifts would be turned upon them. That came six hundred years ago, when Thean invaders came to Avalon for a war that lasted generations. The Sidhe entered the fight to help protect the land, and it was for this that the Graal was given to Elilodd and the magic to his knights. Years after Elilodd's death, however, the Sidhe magic was corrupted, their allies slain and their hiding places destroyed. Their magic became feared. The tipping point was when a Montaigne man with Glamour magic bound the Lady of the Lake, a Seelie Queen, and turned her power against the Isles. The heroine Athrwyn used the Graal's power to free the Lady in the defense of the Bran Bridge, but the damage was done. The Lady of the Lake took the Graal and left for Bryn Bresail, sealing the gate behind her. For the rest of the Montaigne occupation, the magic of Avalon was dormant, and many believed the Sidhe would never return.

Earlier in the current year, on the tenth anniversary of Elaine's ascension, the Bran Bridge Lake's waters opened and a Sidhe delegation emerged, led by Daniele of the Seelie. They claimed the Faerie Queens had sent them to oversee the expansion of Sidhe territory into the mortal world, that the Sidhe would be retaking land they'd occupied centuries before. This, they said, was the Reclamation. For the most part, the delegation now serve as liaisons to the lands the Sidhe are claiming. Their main stronghold is in Siochain Forest, a dense and mysterious wood at the heart of an entire Sidhe-run county, now called Arcadia. There, mortal and Sidhe live side by side. A lesser stronghold also exists in the Highland Marches, called Dagna, a Sidhe paradise walled off by thorns. Recently, Highland nobles attacked a lakeside Sidhe compound called Ballorwick, but were driven back by the terrifying Cursed Prince. Rumors of the Red-Eyed King, a horrific Sidhe creature, spread across Avalon. He favors the ancient ways and violence against humanity. His terrifying Unseelie forces have been spotted rading the Highland Marches and Inismore, as well as the wild lands even in Avalon, hunting stray mortals that betray deals. Many wonder what the three Queens have to say on this, and feel the balance of power has been upset.

For changes from 1e: Berek's basically the same; the O'Bannon's been toned down from being Wick's self-insert hero some. MacDuff's having a harder time of it. The Sidhe are very different now in their origins, but still crazy powerful. The rest of these folks are new, as are the Realists.

Next time: What Even Is A Sidhe

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Goodly Folke, With An E For Fancy

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Goodly Folke, With An E For Fancy

The Sidhe come in all shapes and sizes, from the beautiful Seelie Queens to the nightmarish Unseelie. However, what is pretty much universal is they aren't hiding any more. Once, they concealed themselves from mortal view or locked themselves away. No longer. Selkies swim the lakes of Avalon, centaurs run in the fields, Sidhe palaces appear in forgotten glens. Almost all Sidhe just walk openly as themselves, whatever they are. Some hide their true appearance still to better blend in and experience mortal life, but others just walk up to their distant descendants and are like 'hey y'all owe me a favor from six hundred years ago, pay up.' Some Sidhe even leave Avalon for the mainland of Theah, to find those left behind when the gates of Bryn Bresail were closed off, so long ago, or to seek out the new and interesting. There is one surefire way to tell if someone or something is Sidhe: stare at their reflection in a mirror. If they're Sidhe, it will ripple.

Many Avalonians celebrate the (admittedly jarring) return of the Sidhe. They have a prominent place in Elaine's court and across the kingdoms. Entire forests, towns or even parts of cities have been transformed into what are now called the Glamourlands. Even the residents of these places have been altered. Children born in the Glamourlands often have a natural talent for magic, usable without need for a Sidhe blessing. Others have gained Sidhe blessing and surpassed the Glamour usable by the Knights. Many mortals have fled the lands that have gone wild with magic, while others stay and accept Sidhe management. A kind Sidhe lord gives many benefits...but if they aren't, well, things get fucking nasty. The favor of the Sidhe is greatly beneficial, and this has been known since the days of Elilodd's pact. The pact holds to this day: the Sidhe will give gifts to those who prove themselves worthy in some way set down by the Sidhe petitioned for aid.

However, some Sidhe are more altruistic than others. The Unseelie are terrifying, vindictive and chaotic, and the Seelie are usually more helpful...but even the Seelie enjoy their games, their riddles and wordplay, and anyone dealing with them must be very careful. Only those they deem extraordinary will get exceptional benefits, and anyone that isn't careful with the wording of a Sidhe pact is asking for trouble - lots of it. Many pacts are short-term, with limited duration or lesser gifts. Longer-lasting bonds are possible, however, creating more permanent mortal-Sidhe connections. An ancestor's bargain may see a farm protected by wild beasts, or a child might be born each generation with the power of foresight because of some ancient deal.

It is possible to earn Favor with the Sidhe in a similar manner to earning Favor with a secret society. However, Sidhe Favor always comes at a cost, generally chosen by the Sidhe that grants the Favor. A PC that performs a challenge for the Sidhe can also spend Favor they don't have, going into debt. This often has serious consequences, and the Sidhe will expect you to drop everything and do what they ask when they call in your debt. Refusal will earn you a curse at best.

Performing a task for the Sidhe is worth 2 Favor. Usually, this is some form of challenge set forth by a Sidhe, which you must perform before they'll give you any Favor whatsoever. It might be a riddle or a quest, so long as it satisfied the Sidhe involved. Helping or saving a Sidhe's life is worth 6 Favor - they remember their debts. Giving a present to a Sidhe or otherwise providing aid is worth 3 Favor, and is generally going to be harder and more taxing than the original challenge. But why, you ask, would I ever bother with this faerie bullshit? Because the Sidhe are magic as fuck, that's why.

You can spend 4 Favor to gain a single rank in one Major or two Minor Glamours, even if you don't have Sorcery. You select a Major and Minor trait when you gain such a blessing, unless you already have Glamour Sorcery. You get access to these Glamours for no more than a week, and must obey the Gesa of the Knights of Avalon while you have it. You can spend 2 Favor to learn any secret the Sidhe might reasonably know or be able to find out about a situation, person or Sidhe; they're smart but they aren't omniscient. You can spend 3 Favor to get temporary access to a Sidhe artifact, which functions as a Signature Item that has powers determined by the GM. You are expected to return it within a week, regardless of if you used it successfully or not, or suffer Sidhe wrath.

Secret societies in Avalon, plus special ways to gain Favor in Avalon! Die Kreuzritter have proven a great boon to Avalonians endangered by the Sidhe, for not all Sidhe are friendly, and die Kreuzritter are uniquely suited to fighting monsters. Bringing evidence of the destruction of a Sidhe is worth 4 Favor, and selling information about Sidhe encroachment, Unseelie or not, is worth 2 Favor. The Explorer's Society has turned Avalon into their primary launching point for many expeditions west, either to the New World or to various islands containing Syrneth relics, and many Explorers are also fascinated by the Sidhe, and have begun planning expeditions into Bryn Bresail once they can find a gate to use. Acquiring a Sidhe artifact or knowledge of the Sidhe for them is worth 4 Favor, if you turn it over for study. Knowledge might be about specific types of Sidhe, or just about general Sidhe life and habits. The Brotherhood of the Coast have a strong representation in Avalon due to all the privateering, and Elaine often looks the other way for them because of Berek. There's no special Favor gains though.

The Invisible College are very safe in Avalon - there's no Vaticine, practically, so little Inquisition to worry about except in Carleon, where the priests often visit, and the Inish city of Liumech, where they're establishing a stronger foothold. They know the Inquisition wants to fight the Sidhe, and have been working to prevent an Inquisition presence in Avalon. The Knights of the Rose & Cross have no major conflicts to fight in Avalon, but the rise of the Glamourlands and the Separatist movement are enough to keep them busy there - and some of them also work to protect the Sidhe from displaced villagers that are lashing out at the wrong target. Because of their Castillian origins, Los Vagabundos haven't had an easy time of it getting set up in Avalon, but they work to keep the peace and fight the Separatists. They tend to support Elaine because, well, the O'Bannon's in no state to rule alone and the Highland king supports her, so she's the best option for the people. Since they thwarted an assassination attempt on Elaine, they've been more welcome.

Mociutes Skara have established a somewhat new goal in Avalon. The land is rich in food and health, thanks to the Glamour, but many have been forced from their homes by Sidhe incursion. The Shawl work out of Carleon and Liumech to gather money to help these needy people and to organize efforts to stop the spread of the Glamourlands into areas that are heavily populated. They also spend a lot of money on feeding and clothing refugees, and have discussed the idea of seeking out anti-Sidhe weapons, but have decided to overall focus on those in need over fighting the Sidhe. The Rilasciare have had very little foothold in Avalon until quite recently, thanks to the peace and prosperity of Elaine's rule, but the tensions rising now with the Sidhe Reclamation have caused a surge of interest. Sophia's Daughters have found allies in the women of Avalon and the Marches. Many Vodacce women see Avalon as a paragon of nations, ruled by a woman with magic and where women are free, and it is often the final destination of escaped Fate Witches. There is also some interest in helping the women of the Marches, who are still oppressed, if to a much lesser extent than Vodacce women.

The Long-Strider League are a secret society based out of Inismore, born from a mix of Mociutes Skara ideals and the old Inish druids. They work to spread information and communication across Theah, ensuring that messages are delivered to the right people in a timely manner. They original Long-Striders were druids of the old gods, who used their magical gifts to travel vast distances quickly and their bardic training to memorize messages and hide documents for secret delivery. In the War of the Cross, they spread out across the continent, recruiting those that would swear to their oath: "The truth is the story which binds our lives, and to that truth, I pledge my life." All new Long-Striders are trained as dalta, apprentice bards, who must study spycraft, wilderness survival and languages as well as storytelling and music. By the time they stand before the Seanchai, the bardic masters, they are able to travel for days without rest and would rather die than lose a message. The League possesses ten-league boots, magic items that let you travel many miles in a single night. Many see the League as a small but threatening group, as they support kingdoms, organizations and people dedicated to truth, charity and justice. Their flagrant use of old Inish magic artifacts also puts them in conflict with the Inquisition.

Their primary goal is to move important information to people across Theah that can use it properly. Successful delivery of an important message is worth 4 Favor, with another 2 if the message is very vital or the delivery very fast. Recruiting a new messenger or other trustworthy person to pass on information is worth 2 Favor. Access to the League's reliquaries of magic boots and other travel items costs 4 Favor, and you have to give it back after your mission. Access to information costs 2 Favor, or 4 if it's particularly sensitive or marked as private by the League.

Next time: Locations

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Magic City

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Magic City

Carleon is called the Shining Star, the great capital on the southern coast. When Elaine took power, Derwyddon declared that she needed a city worthy of her and turned the port town of Carleon into a new city overnight, transforming sea foam to a bright castle, adding promenades and cathedrals, and generally remaking the place entirely in a grand show of Glamour. Glenayre Castle is Elaine's palace, atop the black cliffs. Its gleaming spires look even fresher now than they did the day they were summoned into being. Elaine holds court from an opulent throne room, large enough to house hundreds, yet the magic of the castle makes her voice carry to all corners of it if she desires. The rest of the castle is art galleries, gardens of citrus and a large feast hall. In the lower area is a training pavilion for the knights, and the towers are used to house courtiers and dignitaries. The Queen's own tower is immense, with a small library, private chambers and servants' quarters for her ladies in waiting. It also has a direct entrance to the Walking Hall, where petitioners wait for an audience with Elaine for various reasons. She may take the Queen's Stair if she wishes to avoid them, heading around the outside of the tower. This stair is always watched by her guards, stretching all the way up the tower to her private inlet under the cliff, which leads to the ocean. Elaine prefers to use the stairs for private talks, as it is very hard to eavesdrop on them.

Northwest from the castle is the city proper. The streets are a twisted mess, easy to get lost in until you realize they follow the cliff's rock formations. The heart is the Promenade, a park that is always open to tourists, performers and street vendors selling fake Sidhe goods. Further down from it is the Parliament building, and opposite that the National Dock, where the high courts sit in judgment of criminals. Above the dock are the legal libraries and judges' chambers, plus the Advocate School for new defense lawyers. Beyond that is the Endwell prison, for those awaiting trial. The worst criminals are kept in its lowest levels. Endwell is built into the cliffside caves, maintained and protected largely by Glamour. Just at the waterfront's edge are the Marking Stones, an ancient stone circle used by Derwyddon for his magic. Since he's around less and less, they have increasingly been used by the followers of the Old Faith for worship of the Sidhe and to ask for help.

The city splits into three districts - north, south and west. The north is where most people live, with nobles being closest to the Promenade. There is also the Grand Chapel of the Church of Avalon there, with high walls and beautiful stained glass. The nearby Vaticine Church of Saint Benedict's is more subdued. Heading into the poorer areas will find the Realists' Meeting Hall, which is a non-nonsense building with little decoration. They prefer the outskirts of Carleon, seeing the city's Glamoured streets as madness giving form. The west district is home to diplomats, businesses and mercantile concerns. The closest to the Promenade is Vendel League Row, where the League's representatives do business and also host art galleries and musical performances and theater. They also rent out homes to diplomats at high prices. The Explorer's Guild Charter House is nearby, the Avalon HQ for the society and base for launching expeditions to the Thalusian isles or the recently discovered ruins in the Inish swamplands.

On the south end is Morgan's Roost, a mansion made from the planks of retired ships. It is the retirement home of the Avalonian privateers and sailors, built by Elaine after she heard their jokes of retiring to 'a home with a view.' The main hall is lined with mastheads from scuttled and destroyed ships of the fleet, and some of the most notorious privateers now live there. The Sea Dogs rule the nearby docks, based out of Hopewell's Inn near the Marking Stones, and own most of the ships and warehouses. They serve as the police of the docks, as well, generally doing a better job than the city guard.

The newest part of Carleon is Glamourtown, sprung up at the far end of the market. It has begun to warp and transform due to the local wild Glamour. The colors there are brighter, the buildings taller and grander, the air more wondrous. The Sidhe live alongside the area's mortal residents, and most of the Sidhe diplomats to the court have rooms in Glamourtown, in a large manor called Seabright. It is blue-green with silver accents, and it's more opulent than any noble manor in the city. However, Glamourtown is no place to wander unescorted, as the wild magic has a tendency to cause mischief.

Siochain Forest is east of Pomitain, in the shadow of Mount Cymru, and it is the heart of Sidhe power in Avalon. Once it was just a mystic wood, and people ignored the weird shit that happened inside it. Riders might vanish once in a while, or the voices of the dead might call out, or faerie lights might lead someone astray, but hey! Normal hazards. Things have gotten much more legendary lately, especially around the fields at the southern edge, where the Bran Bridge lies. The bridge is a ruin that barely exists, its stones ending at the waters of Bran Bridge Lake, where it is said that Athrwyn hurled the Graal six centuries ago to keep it safe from Montaigne. In the days just prior to Elaine's return, a unicorn emerged from the wood, the first sighted in generations save by those most pure in heart. It walked to the water and touched the lake with its horn. The waters parted, and the Sidhe emerged. Some rode to Carleon, but others stayed in the forest. Now, the wood is also called the Unicorn's Forest, and it is the center of what is called Arcadia - the main Sidhe territory in Avalon.

This has placed the villages of Cordelia, Broken Bow, Harlenn and Wandinhome in Sidhe territory, and the Sidhe gave the locals only one choice: accept their rule or leave. Many fled, but some chose to stay. Travelers have reported that they are growing more Sidhe-like, with children born with more affinity to magic each month. Those that'd travel there would do best to learn Sidhe custom, such as bringing gifts to placate spirits. Accepting a gift without a clear and equal exchange is also very dangerous, as it means you owe the Sidhe and they may choose to, say, make you stay forever. Some are fine with that fate, as the towns and villages in the Forest are idealized versions of what the Sidhe think mortals like. Beasts roam the streets, trading food for candy or selling self-repairing clothes.

The area is ruled over by a council of three Sidhe. Elenyth, the eldest of the three, represents Magic, serving as a guide for the awakened Glamour and the chief voice of the magical creatures. Her symbol is a scrying bowl of glowing Bran Bridge Lake water, which never moves nor spills. Second is Lady Anne Ladybee, said to have been a mortal kidnapped by the Sidhe at a young age, who returned more Sidhe than woman and is handmaid to Daniele. She represents Sidhe Wisdom, hosting the area's library of magical knowledge. Rumor places it under Mount Cymru. Her symbol is the blooming holly branch, and she is always followed by a flock of ladybugs. The last of the triumvirate is Bailiwick Brownteeth, a terrifying creature with grey and mottled skin, skeletally thin and unnaturally long limbs, and teeth stained a rotten brown. He is the leader of the Redthorn Guard, representing the martial might of the Sidhe. The Guard ride the borders, their steeds drinking only single-malt whiskey. His symbol is a black thorn branch that can cut through anything.

The Queen's Respite Inn is perhaps the only wholly neutral, mortal place in Arcadia, and it's not run by one. No Sidhe pacts may be made there, only mortal business deals, and all within are safe from harm. It is run by an exiled Sidhe, Lady Gwynnfra, who is marked as 'fallen' by her giant gold horns nad her grey-blue skin. She allows a guide service for travelers to operate from the inn, run by the Sidhe brothers Solis and Tolus, who have hired experienced travelers to guide visitors in the woods. Their prices are reasonable for guides. Their rescues, if you go without, are much more expensive.

Tallow Hill is new territory, claimed by the expanding forest. Siochain is growing, you see. It was once only a few square miles, and now runs from the border of Balig all the way to Mount Cymru. The Sidhe welcome settlers that want to join their magical society, and many sorcerers have come from other lands to avoid being persecuted at home. Tallow Hill is their settlement, a sort of wizard refugee community. It's great if you need information or help or even minor artifacts - someone who lives there probably knows about one. The Realists despise the place, even more than the rest of Siochain Forest.

Wandesborrow is a port city on the eastern shore of Avalon, north of Carleon and east of Mount Cymru. It is much older than other Avalonian ports, built on an ancient cliff with high walls to protect against sea invasion. The accents here are thicker than elsewhere, with a brogue often mistaken for Inish. This is the homeland of those who descend from the Cymry, one of the ancient Avalonian tribes, who have maintained the eldest set of traditions. History tells us that the Cymry once ruled much of eastern Avalon, with Mount Cymru as their spiritual capital. When the Numanari came, they built many of their colonies on Cymry land, driving the natives back to Wandesborrow's walls. Many Cymry assimilated into other tribes, but Wandesborrow has remained staunchly traditional, using their old music and songs, which are said to be heard on the sea long before the docks come into view. It is the second-largest port on the island, and has the best boat-builders in all the Glamour Isles, if you believe the Wandies. The city is a sailor's haven - and is indeed called that by many as a second name. The Cymry elders that run the place are all former sailors, retired after decades at sea. Despite its ancient roots, it is a rising star in Avalon, the favored place for many pirates to get ships. Some say the head of the elder council, Tamarin Driscoll, made a deal with Berek himself, betting that in five years he could build a pirate fleet to rival the Sea Dogs. The city certainly seems to be trying to meet the challenge, focusing on building more and more vessels. Young men gather at the outdoor tavern known as the Hwyl to swap stories about their first adventures at sea. The rest of the city is focused on art and culture, especially in the area called Owens Gardens. It was formerly just a mass of old trees, but is now home to a thriving community of traditionalists of the Old Faith, who weave tapestries of old legends. It is also home to a thriving black market in relics and artifacts from across Theah.

Next time: Inismore locations

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - What If More Sidhe

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - What If More Sidhe

The Inish have along history of fighting alongside the Sidhe, with their stories claiming their ancient forebears fouhgt waves of horrible, dark monsters with Sidhe aid. You can see the Sidhe influence in the land still, ancient ruins of the past, kept right alongside their modern lives. Donega, the capital, is a city reborn in the past decade of plenty. It had been falling to ruin, but the return of the O'Bannon brought attention back to it, though the old capital was called Tara at the time. For many decades, it had been seen as just a ceremonial location for a people fractured by invasion. When the O'Bannon took the throne, the nobles began to return, renaming it Donega after the ancestral lands of the O'Bannon. Its design and architecture are heavily defensive, rather than that of a new city, but the O'Bannon seems to like it.

In Tara Square, at the heart of the city, is the Fal Stone, the symbol of the true king. It is a wide, smooth stone, taller than a man but otherwise plain. It is imbued with deep Inish magic. The O'Bannon provided his worth and identity as the true high king by kissing the stone, which wept and sang when he did. Donegans say the song foretells the king's future, though no one seems to remember what the song was like ten years ago. Rumor says the stone has begun to weep again and sing on nights of the full moon. The Knights of Tara have kept people away from the stone, but it's clear something's wrong.

Castle Tara itself is a ramshackle old building, overrun by decades of trees and vines, yet somehow it still stands, and indeed, since the O'Bannon's return, the Glamour has mixed the trees and masonry together into a unified whole. The O'Bannon's throne room has grass underfoot and an open ceiling, though outside weather never seems to enter it. His throne is an ancient tree with a worn-down seat, and an empty place set for the lost crown of Inismore. The rest of the castle is host to the two feuding bands of warriors under his command - the Fianna, long ago established as knights who set aside their clan allegiance to serve only the ard ri, and the Knights of Tara, newly formed. The loss of the crown has been the single greatest blow to the Fianna and their honor in long years. Many of the others have lost confidence in the Fianna ability to protect the king, and the O'Bannon's obsession with regaining the crown has led to him even leaving behind his flaith, his honor guard, in search, as well as sending the Fianna out across the world to find it. The councilors have taken the chance to found the Knights of Tara while the king is busy, ensuring they are loyal to the country of Inismore as muich as the king himself. The Knights of Tara use the old Fianna training grounds while the Fianna are a way, and they're rather controversial, as their methods are patterned more on Elaine's Knights than the old Inish traditions. The populace sometimes see them as an affront or a novelty. While they are controlled by the nobles, they are at least a stabilizing force in the region while Mad Jack disappears for weeks at a time.

O'Shay's Provings, on the opposite side of Donega, is a huge indoor and outdoor training center for combat. It is run by the legendary brawler Mickey O'Shay, and the warriors there are the best in the land, brough to teach any that want to learn. The exams to get in are a lot like those of Burke University, but with more hands-on testing. Those that survive the classes learn armed combat, wrestling, horsemanship, archery and more. They leave with a tattoo of a bull standing over a blazing sun - the mark of proving. Burke University is on the sotuh side of the city, near O'Shay. It hosts the great thinkers and philosophers of Inismore - and, indeed, some of the best in the isles as a whole. It has texts from across the continent, with teachers invited from all over to lecture, though the place is not so lavish as some universities in Castille or Montaigne. It does host some of the top researchers in the world on magic, however, and its administrators are a mix of native Inish and foreigners from many places, including Yachidi from the Crescent Empire. Students must provide three letters of recommendation from scholars or leaders, then pass a rigorous exam. After that, though, tuition is free and there's no set end date. Plus, students are allowed to go abroad to gain knowledge, as long as they bring it back home with them.

Liumech is the Inish center of political and naval power, however. It was a port city north of Dunkeen, fallen into disrepair after the War of the Cross. It was a den of crime and piracy, ruled over by the corrupt and debauched O'Malley clan...well, corrupt until five years ago. Aileen O'Malley led a coup against her drunk uncle, Stanley, and reestablish Liumech as a center of commerce again. Aileen is a natural diplomat and a former Pirate Queen of the Shannagary Isles, and she brought her small fleet ot the city to protect it from raiders, gaining the loyalty of the city people. She has transformed it into a safe and cosmopolitan city. Ships from across Theah dock there on the way towards the Atabean and beyond. Clan O'Malley maintains a just and fair market, and handles the city's legal matters with aid from those clans that live there. An ad hoc council of these clans, plus the Merchants' Guild and the Captain's League, advise Aileen.

The criminal element has largely clustered in the western part of the city, by the docks. This area is no called Old Town, and Aileen's big changes have yet to reach it. The buildings are rickety and dark, and criminals often come ther to lie low for a time. Many of the old buildings have fallen to ruin and been repurposed. Stelladora's, a famous music hall, is in the center of what was probably once a library, and the Brotherhood of the Coast meets in an old manor. The most contested real estate, however, is the St. Rose Church on Old Town's border. It was a Vaticine cathedral back in Liumech's old heyday, before the Church was evicted in favor of the Church of Avalon. Recently, the Vaticine petitioned Clan O'Malley to rebuild it, paying a hefty price - and so they were given permission. There's just one problem - the local tenants don't want to leave. St. Rose has served as a place of refuge for the jennys of Liumech and a local meeting hall, and they see no reason to stop. The Church has been allowed to keep up construction provided they don't drive out the jennys, but both groups want to control the future of the cathedral.

The High Lord's Castle is an ancient manor, dating back to the first O'Bannon, and its stonework is weathered by time and neglect. Before Aileen, it was practically a ruin. She has used the funds from her piracy to rebuild and transform the castle into a tasteful power center for her clan, covered in banners and wreaths of holly. The clan treats visitors to the best food and drink they can, usually expensive imports, and Aileen snubs no one, even the poorest who come to her for advice. Her reign began on piracy, sure, but she is an honest and fair ruler.

The newest arrival is a massive construction project, Lady Morwyn's Gardens. One day, the people of the city woke up to find a large chunk of the nearby hillside had been transformed into rocky but excellent gardens with many standing pools and beautiful birds. Sidhe magic transformed it, clearly, and Lady Morwyn runs the house in the center of the gardens, having appeared with it. She offered to open the magical gardens to everyone, clearly ordering them not to linger after sundown without her express permission. Since then, it has become a sort of artists' colony, as many poets, musicians, writers and painters draw inspiration from its unearthly beauty. The locals have begun the Sea's Grace Festival there in autumn, bringing in people from far and wide to celebrate the artists. Lady Morwyn sits in as the Lady of the Sea, watching over the proceedings at the side of Aileen O'Malley. The two women don't like each other, though, and that's not a secret. Aileen worries that Morwyn has political goals, and she doesn't trust her a bit. They just put it aside once a year for the festival.

Next time: Into the Highlands

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Scotland the Brave

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Scotland the Brave

All land in the Highlands is owned by one clan or another - every inch. The larger holdings have become cities, usually run by one clan but with multiple clans in residence. Castles are the ancestral homes of the clans, and vary greatly in size. Kirkwall is the ancient capital and the political heart of the Highland Marches. Its architecture, like its culture, is a clash of old and new. Its center is not the king's castle, but the Parliament House, home of the High Council of Advisors - a 500-man body of clan leaders and nobles from across the island. Each seat is inherited, and the king leads each session. Their debates are spirited, and it is not that rare for an argument in Parliament to evolve into a brawl or a duel, especially on the issue of support for Avalon and Elaine. When the Parliament comes to the capital for the legislative season, the place is transformed. Most of the members are only there for that - they have other work to do for the rest of the year.

Parliament convenes for only one week, during the spring, and the city must then host hundreds of nobles and dignitaries, along with their families and households, the merchants that come to cater to them and more. It amounts to one week with over ten thousand new residents. Thus, Kirkwall is always expanding, to ensure there's sufficient housing when Parliament arrives. Most notables maintain houses on Noble's Mile, a stretch of homes between Parliament House and the local Rose & Cross chapterhouse. Some are empty when the Parliament is out, while others are occupied year-round, and some allow their followers or lesser children to use their residences while they're away, to keep the place from falling apart.

Inverness Castle sits atop the Noble's Mile, small and built quite recently by King James. It is a miniature version of the MacDuff ancestral estate, granted to him by the Unionist faction after some successful Avalonian trade deals. The idea was to proclaim him as grand as Elaine but not as ostentatious. Inverness is only as large as the average manor house, with only a small courtyard for the guards to muster and train in. James often stays in Inverness when in Kirkwall, though he keeps his political work to Parliament House. Nearby is MacDougal's Manor, the center of Separatist action in Kirkwall. The land once belonged to the MacDougals, but their lord was exiled after he spoke too often about his angry anti-unionist beliefs at Parliament, and the Separatists have used his plight as a rallying cry, taking his manor as their headquarters. It was once a lavish home, now fallen into disrepair, stripped of most comforts and largely only used for meetings. The guards hate the place - its size and orientation make it hard to monitor for treasonous activities. The clan MacBride cares for the place now and often stay there.

St. Marigold's is the largest building in town short of Parliament House, and the only Vaticine church left in the entire Marches. The Highlanders never adopted the Church of Avalon, instead embracing Objectionism, and after the War of the Cross, most Vaticine priests were ejected from the nation. More recently, the Church has petitioned to return and tend to the few Vaticine faithful that still remain. They were shocked when James agreed to it, though it was probably because of the funding they brought with them. They've wasted no time building the impressive cathedral in order to draw attention. What most do not realize, however, is that it has been largely funded by the Inquisition, to use as a base from which to act against the Sidhe and their magic.

Outside town are the Fairegrounds, an open stretch of land used for market days. It is largely empty much of the year, though, except when Parliament is in session. In that one week, a grand market fills the grounds, springing up to support the sudden influx of new people. Merchants bring food, goods and entertainment to Kirkwall, and the place is so popular that people from across Avalon come to attend the grand market and see the art and theatre. The weeklong celebration of Highland culture shows the hope most Marchers have for the future. Even Queen Elaine usually attends, in the hopes of fostering goodwill with the Marcher people.

The Shannagary Isles lie at the mouth of the Highland Channel, between Inismore and the Marches. They are rugged outcroppings of stone, and they're vital strategically. Many of the islands are so small they don't show up on most maps, and only the best sailor can chart a course through the small chain successfully. The first settlers of the islands were Inish fleeing occupation by the Old Empire, and they named three of the islands for the grief they felt - Keening Rock, Misneach (roughly, 'pushing through adversity') and Uisce ('source of life'). These and the settlers that would follow united as a special band of islanders, dedicated to the triple ideals of comhar, ceol and cara. Comhar means shared work towards a common goal, and the people of the Shannagary are united in their work. Ceol is the rhythm within, the music of life that drives people forward. Cara is the friendship between people, which has bonded those both old and new into a single community. The Shannagary Isles are known as a home for the lost and the lonely, a place where you can have a second chance. Their architecture and traditions are an eclectic mix from nearly everywhere.

Taisec is the oldest city, built on Keening Rock, and it looks like an ancient Inish fishing village. San Spleodar on Uisce is an old Castillian outpost, long since overtaken by the Inish and Marcher refugees from the War of the Cross. And Port Saoirse on Misneach is a haven for privateers and vagabonds worldwide. After Elaine formed the Avalonian navy, many came to the isles searching for easy money outside her influence...but what they found instead were fierce fighters who repelled them repeatedly. Privateers began to instead make port under flag of peace, and many liked the place so much they never left. There's just one catch. The Shannagary islanders have sworn to remain neutral in all conflicts, dedicated to peace. They fight only to defend themselves and their guests, devoting their energy to communal support. Each island's taoiseach ('first among equals,' roughly) is committed to keeping outside politics...well, outside, and anyone that brings trouble to the islands can be exiled from them if they put their needs over the community's.

It takes a lot of dedication to survive in the harsh islands. The strong currents make it hard to even land a ship there, and they can't grow much. The locals eat sheep, goats and seafood. They refuse to trade even with Inismore or the Highlands unless they have no other choice. No one island produces enough for all its people, so they spend a lot of time trading with each other, instead. Uisce has fresh water in a central spring (hence its name), which they barrel and sell to Misneach, the central trade hub. Keening Rock grows the most plants, mostly thick, smokey wood that is good for fuel burning and for making ships. These goods are sold from Port Saoirse to anyone that shows up under a neutral banner. Trucebreaking is punished by expulsion and fierce vengeance, but otherwise all are welcome. Explorers sometimes visit to go into Uisce's caves in search of ruins, and fleeing dignitaries and power brokers often seek shelter there...which can drag in bounty hunters and risk dragging the islands into conflict. The islands are also an excellent resupply point for expeditions across the sea, and the Shannagarys are often the first to hear about newly discovered places in the Atabean or New World.

The Banesidhe Shoals are the twisted mirror of the Shannagarys, off the northern Highland coast. They are nightmarish isles surrounded by deadly reefs. Legend has it the main island was once used by the Sidhe as a prison for their worst members, and that the Sidhe prisoners still live there, preying on any that dare make landing on their shores. This hasn't kept pirates looking for a place to hide from landing, however, and in recent years raiders have been using the Banesidhes as a base to raid the Avalonian coastlines. They respect no ruler and deny the sovereignty of all three monarchs of the isles. Separatists have occasionally met with them to help push their anti-monarch beliefs to some success.

The only part of the island that the raiders do not control is a small western inlet, home to a small house known as the House of the Dead. Anyone approaching the small hut develops terrible vertigo, and many black out before they can get inside. Anyone who makes it in finds a place where, they say, you can talk to your own dead loved ones at a friendly dinner hosted by a Sidhe woman in all white. Visitors may stay as long as they like, but if they eat or drink anything, they live on borrowed time. One year to the day from their arrival at the hut, no matter where they go, a haunting wail will find them, and the ghostly form of the hostess will come to claim their life.

The other place to go ashore on the main island is Fiddler's Point, named for Shannon Fiddler, the first to land there. She was a raider queen that made a small port for her troops that grew into a village, then enlarged when Fiddler made alliance with the Vesten raider ships that attacked the coast. The two came together to be the biggest fleet in the area, and Fiddler's Point became a fortified town. The Vesten leader, Holbrung, married Fiddler and moved all his resources to the island. It is not clear how they found the Sidhe fortress at the island's heart, but both say the wails of something in pain drew them in. Inside, they found an ancient Sidhe, beautiful and pale, chained to the rock floor in an oubliette. She was guarded by an old crone, who told the pair that the storms around the Shoals came from the screams of the trapped Sidhe, and would protect anyone who accepted custodianship of the prisoner, so long as they never left sight of the isle. Fiddler and Holbrung took the deal, and immediately fell asleep. When they woke, the crone had become a little girl, and the pair returned to Fiddler's Point with their new Sidhe daughter, Kit, and the knowledge that they could not leave the island until someone else took the job they'd signed up for.

Shannon Fiddler and Holbrung are now terrifying commanders of the raiding fleets, as the storms bend to their command. Their raiders attack without warning, then flee under cover of storm. Fiddler's treasure is rumored to be hidden in a series of caves under the town. However, any raider that goes looking for it will receive a stern lecture from Kit, who is a small, terrifying child in the body of a 10-year-old (she's aged a bit since the deal was made) but with the mind of an adult.

Next time: New Glamour Sorcery rules.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Iron Debt

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Iron Debt

The Graal is the source of all Glamour, and it, like the Sidhe, is willing to offe more power if you ask for it. Anyone with Glamour Sorcery can choose to activate a Glamour at a higher Rank than they actually have it at. However, you get Graal Debt if you do. You get 1 Debt for the first extra rank, then 2 for the second, 3 for the third, and so on. As long as you have any Graal Debt, you're out of balance - the Sidhe grant nothing for free. As your Debt increases, you risk being cursed. While you have Graal Debt, before you activate any Glamour, you must roll a d10. If the number is less than or equal to your current Graal Debt, your Debt resets to 0 and you suffer one Sidhe Curse chosen by the GM. You can only suffer each Curse once, but some of them get worse the more Curses you have. (Side note: For the game's purposes cold iron is specifically cold-hardened iron, never alloyed or fully melted, hammered while cold to harden it and not heated. It is common in everyday tools, but few would use it as a weapon except specifically if hunting Sidhe.)

Sidhe Curses
Running Water: You cannot cross running water unless you spend a Hero Point to do it.
Fey Touched: You are noticeably otherworldly. The superstitious avoid you or try to ward you off. In any Scene, you must spend an extra Raise on any social action to persuade, convince or gain trust unless you spend a Hero Point.
Iron Vulnerability: You gain the Sidhe weakness to cold iron. Cold iron weapons automatically cause a Dramatic Wound to you, as if they were guns. Further, in any scene in which you are around a quantity of iron, including holding any iron or steel weapon rather than just cold iron, you suffer 1 Wound for every 2 Sidhe Curses you have, rounding down.
Unsettling Demeanor: The GM may spend 1 Danger Point to activate this. You have ranks in this equal to your total number of Sidhe Curses. All Risks made by a non-sorcerer ally or PC near you lose 1 die per rank while this is active, similar to Fear, and abilities that mitigate Fear also mitigate this.
Diurnal/Nocturnal: You either have an affinity for or aversion to direct sunlight, depending on what time of day it was when you got cursed. For Diurnal, you tire quickly when out of the sun. Every time you would spend Hero Points when not in direct sunlight, you must spend double the number of Hero Points instead. For Nocturnal, sunlight is painful for you. You suffer a Dramatic Wound whenever you spend a Hero Point while in direct sunlight.
Susceptible to Wards: There are many traditional wards against lesser Sidhe, such as a garland of marigolds or an iron nail in the pocket or horseshoe over the door. Any Risk you make against a person so warded or in an area so warded requires a total of 15 per Raise rather than 10, without the GM needing to spend a Danger Point.

Further, for every Sidhe Curse you suffer, the GM gets 1 Danger Point to the pool each session, which may be used in any scene you are present for. These extra points are typically accompanied by noticeable otherworldly signs - flames blow as if in a breeze, milk curdles, animals get spooked, and so on. The Sidhe are jerks! To remove a Sidhe Curse, you must either directly repay the Sidhe via a Sidhe Story, or you must more fully embrace your embodiment of a Knight. Sidhe Stories are a second Hero Story that runs alongside your normal one(s), and when completed, it removes all of your Sidhe Curses. It requires Steps equal to your number of Curses plus one, with the ultimate goal being how you are repaying the Sidhe and the Graal. The GM will work with you to determine what the Sidhe want, as they are capricious assholes, albeit ones that do seem to care about Avalon's success.

But what about the other method? To become more like your Knight embodiment, you can change your Virtue, your Hubris or a Quirk to match that of your Knightly mantle. Every time you do one of these things, you remove all Sidhe Curses you have and swear to one additional Gesa. You can only change each aspect once, and once you have matched all three, you also may perform a two-step Story to gain your Knight's Legendary Glamour, as if you were buying Sorcery again. Every Legendary Glamour is unique, and only the appropriate Knight can wield it - so no one has yours but you. Unless otherwise noted, there is no limit to how often they can be activated, and they follow the normal Glamour activation costs. The Gesa gained by altering yourself to be more like the Knight is freeform. It should begin with 'Always' or 'Never', and you and the GM work together to make an appropriate one. How tough it is should be proportional to how many Curses you had removed, and there should be room for interpretation and not being overly specific. Stuff like 'Never dine with a man you don't trust' or 'Always interfere when someone else abuses an animal' or 'Never refuse the honest request of a pure-hearted woman.' You must decide what the tenet means...but once you do, you must be as true to it as any other part of your Knight's Gesa.

Legendary Glamours
Aesc of the Forest
Virtue: Wily (The Fool), Hubris: Confusion (The Moonless Night)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you eschew an invitation to participate in civilized society and spend the night under the stars instead.
Transformation: You can activate this to transform into a common woodland animal for a scene. You retain your mind and skills and stats, albeit perhaps limited by your new form's abilities, and get 2 bonus dice whenever your form's abilities would be particularly useful in a Risk. While in this form, you may speak with any creature native to the forests, though getting them to do things may require a Risk to convince them. If necessary, animals convinced to help you may be treated as a Brute Squad.
Beorhtsige, Siegebreaker
Virtue: Fortunate (The Wheel), Hubris: Relentless (Coins)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you successfully break into a fortified or secure location, or when you defend such a location from enemies.
I Will Not Be Moved: You can activate this when you make yourself conspicuous during a fight to apply Pressure to all foes that can see you. They must spend an extra Raise to do anything other than withdraw from the fray.
Cenhelm, the Keen
Virtue: Astute (The Devil), Hubris: Overzealous (The Prophet)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you end a discussion, debate or negotiation by drawing steel.
Channel the Blade: Activate this to gain the Style Bonus of any Duelist Style of your choice for the rest of the Action Sequence. You may use it regardless of what weapon you are armed with.
Ceolmund, Knight Protector
Virtue: Passionate (The Lovers), Hubris: Stubborn (The Thrones)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point whenever you are first into the fray so others don't have to be, or when you stand alone as rear guard while others withdraw.
You Won't Die Here: Activate this to allow one allied PC to ignore all negative effects of Dramatic Wounds for the rest of the Action Sequence. Villains get no bonus dice against them, and they don't become Helpless. You may spend your Raises, one for one, to reduce Wounds on their behalf for the rest of the sequence.
Dudda, The Round
Virtue: Glorious (The sun), Hubris: Unconfident (The Road)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you allow yourself to play the fool or be the butt of a joke to defuse a situation or raise someone's spirits.
Perpetual Feast: When you activate this, you can eat and drink as much as you want with no discomfort, up until you eat enough for (Brawn+Resolve) people of your stature. You may then activate this again later to go for up to (Brawn+Resolve) days without food or drink.
Dunstan, Outsider
Virtue: Friendly (The Road), Hubris: Manipulative (The Witch)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you befriend someone others avoid, reject or have cast out.
Fae Confusion: During any Sequence, you can activate this to throw foes into a state of confusion. People targeted by this must treat all actions as Improvised, costing an extra Raise. If your Approach uses Brawl or Weaponry, you can target up to (Brawn) foes. For all other Approaches, you may target up to (Wits) foes. If there are not enough foes to use up all your targets, you must target allies or even yourself.
Eadburg, the Wealthy
Virtue: Altruistic (The Hanged Man), Hubris: Envious (The Beggar)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you give away wealth or valuables beyond what you need to survive.
Blessing of the Penitent: Activate this when you lay hands on an ally and offer your blessing. Spend 1 Hero Point per companion so blessed. The next time a blessed companion would roll dice this session, any die that rolls less than or equal to your Panache becomes a 10. You can't bless yourself.
Ealdraed, the Oldest Knight
Virtue: Intuitive (The Witch), Hubris: Unfortunate (The Wheel)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point whenever you advise a companion against a coure of action they desire or in favor of an action they are reluctant about, and they listen to you.
Ancient Sidhe Lore: You must find a place favored by the Sidhe to activate this, such as a fae circle, pristine pool on a moonless night, a candle infinitely reflected in mirrors or a meadow of wildflowers at noon). When you activate this, you may ask the Sidhe (Wits) questions. These questions can be any factual yes/no question about the past or present, the current location of anything or anyone, or to reveal any bit of lost lore or scrap of ancient knowledge as long as you know exactly what to ask for.
Frideswide, the Knight of Peace
Virtue: Comforting (The Thrones), Hubris: Loyal (The War)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point whenever you convince others to take a more difficult peaceful path even though violence would be an easier solution.
Shocking Disarm: When you activate this, all metal objects in musket range of you release a potent electrical shock. Any wielder of such a weapon, including you and your allies, must either drop it or take (Wits) Wounds and roll a d10. If the roll beats the wielder's Resolve, they drop the object anyway. Dropped metal retains a lingering charge for up to an hour, requiring (Wits) Raises to safely recover, taking 1 Wound for each such Raise not spent on this.
Godric, the Pious
Virtue: Courageous (The Hero), Hubris: Superstitious (The Glyph)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you expose a sorcerous, Sidhe or otherwise supernatural influence that had been concealed.
Rebuke the Blasphemer: Activate this to lay a curse on all Villain sorcerers you can see. The next time these targets roll dice, they can't use any that roll under your Panache.
Hereward, Knight Advisor
Virtue: Exemplary (The Reunion), Hubris: Star-Crossed (The Lovers)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when someone you have never advised before comes to you for advice, and you consider their problem seriously and advise them appropriately.
Sage Advice: You may activate this when you instruct another PC on a course of action to make a Risk appropriate to the topic at hand. The Raises are given to the other PC along with your advice. At any time during the session, that PC may spend those Raises on any action that follows your guidance.
Hildraed, Knight Commander
Virtue: Commanding (The Emperor), Hubris: Curious (The Fool)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you establish a battle plan before an engagement and everyone in the engagement has a specific part to play.
Rally of Heroes: You may activate this by spending a Raise and Hero Point during an Action Sequence to give a rousing cry to your allies. Every PC that hears the cry counts all dice that roll less than or equal to their own Approach Skill on their next roll to be 10s.
Leofric, the Beloved
Virtue: Temperate (The Glyph), Hubris: Arrogant (The Tower)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when someone important to you is in trouble and you stand with them and share their danger.
Illuminate: Activate this to fill the area with magical, perfect ambient light for the rest of the scene, neither too dark nor too bright, to a distance of dozens of feet. All Unseelie Sidhe in the area take 5 Wounds immediately and roll 2 fewer dice on all Risks while in the illuminated area.
Mildgyd, the Gentle
Virtue: Humble (The Tower), Hubris: Indecisive (The Hanged Man)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you show compassion to someone with no reason to expect it from you.
Strength of Giants: When you activate this, you grow in size for the scene, as much as one foot in height per point of Brawn, and proportionally heavier and broader. While so enlarged and using Brawn as part of your Approach, you may increase the number showing on all of your dice by (Brawn). The first time you do so it's free; after that, you must spend a Hero Point each time you boost your dice. This stacks with any other effect that alters dice values.
Osgar, the Spear Knight
Virtue: Victorious (The War), Hubris: Bitterness (The Reunion)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you create problems or tension by acting contrary to social expectation or by sticking up for someone who's acting contrary.
I'll Take It From Here: When an ally is out of Raises during a Sequence, you may activate this to gain (Finesse) bonus Raises, which you may only use towards furthering or completing whatever goal your ally had been working towards, though not necessarily in the same manner.]
Paega, Forgotten
Virtue: Subtle (The Moonless Night), Hubris: Ambitious (The Magician)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point whenever you forgo subtlety to claim full credit for your actions or reveal your true intentions that had previously been concealed.
Darkness: When you activate this, you may bring gloom and shadow to an area the size of a ballroom or courtyard for the rest of the scene. While in this darkened area, you may spend a Raise to stand in a shadow and see and hear anything happening in another shadow in the area, to teleport between shadows within line of sight, to become impossible to detect by mundane means or to force anyone within a specific shadow to have to spend an extra Raise on any action related to sight.
Saewine, the Sailor
Virtue: Insightful (The Beggar), Hubris: Hot-Headed (The Emperor)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when things get more complicated because someone recognizes you from your travels.
Call the Sea: You may activate this to call on Queen Maab to tell you the direction to and approximate distance from any ship sailing on the waters of the same sea as you. Alternatively, you may activate this to intensify or lessen weather within 10 nautical miles of you until the next noon. If the new weather would be particularly advantageous to what you're doing, you get 2 bonus dice.
Sunngifu, the Generous
Virtue: Illuminating (The Prophet), Hubris: Trusting (The Devil)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when helping someone would make hardship or great inconvenience for you or set you against your allies, but you do it anyway because it feels right.
Carpe Diem: Activate this to gain (Wits) free Raises, which do not contribute to action order but may be spent to reduce Consequences, activate Opportunities or create Opportunities for others.
Wilfrith, the Knight of Will
Virtue: Willful (The Magician), Hubris: Proud (The Sun)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when you stay true to your word at great personal cost.
Miraculous Recovery: Spend 1 or more Hero Points to activate this before you get a full night's sleep or uninterrupted meditation. When you awaken, you heal 1 Dramatic Wound per Hero Point spent.
Wulfnod, the Bold
Virtue: Adaptable (The Coins), Hubris: Foolhardy (The Hero)
Quirk: Earn a Hero Point when acting first and thinking later leaves you isolated, alone and facing danger without support.
I'm Not Done Yet: When you are out of Raises during a Sequence, you may activate this to deal (Weaponry+Brawn) Wounds to an opponent. Every time during a round that you activate this after the first, you also take a Dramatic Wound which can't be prevented in any way.

Next time: Avalonian Dueling

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Superjump

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2 - Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Superjump

Inish taverns are full of song, and the most popular is Proud Eithne, a tale of how Eithne O'Guaire tricked the warrior goddess Skatha into instructing her (and anyone else that asked) into training her in combat. Eithne began the Inish dueling tradition by demanding that any potential spouse beat her in combat. From Skatha, she had learned many cleasa (martial techniques and tricks), so none could defeat her. Eventually, she did marry - not to someone who beat her, but to the one who was so impressed by her skill that they asked for lessons. The Highland Marches tell a similar story, in which the musician Cailean MacCormac falls in love with a woman with 'hair like the rising sun,' and asks her to marry, but her father refuses him, saying only the best warrior in the world will have his daughter's hand. Cailean that seeks out Skatha for lessons, using his wits to best Skatha's challenges until she agrees to teach him and any others who ask by moving her to tears with his music.

Both Inish and Marcher legend state that others sought out Skatha's lessons, and either Eithne's trickery or Cailean's music ensured she would teach any who ask - but never without cost. Skatha placed a geas on her students, such that when they fought, any who struck the first blow would lose. Thus, they would take to insulting their foes, provoking them into striking first. This tradition, called goading, spread among duelists even without the geas, and is popular throughout Avalon. It doesn't really matter which story is true, or even if neither is. Single combat became an Avalonian institution. For smaller Inish clans, single combat meant risking only one warrior, while for large ones, it was a way to display skill and power. In the Marches, single combat became part of the legal system - an accused criminal could request cothrom, trial by combat. If they defeated the plaintiff (or the plaintiff's champion), or if they could hold their own from sunrise to sunset, they'd be declared innocent.

Avalonian warriors explored the land to learn new cleasa, collaborating with other clans and kingdoms. Many stories abound of fantastic cleasa, which modern Duelists have never been able to replicate, such as Jack O'Bannon's thunder cleas, which could fell a hundred men with a stroke. Many have asked him, but he refuses to teach it, assuming he even has the ability to do so. The Inish and Marcher dueling traditions are what shape modern Avalonian dueling, and both claim to originate with Skatha, whose style focused on physical techniques like breath control, high jumps and juggling rather than any specific weapon. This focus on athleticism and flexibility is common to Avalonian duelists. They tend to be magpies, stealing techniques from allies and foes alike. Several dueling academies exist in Avalon, each teaching their own set of cleasa, and it isn't rare for a student to attend multiple academies and develop their own personal athletic style.

For Duelists in Avalon, dueling is both a martial art and a performance. Duelists put on shows at festivals or other occasions, fighting over real or exaggerated grievances. For the exaggerations, the duels are often choreographed in advance, using polished sticks rather than swords. Each Duelist gets to show off their best cleasa for the crowd, and the aspiring Duelists watch the fights and try to replicate the moves later. For real fights, Duelists begin with sword dances, followed by goading. Modern goading is not meant to provoke action, however, but rather submission, giving each side time to review why they want to fight and have a last chance to back down. After at least one exchange of goads, the fight begins. Interclan settlements and grievances are usually to first blood, often after a long series of feints and maneuvers that involve few real attacks. These duels can last up to an hour before a real hit is landed. For true interclan battles, champions are chosen and fights are usually much shorter and more brutal, typically ending in death.

The first recorded standard for Highland dueling is the Leabhar Chothrom, which lists outlawed cleasa for legal duels, though many of the reasons for the bans are lost to time. The standards are important because they establish goading both as part of the standard duel and as a type of duel in their own right. The Marcher style of goading is elaborate, poetic and humorous, and goading duels are popular in Avalon as a result of their style. Secondly, the standards defined who could fight in a cothrom. The Duelist had to be male, had to be a second or lesser son, and had to demonstrate proficiency via composed sword dance and demonstration. While now outdated, these standards made it easy for the Marchers to accept Duelist's Guild requirements. The Bonny Swans, among other groups, are campaigning to update the standards to match modern practice.

Even to this day, women are not able to legally duel in the Highlands. Even the Highland Duelist's Guild refuses to accept women among its ranks, and the Bonny Swans have made dueling a benchmark for equality, as it's easy to prove that a woman swordsmaster is no less skilled than a man. One of the prominent Bonny Swans, Margret Reid, is a master Duelist and a member of the Montaigne Duelist's Guild. She's requested entry into the Avalonian Guild, and they're hard pressed to refuse her, given her membership in another branch. Many supporters of the Bonny Swans favor her acceptance, but more traditional Highlander Duelists are afraid she'll just be the first in a massive flood of women into the Guild. They are absolutely correct. Reid intends to set up her own training academy in Kirkwall for women, and has stated that if she is refused admittance, she'll set up her own Duelist's Guild - a prospect that has everyone worried about the future of Duelists in Avalon, as there have never been rival Guilds before.

Skatha's Cleasa is the style that originates, legendarily, with the goddess-warrior Skatha. It required her students to practice running against a river's flow, juggling day in and day out to learn the rhythm of falls, and dancing on hot coals. Each trick was designed to increase strength, endurance and agility. These many techniques are often used in battle, making for showy and acrobatic duels. Some of the more famous cleasa are the Over Breath, which is a loud and explosive breath that increases a strike's power, the Swordmaster's Leap, which is a well-timed dodge, and, made famous in Proud Eithne, the Salmon Leap that is the style bonus. When you are able to move freely, without constrictive armor and with vertical distance, tyou may perform the Salmon Leap Maneuver. It is a sudden high jump that leaps over or around the target's guard, regardless of what weapon you use. It deals (Athletics) Wounds, which may not be prevented by any means. You may use the Salmon Leap only once per round.

Now, let's talk about the legendary beasts and monsters of Avalon. Many tales are told of the drachen, though there are few confirmed sightings. Enough, however, to ensure most know they were real. There is a detailed report of the last sighted drachen in The Historie of Die Kreuzritter, in a section about their hunts in Avalon. It notes that the band that fought the drachen were nearly wiped out, and only won by great luck and courage - and even then, lost over half their number. The drachen is described as being 'ten horses high', and over twice as long from tip to tail, with thick, armored scales of various shades of green. It had lizard-like limbs, short and low, with six-inch claws that released a flammable, poisonous fluid. This, combined with its fiery breath, meant it'd often swipe at foes and then set them aflame, with the fluid extending the duration of the fire. It also had a row of spikes on its back, starting at the head and running down to the tail. Other stories mention other colors - most often red and yellow. There are no mention by Die Kreuzritter of wings, but many oral legends say the can fly. Most tales also agree that they are very territorial, and will defend anything they claim as their own, location or person, with vicious ferocity.

The return of Glamour has brought rumors of the drachen returning as well. Hunters have found small, dense parts of forests that are inexplicably burned down around Avalon, often accompanied by footprints of a large, clawed foot over three feet long. These prints can usually be tracked for up to half a mile before vanishing abruptly. Local peasants begin to grow scared, and Die Kreuzritter are making plans to mount hunting parties in the region within the next year. They've been passing out the relevant pages of the The Historie to their membership for study and gathering supplies. Drachen are rare but very dangerous, Strength 10 Monsters who can have any or all of Fearsome, Powerful, Regenerating and Winged.

The Ghemenii are the pets of the Sidhe, fae creatures that have followed them into the mortal world. They are always born as identical pairs. They look like cats, but they aren't. They can come in any size, from teacup to horse, depending on their lineage. Powerful Sidhe children are often gifted a pair of Ghemenii shortly after birth, and it is considered a great honor to receive them. They are fiercely loyal to their owners, but no others. In early life, they serve as guardians of the Sidhe child, and many mischevious Sidhe would never have survived to adulthood without their Ghemenii protectors. Sidhe children often develop their own shared language with the Ghemenii, and are able to communicate in this coded tongue easily. The greatest power of the Ghemenii is only when they are apart, however. A Sidhe that wishes to spy on others or send a guard with a loved on may gift them one of the pair, keeping the other. No matter what happens, the two Ghemenii remain in constant communication with each other at any distance, you see. Sidhe never reveal this ability to mortals if they can help it, and often gift a Ghemenii to a mortal lover. Mortals consider the fae cats a great treasure and sign of love. They are clearly unnatural beings - their eyes are usually too large, they are far smarter than a cat and they seem to cause strange coincidences just by being present - but that just means people love them all the more. While the Sidhe often use the cats to monitor loyalty, more than one has helped save a mortal life by alerting their Sidhe master to a danger, so like most Sidhe gifts, they're a bit of a mixed blessing. They are Strength 3 and Swift.

The Restless are creatures said to make long, mournful howling in the area of the Kilkenny Cliffs, which sounds at first like wind, but soon becomes too human and pained. It is a longing, aching cry, it is said, for the Restless long for souls. They wander the roads near Kilkenny Cliffs, and some have been sighted in Inismore as well. Rumor says you should remain in your home by night, especially on nights without wind. The Restless appear as gaunt, ashen figures with ragged clothes, solid white eyes and black lips. It is said to be unwise to stick around long enough to get a good look, however, for they will attempt to eat your soul to replace their missing one. It doesn't seem to work out for them, but does drive victims mad. Many victims of the Restless have been found dead, having clawed out their own eyes. Most believe the Restless are the result of dark magic, most likely by the Unseelie or their followers - magic that consumes the user's soul, leaving their body starving and empty. Many believe they are a plague unleashed by the land's magic.

The truth is that they aren't sick, dying, soulless or even fae. The Restless were invented by a small sect of Realists as part of their 'Haunting Initiative' to stir up unrest against magic. They believe that by making a horrible enough issue, they can cause hate of the fae and Glamour. They have spread rumors about the Restless, and quickly realized that sightings would be much more effective. And so, new adherents to the sect are given Restless duty - dressing up as the monsters and wandering around scaring people at night. Most of these packs of haunters don't do more than that, but a few overzealous and desperate members have killed people, too. These killings use a subtle poison, and the bodies are then made to look as if they'd clawed out their own eyes. It's grisly work, but the sect thinks it is necessary for the greater good.

Next time: Sylkies, Dormarch and the Green Man

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Seal Girlfriend

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Seal Girlfriend

For as long as Inismore has existed, there's been stories about people of the sea who live as seals but can turn into humans to walk on land. Most of them are romantic tragedies - you steal the sealskin so she's forced to marry you, but constantly longs for the sea, or a you marry a fisherman but find he loves the sea more than you. But until the resurgence of the Sidhe, there was never any proof that these tales were anything but tales. Well, except for the fact that each sea town family tends to have a story that's just a little too unique to be taken from somewhere else, anyway. However, with the faeries returned, the Sylkies have begun to show themselves more. With much of the land more accepting of magic and the fae, they have much less risk of being hunted down. And so, the Sylkies reveal themselves to their lovers, confessing what they are, venturing further into land. They are now the best known of all non-Sidhe races of fae.

While many debate over what the true powers of the Sylkie are, in truth they have very few abilities beyond the ability to turn from seal to humand and back. Sylkies are born in human form, usually to a pairing of Sylkie and human. They spend their early life as human children, albeit with a tendency to be obsessive over the ocean. They are always in the water if allowed to be, sea or river. Eventually, the Slykie parent decides to give up the sea. They pass their seal-coat on to the child, allowing them to take on the legacy. The seal-coat, when not worn, usually appears as a large seashell. In the hands of a Sylkie, however, it will twist and stretch into a blanket around them as they transform, leaving them a seal entirely. The parent will generally teach the child to use the coat, but often it only takes one or two lessons, for it comes quite naturally. At that point it becomes difficult for the new Sylkie to be drawn from the sea by much of anything.

The powers of a Sylkie are entirely in the coat, not their body, and so if a human steals the coat, the Sylkie is unable to transform until it is recovered. Thus, seal-coats are guarded closely. There is a debate in Elaine's government over whether or not to make theft of a seal-coat illegal, as the Sylkies consider these coats essential to their life. Sylkies are not especially dangerous, as magical creatures go, but may fight to defend their families, coats or lives if threatened. If they have their coat, they are a Strength 4 Monster with Shapeshifting.

The Dormarch is the perfect hunter - a dog's power to track and a human's wit, and far more besides. They are fae creatures, with human-like intellect and dog-like agility. They have supernaturally enhanced senses in all areas, and they are able to track magic in the same way a dog tracks a scent. This is the main reason why they don't listen to mortals, in all likelihood - they can sense the lack of magic in the mortal, and the Dormarch consider themselves to be dominant over anything without magic. They are immensely powerful, and even the smallest is half the size of a horse when mature. They have squarish heads with two rows of teeth - one to rip, one to chew. Their front half is thick, muscled and powerful, but grows slender at the back, with long, thin hind legs. They have three snake-like tails that they can lash people with.

Occasionally, all Dormarch leave their Sidhe owners and join the Wild Hunt, which is their sacred duty and right. The Sidhe say that the Dormarch all came from the Wild Hunt, bu that one fall, the Huntsman fell for a Sidhe princess, and when the Dormarch whelped that spring, he gave her a pup. It thus became fashionable for all fae nobles to have a Dormarch guard and companion. Most nights, the Dormarch are entirely loyal, so the fae accept it when, every so often, they vanish for a night to return to their roots and hunt. Come morning, the Dormarch return, leaving no trace that they'd been gone. Darmarch vary in strength and power, but an average one is a Strength 5 Monster with Powerful.

Once upon a time, a man named Quinn Morgen was an Inish farmer. He was a clever man, far too clever for his simple life, and he worked the fields by day and the tarverns by night, telling stories to any who'd listen. One fall, a Sidhe named Loinseach listened to his stories, falling in love with both tale and teller. Loinseach spent more and more time away from Bryn Bresail, more and more time with Quinn. Over several years, they fell deeply in love, and Quinn eventually allowed Loinseach to take him to the land of the fae. However, Faerie is not a safe place for mortals, and Quinn could not understand its strange terrors and beauty. Loinseach quickly took Quinn back, but it was too la te - Quinn had gone mad, gaining power in his madness. He became immortal, speaking directly to the plants and beasts of the field, predicting weather weeks in advance. His old life was gone.

Now, most just know him as the Green Man. He is as much leaf and grass as flesh and bone these days. He comes out of the fields and the trees when he is needed most. Many say the green Man has saved them from dangerous beasts, from bandits and from storms. However, he slays those who'd prey on the innocent with no hesitation, stalking the road to hunt down bandits. In recent years, it is a fad for parents to tell their children cautionary tales about how the Green Man would get them if they snuck out past bedtime. In truth, he wants nothing more than protect the lands he tended to for so long...even if his current methods are haunting and alien, and even if he is no longer a human.

Next time: Castille

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Closer, My God, To Thee

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Closer, My God, To Thee

Given Castille's history, no one would be shocked if it was a fragmented mass of chaos. Various invasions have forced its people to fight each other time and again. They have gone from an economic superpower and scientific pioneer to a limping, bankrupt, wounded behemoth. The Inquisition has forced their king into seclusion. And yet, they remain together, whole in faith and in national identity. They have supported each other, again and again. Again and again, they have always turned to outsiders and proven: it doesn't matter how different we are, how many pieces we are, we are Castille.

Modern Castille dates back to the 13th Century, when the Third Prophet moved the Vaticine seat to Castille during the explosive Mooonshadow War with the Crescents. He divided the land into ducados, duchies, which he granted (along with titles) to the officers of his army, the Blazing Blade. Each of the five noble houses that loyally served the Prophet became the rulers of a ducado - the Gran Duque or Gran Duquesa, often shortened just to Grande. It is the unity of the ducados and their people that are key to Castille recovering. By working together, they know they can reclaim the glory and power they have lost. However, their unity is also the key to Esteban Verdugo's plan to subjugate the world to the Inquisition's might.

Before the War of the Cross, Castille led the continent in scientific research, quality of life and military power. By the end of the war, however, they were bankrupt, humiliated and controlled by Cardinal Verdugo and the Inquisition. Until 1618, the Castillian army had been renowned for its jinete, its cavalry. They rode Aldana warhorses, and they were able to serve as heavy cavalrylike knights, or light cavalry like Crescent lancers and archers. Their infantry was largely not notable. That is, until the tercios. These new troops drilled with geometric precision, consisting mainly of veteran soldiers - former Widow's Sea marines or mercenaries, ex-pirates or former bandits that chose to take the King's doubloon under promise of amnesty, good pay and the rank of hidalgo, if they survived. The tercios used many weapons, including pikes, flintlocks, short swords and shields, to support each other and devastate Montaigne's cavalry forces. Their efficiency in battle led Eisen and many others to develop similar combined arms infantry, but never equals to the tercios. And while everyone knew Castille's military was terrifying, few knew of its greatest tool, the galenos - combat medics trained in Castillians extremely advanced medical and scientific knowledge. They used a mix of science and alchemy, making their combat medicine the quickest and most efficient on the continent.

The early success of the tercios made Castille overconfident, pushing further and further into Eisen until they were stretched thin. Their supply trains were hard and expensiove to keep safe. The longer the war went, the more it cost. Further, Cardinal Verdugo saw the tercios as a threat. Many were criminals turned soldiers, after all, and not trustworthy. Thus, Verdugo secretly ordered hundreds of agents of the Inquisition to sabotage the flow of food, weapons and supplies to the front. Eisen and Montaigne were leaked maps and battle plans that enabled many strikes on the baggage trains, and Verdugo isolated the army. Thirty years of fighting drained money and morale as the war moved into deadlock. The Castillian Armada was constructed, largely on credit, with the belief that a conquered Avalon would pay the debts. That never happened. The Armada was sunk, and the pay for the tercios never came through. When Montaigne invaded, they were mobilized again, with more promises of wealth to fight off the invasion. Some say Verdugo instigated the invasion, while others believe l'Empereur just saw weakness. Either way, many tercios deserted, knowing they'd never be paid. Had Montaigne realized the straits the Castillian forces were in, they'd never have recalled their troops. King Salvador Aldana's death and Verdugo's abduction of King Sandoval to the Vaticine City are merely insult to injury for an impoverished nation.

To understand the Castillian people, you need to understand the traditions they value over even their own lives. Firstly, all of it begins with the family, and the family is led by the mother. The nomadic tribes that settled Castille originally were matrilineal, led by matriarchal chieftains. Women, and mothers especially, are put up on a bit of a pedestal - but with that reverence comes deep expectation. Secondly, Castille was the first Vaticine nation. In the early days of the Church, when Corantine's Empire stretched across the world, southern Castille was home to the first churches. (This historic claim is suspect; however, no one can deny that Castille has been Vaticine since the days of the First Prophet and has always been very pious.) Those Castillians that can trace their ancestry back to the early Vaticines never shut up about it, ever. Fervent and public displays of faith are a sing of Castillian solidarity.

When dealing with outsiders, Castillians are Castillians. When dealing with other Castillians, they are citizens of their ducado. The ducados evolved out of the five noble kingdoms that came from the dissolution of the Old Empire - Aldana, Torres, Zepeda, Soldana and Odisea. The local Empire soldiers mixed with the Castillian tribes, Ifrian seafarers and Crescent settlers. To all the rest of the world, these divisions don't exist, and Castille is united. They are Castillians. To another Castillian, however, they are Aldanensa, or Odisean, or Torrena, or Zepedana, or Soldanensa. Pride in one's ducado's culture, dialect and history are vital. You mock rival ducados, perhaps, or at least enjoy the friendly rivalry. The key to ruling Castille has always been using and understanding these ducado relationships. If allowed to do whatever they want...then yes, Castille would fragment, each too weak to resist outsiders. Bring them together without acknowledging their differences, though, and their individualistic natures and characters make them rebellious.

So, let's talk about people. Historically, the ruler of Castille has been the weakest of the Grandes, a frustrating and stressful job of balancing power between four much wealthier nobles. As the Inquisition centralized power in the throne, in theory the King's power increased...but in practice, the real power is El Concilio de la Razon, and the king is now powerless in a new way. And that is why the Good Kings Sandoval keep a secret. When Queen Almudena Sandoval and King Salvador Aldana had a child in 1652, that is what they told the world. A child. One. In truth, they were twins - the boy Amadeo and the girl Rocio. They looked alike, so no one outside the royal compound could tell the difference between them. The King and Queen knew that whichever inherited would be constantly watched and manipulated, and so they would need a subtle way to avoid their "advisors" and spies if they were ever to know the world or themselves. Thus, the pair have both pretended to be Amadeo, living this way long before they took the throne. One twin would sit at home, feigning incompetence, and the other would go out on adventures in and around the capital, learning about Castille and its people. They would confer on what was learned each night, swapping places for the next day.

Unfortunately, something went wrong. Perhaps the Inquisition suspected the King was making too many correct decisions. A year ago, El Concilio forced King Amadeo Sandoval to relocate to the Vaticine, ostensibly to protect him from dark forces of heresy. Rocio, however, was left behind. They'd had a good thing going, and now Amadeo is trapped, isolated. Getting any official audience with him means going through el Concilio or Verdugo. He isn't even allowed to wear the physical crown of Castille. Rocio is doing somewhat better. She may be young, but she has a plan to save her brother. She just needs to find some people she can trust to tell about it, like PCs. (Who may well meet her in prison, as she spends a lot of time sneaking around.)

Don Alfonso Sanchez de Ilurdoz, Conde-duque of Angulema, Captain of the Fronteras Guard and Bishop of Altamira, was born to a small noble family during the War of the Cross. He was raised to lead, expected to take over as the leady of his father's small town when his father grew too old. The people loved him, but small town life wasn't for him. As soon as he was old enough, he left home to study at San Cristobal. He loved all his studies, dabbling in a bit of everything, but he loved most the Vaticine and their dedication to knowledge and reason, soon joining the Church. He was eventually made Bishop of the city of Altamira, serving until shortly before the Montaigne invasion, at which point he joined the army and marches south, to Barcino, to fight. He fought tirelessly, only learning too late that Altamira had fallen to the Montaigne. He earned many medals in the war, but he never got paid. The only thing that kept him going was his title and family land. He's gone home, but he is not just licking his wounds. Now, Alfonso is raising funds to gather an army, so he can retake his city. He is a noble man, a man of honor, heavily scarred by the fighting. While he is a soldier, at heart he remains a priest. He's a devout Vaticine, although he doesn't hate Objectionists. His plans have led him to be a frequent opponent to the Inquisition, and while his focus is Altamira, he is likely to support anyone working to restore the nation.

Octavio Mzabi is the Dark Inquisitor. In 1658, he led a raid on a renegade scholar's home, and on a whim, he read a diary instead of burning it. On "discovering" it blank, he decided to keep it, for use in, say, poetry. In truth, it wasn't blank, and he knowingly broke regulations. Inside were entries written by Inquisitor Alienor Capdeville, servant of the Second Prophet, an investigator and adventurer who fought her Prophet's foes - monsters, corrupt officials, true evil. Mazabi only realized the records were true when he checked them against previously sealed records in the Hierophantic Library, discovering that the Inquisition had predated the Third Prophet massively...and had once had a very different job. When he went back for the records a week later, they were gone. Some was watching either him or them, he wasn't sure. Ever since, he has moved lightly, guarding his reputation as a trustworthy Inquisitor. He's also worked to recruit discreet, dissatisfied Inquisitors amd students into his own Inquisitio Aquila, a new Inquisition designed to root out the corruption within the Inquisition itself. These so-called Dark Inquisitors use the Inquisition's own resources to seek out and remove internal threats to the Church - the purpose that the Inquisition originally existed to perform. Mzabi doesn't just want to evade the Inquisition's notice, though - he wants to replace it, gathering power until he can stage a coup and return the High Chancery to its original purpose. Octavio Mzabi is a magnetically charismatic, exuberant man with long dreadlocks, a tall and athletic build and friendly eyes. He is handsome, persuasive and...well, that's a problem, because he's a natural leader, not a natural spy or detective. He's got quite a bit of a following in cleaning up the Inquisition, and unfortunately, it's easy to trace his work back to him. He knows he's probably going to get caught if he can't find a way to delegate some of his dirty work. He is quick to recruit heroes that mistrust or resent the Inquisition, asking for their help to do what his own talents aren't suited for.

Azra Uziel is the greatest Castillian guitarist - and given how important the guitar is to Castillians, that's no small thing. She is the child of a converso family of traveling performers. They are Eclipses - Castillians with Yachidic and Dinic heritage. Her concert tours heavily feature groups of Eclipses, working as cooks, bodyguards or even devoted fans, which she moves through Castille to ports where they can head for safety in Ifri or the Crescent, away from the Inquisition. She is, of course, highly suspect to the Inquisitors, and it's only a matter of time before her tours are infiltrated. The Rilasciare wants to recruit her to help overthrow the Inquisition, but she considers the danger to her family far too high. She's already got to deal with violently overzealous fans, one time even requiring the aid of El Vaabundo, and she's always looking for better security. She has a very strong tendency to adopt anyone she hires into her life, getting them to help her out and become part of her social circle. She is always the biggest voice in the room, charismatic as hell and pretty much never without a guitar. She comes up with songs at the drop of a hat, and loves to get people dancing and playing with her. She avoids topics like religion or politics in public, but when she meets an Eclipse in need, she becomes more focused and reaches out to get them to safety.

Next time: More big names.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Worst Dude

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Worst Dude

Amanda de la Rosa was an orphan in San Cristobal who, from a young age, dedicated her life to fencing. She studied on her own and learned from te various guards around San Cristobal, singlemindedly focusing on mastering whatever new form, stance or thrust they might show her. While her fellow orphans ofted mocked her, they could never beat her. She eventually grew up and tried to go to university, but found it difficult for her - she would focus on a single subject at a time and fail the rest of her classes. She tried to join a dueling school, but her lack of title kept her out. At last, she joined the city guard, and she rose quickly, eventually earning a place on the royal guard protecting the young king. Her tendency to avoid large groups allowed her to discover the secret of the royal twins, as she noticed 'Amadeo' sneaking into a party she knew he'd already attended, and with slightly different hair and shirt. She quickly realized there were two children, and Rocio convinced her brother to bring Amanda into their confidence, making her their personal guard. When the Inquisition took Amadeo to Vaticine City, Amanda stayed with Rocio to keep her safe. She is a quiet, slightly shy woman who is quite tall but prefers to avoid noticed by sticking to the corners of rooms. She is an excellent fencer, but her single-minded nature means that she's got trouble dealing with multiple foes at once. She does, however, learn from her mistakes, and can't be tricked the same way twice. She is deeply loyal to the crown of Castille and is dedicated to helping Rocio rescue Amadeo and bring him back to San Cristobal, once she figures out a way to do it.

Cardinel Esteban Verdugo does not discuss his childhood in Ciudad de Zepeda. He dislikes even thinking of his time there. He was a member of an immense hidalgo family whose petty quarrels tore themselves apart, escalating even to accusations of heresy. These eventually led the Inquisition to arrest everyone in the family except Esteban himself, sentence them to life in galley slavery. Esteban took from this the lesson that has defined him: only in unity is survival certain. The Church relocated him to an orphanage, where he excelled as a student and, by 20, was a doctor of Vaticine law. He could've gotten tenure anywhere, but he instead chose to remain with the Church, rising to the rank of Cardinel and joining the Inquisition, eventually becoming its leader. He transformed the Inquisition from an investigative and judicial body to a political and military one, replacing its ideologies with his own dogma. (And therefore Theus'. The man does truly believe he's doing Theus' work.) Verdugo's Inquisition appeals to the lowest common denominator, spreading fear of sorcery, Crescents and heresy, and promising to protect the people from these things. He pushes Castille into the War of the Cross by arguing Objectionism as an anti-Theus philosophy that had to be eradicated, and his enemies suspect he allowed Castille to lose so he could blame the monarchy for his failure and gain more control. Certainly, he robbed the tercios of their pay to prevent them from being wealthy and powerful enough to threaten the Inquisition.

Despite all this, however, Verdugo has weaknesses. Firstly, he's old. He needs to find a successor, but he trusts so few people, and even fewer of them young, that he's having a lot of trouble finding a candidate that meets his exacting standards. Secondly, despite the Inquisition's uncompromising rhetoric, he is willing to make concessions to get what he wants, as long as no one finds out. He encourages certain ranking, hand-picked Inquisitors to offer secret plea bargains to their targets if they'll give up fellow heretics that are more valuable. Lastly, despite his impressive mind, decades of single-minded pursuit of his goals have left him with weakened lateral thinking skills. He's still very dangerous, but he's no longer as good at expecting the unexpected as he used to be. He has, however, dedicated his entire being to pusuit of the Inquisition's ends. Even his longtime lover, a senior Vaticine Seminary lecturer, keeps track of dissent on his behalf. The two are not married because neither man has the time or inclination to adopt children. All of Verdugo's emotional dispalys are calculated - he doesn't go into murderous rages, he fakes them, but only his closest associates can tell.

Don Jentar Soldano de Gallegos is one of the many cousins of the Soldano Grande. He isn't high ranking and owns no land, but he is a prominent courtier who, in youth, studied philosophy at Maxentine Seminary and physics at the University of Rioja, as well as training in Aldana fencing. Now, he lives in the port of San Gustavo. His fellow nobles believe him a layabout with too much time on his hands - an idea he encourages, though it is far from true. He is the leader of the Mesta, a social club of noble ranchers with a political agenda. While their membership isn't secret, Jentar tries to keep his role in them quiet. Their goal is to increase Castille's prosperity, and while they move goods, they also move secrets - in Jentar's case, banned books and educational material. Most of the Mesta have no idea that their organization now aids and conceals the Invisible College, and Jentar prefers to keep it that way. When he isn't organizing shipments, he spends his time experimenting in his apothecary's lab. He is a skilled Boticario (yes, apothecary) and spends a lot of time on it, importing books and information to keep safe from the Inquisitors. He takes students, but only once they prove to him they aren't Inquisition spies. He has impeccable style and taste, but most of his money actually goes to his research on alchemy - just enough i spent on his wardrobe to hide his work's ink stains and scorch marks. He is a keen intellectual that pretends to be a lazy nobleman, and once he finds a problem, he never stops thinking about it until he solves it.

Zoraida Cortinas de Luzuriaga is the daugher of a Montaigne knight and a Soldanensa chaplain whom said knight took hostage during a naval battle, then fell in love with and deserted her post for. The two adopted new identities as a musician and dancer, but when the Inquisition came after them on suspicion of harboring fugitives, they gave their daughter to a passing pirate captain, who raised her as a cabin girl in the Atabean Sea on a Brotherhood ship. After a sea monster swallowed both Zoraida and her captain, carrying them back to Theah, she joined the Knights of the Rose & Cross to fight monsters, help people and rescue (and fall in love with) various nobles and diplomats. She was even a tercio in the army against the Montaigne invasion, eventually locating her parents in an Inquisitorial prison and winning their freedom by revealing new evidence and speaking on their behalf in court. She now lives with them and her former squire, now her spouse, in San Teodoro, where she supports herself by writing novels. Her best known creation is te Baronesa Berezi Batista, a thinly-veiled version of herself that becomes an intense, passionate anti-hero; originally she'd planned to just do herself, but she found she preferred to write about a darker world, where the good must do bad things to survive. Her work has been controversial and certainly not accurate to her own life, and the actions of the Baronesa BAtista have been the focal point of philosophical discussion and moral debate in all parts of society. They argue the ethics of the character, and of Zoraida herself for imagining such a morally dubious main character. Some of her fans have become fanatical, believing that the novels represent the true Castille, and have taken to performing vigilante justice while disguised as the Baronesa or other characters, murdering Inquisitors, burning courthouses and exposing secrets. Zoraida is an excellent writer, but she chose to exaggerate the misfortunes and sorrow of her nation. Her books are good enough that they will be read and studied in the coming centuries, at least. She is a retired adventurer and while happy to tell her stories to those who ask, she just wants to spend time with her family and write. She would, however, quite like if someone could talk her fans out of the pessimistic, nasty worldview they've taken up. (Not beat them up; that'd just validate them.)

Andre Miguel de Fonte was the son of a hidalgo and a sailor in San Felipe. He never much cared for the hidalgo title, finding it easier to live as a peasant than a disgraced poor noble. Also his family disowned him by his teenage years due to his knack for getting into trouble. He's been on many ships' crews since, sometimes honest, sometimes pirate, and gained a reputation as a pirate for hire. He eventually ended up aboard the Lady's Grace, a privateer working for the Grande of Odiseo, Uxia Serafin. It was during one of the ship's courier missions for the Grande that Fonte met her, charming her and becoming her lover. She isn't his only one, but she is the most important, especially because she keeps his crew employed and the government off their backs. When he learned that the Inquisition planned to murder her, he had to act. He turned to Los Vagabundos, and was given a mask. Taking it up, he saved his lover at the last moment. Since then, he has worn the mask two more times, each time to save good nobles and leaders. He is a flirtatious man just shy of 30, with long hair in a ponytail. He's quick-witted and polite when he must be, but he's always mischevious.

Now, let's talk about El Concilio de la Razon, the council of the King. Eight cardinals set on it - one from each ducado, one from the 'Ducade de Ultramar', as the Castillian colonies in the New World are called, one from the Sandoval family, and one representing the Vaticine City. Not all of them are evil, but enough are that they're trouble. El Cardenal de Ciudad Vaticinia is Nagore Loyola, who was mentored by Verdugo's lover and is the closest he has to a protege. She replaced him as the Vaticine representative after the Hierophant's death. Her primary weakness is that she genuinely likes King Sandoval, and doesn't just make decisions for him. She works to ensure that he understands what she's doing and why. It's only a matter of time before someone reports her actions to her mentors, and she knows it, so she's working to gather allies. El Cardenal del Ducado de Ultramar is Itzamatul of Tzak K'an, who represents the New World's many countries. He is an ardent convert, talented writer, and extremely popular among the people. They genuinely like him, opening up to him easily. On the rare occasions the Inquisition needs diplomacy and grace, they try to call on Itzamatul, if he can find the time in his busy schedule.

El Cardenal del Ducado de Torres is Emilio Crespo de Torres, the youngest member of the council and the head of the Inquisition's new campaign to syncretize pagain figures with Vaticine saints. When Ducado de Torres resisted the Inquisition efforts to wipe out Castillian paganism, Crespo decided to go for a softer approach, convincing his fellow Torrenos that the old gods and their favored saints were, in fact, the same entity. It's slow work, but Emilio enjoys traveling and looking for converts. El Cardenal del Ducado de Zepeda is Jafet Moreno de Zepeda, the most violent and extreme of the Inquisitors. He's a reformed pirate that led the Prophet's Sword, the Inquisition's militant branch, in raids against their enemies until he lost use of his legs in abttle against a bruja. He is a quiet, glowering man who rarely blinks and is quick to remind people that the only sure way to get rid of a threat is to see it dead. He is very firmly a villain.

El Cardenal del Ducado de Aldana is Pastora Losa de Aldana, a respected judge in the Prophet's Hourglass who has a tendency to sentence heretics to far harsher punishments than they actually deserve. She intends to retire within the year, with Verdugo's blessing. She's been a faithful Inquisitor for seventy years and wants to spend the rest of her time with her grandchildren and her hobby of painting pewter soldiers. She has the seniority to appoint anyone she wants to her seat, but has no one in mind - she's holding out for the right bribe. El Cardenal del Ducado de Soldano is Patricia Abana de Soldano, and the most concerned with temporal matters. She's from a family that's run the same hacienda since the beginning of Castillian history, and is one of the few council members that isn't an Inquisitor. Verdugo hates this, but won't remove her because of her popular she is with her people. She believes the best way to keep the people loyal is to make the Church indispensable to them, usually by distributing food and medical care.

El Cardenal del Ducado de Gallegos is Fatima Campos de Gallegos, the most recently appointed. She was a Bishop who was handpicked by Verdugo, despite outrage from the Gallegos archbishops. He wanted her mostly as a spy, as she'd working for King Aldana. It's done very little to placate the already volatile ducado, and Fatima has to walk a very fine line with her home officials. She never trusts anyone, which hasn't worked out very well in politics - she hasn't been good at making connections or reaching across the aisle in the politics of Vaticine City. She does, however, have secret dossiers on all other council members, just in case. She isn't very sympathetic to King Sandoval, but she's loyal to him, and would be a potent ally against the Inquisition if given the motivation. El Cardenal de Familia Sandoval is Modesto Mejia de Sandoval, an eccentric man from the Sandoval Forest with a very rustic manner and a very shrublike hairdo. He was once a member of an obscure, small religious order and joined the Inquisition after it disbanded - or, at least, that's what he likes to claim. The truth is he is a busgosu, a goat man, and his messy hair hides two short horns, while his robes hide goat legs. Like many busgosus, he liked to play cruel pranks, and te last of them was to dress up as a priest and preach a false gospel to Vaticines. He was shocked to discover he was a prodigy at sermons, inadvertantly converting not only many humans, but himself as well. He is a well-liked Inquisitor, though more a speaker than a writer. He is terrified that someone will notice his nature and would happily abdicate if someone could help him escape unnoticed.

El Concilio de la Razon are theoretically just advisors to the king, appointed by him and approved by the Hierophant. They are separate from the Council of Cardinals, and made as a way to prevent Vodacce influence over Castillian affairs. The only member that has served on both councils is Verdugo himself. In recent years, Verdugo has warped the Concilio's purpose to control Castille. They may disagree with him, even argue over points, but in the end most members of the council will obey him. Members typically serve until death, though a few have retired. Under Verdugo, they can only retire with his blessing - otherwise he has them killed. Some of the Cardinals are sympathetic to the King, but all of them believe that they are better positioned to serve the nation while he's still a boy. Individually the members may be personable and temperate, buit togather they are a formidable threat to anyone trying to fight the Inquisition. While Layola may care for the king, she's still Verdugo's protege. Mejia may have a secret, but that just means he obeys orders to prevent suspicion. Campos may not trust anyone - but that means she probaly won't trust PCs without good cause, either. You can find allies among them, but they will be in grave danger themselves. Some may like the idea of deposing Verdugo, but they are surrounded by danger, betrayal and, of course, daring deeds.

Next time: The Grandes

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Kuso Grande

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Kuso Grande

The term Grande technically refers to any landed noble, but more colloquially, it's the leaders of the ducados. For a very long time, they were the de facto rulers of their lands, and their people still tend to treat them that way. They live in palatial estates, dictating law for their people as long as it doesn't interfere with the King's orders or the Inquisition's plans. There are five of them - Torres in the northwest, Soldano in the northeast, Zepeda in the east, Aldana in the south, and Gallegos, more often called Odiseo, in the south and southeast. Odiseo is basically Not Portugal.

Almudena Oquendo de Sandoval, the mother of the King and his sister, controls the Ducado de Aldana. She is a Sandoval by birth, but her husband was an Aldana. The Sandovals descend from Lord Roman Sandoval, also called Rimun ibn Basiti al-Sayyid, a minor noble of mixed Castillian and Crescent descent who fought on both the Blazing Blade and Crescent sides during the Moonshadow War. His complicated history isn't understood much and is a subject of frequent historical debate. The Sandovals have often been on the Castillian throne, shoring up their weaker position via aggressive political marriages to everyone else. Almudena still wears the mourning clothes from her husband, King Salvador's death four years ago. She is a shy, polite and ferocious politician, possibly the best in Castille. Her subtle maneuvers have ensured her son's survival and his retention of some power. Currently, she has retired to the family compound in Ciudad de Aldana to draw off the Inquisition's agents from her children.

Colonel Bihotz Arrigorriagakoa de Torres is an elderly woman who can claim total responsibility for her family's survival to the present. She was the third daughter, destined for the military, who spent her entire life preparing for it. Her ruthless pragmatism is why the Castillian army's fighting retreat through Torres was seen both as an ugly, evil sacrifice and the only reason Castille survived. She has seen all of her family's possessions burn around her, but she still has a sense of humor. She spends most of her time now traveling the country, asking other Grandes for troops, in case l'Empereur decides to come back. Diego Ruiz de Soldano has profited with the fall of Ducado de Torres. He controls the best vineyard and olive plantations in Castille, and Ducado de Torres has lost much of its fertile land, so his products are in high demand. Now, his old rival Bihotz, who once had no time for him, begs him for aid. The Soldano family, long contemptious of the Torres, may well do nothing to help her.

Llorenc grec de Zepeda is currently in a holding cell, after being arrested last week. After a long chase through Ciudad de Zepeda, the Inquisition found El Vagabundo hiding in Llorenc's own manor. Llorenc denied all knowledge of this, of course, but he was dragged in his bedclothes to the jail, despite being the eldest of all the Grandes. El Vagabundo escaped using a cloud of bats in the attic, so now it is all Llorenc's word against the vigilante's presence. It is unclear if he was framed. There is no ruler of Ducado de Gallegos in practice; its Grande is not recognized by the crown. The King appointed Governor Carlos Perez as ruler in an attempt to end the independence movement. It did impact things in the short term, but most residents still ignore Perez's rule entirely. He can't even make them stop calling themselves Odiseans, let alone abide by his laws. The real power lies with the former Grande, Uxia Serafin, who continues to push against Castillian rule despite her reduced status.

Secret societies! The Knights of the Rose & Cross have too many knights and not nearly enough benefactors. Many former tercios have wanted to join up to fight, and established Knights often hire them as squires, aides or bodyguards. However, the entire order has a precarious position, as all of the Castillian factions want thier help. The leaders of the order have directed Knights to be careful not to publically endorse any faction over another, which is complicated by many individual Knights have extremely strong opinions, as do their benefactors. Angry letters threatening to cut off financial support if the Knights back Odisean indpenence, oppose it, help the Inquisition from hunting Ecliposes, stop the Inquistion hunting Eclipses and more are common. The Knights grant 6 Favor to any member who finds a suitable Benefactor in Castille, simply because it's so fucking hard. Die Kreuzritter came because, like all wars, the Castille-Montaigne war attracted monsters like a wound attracts maggots. Ghosts, wights and ghouls are common in the wake of war, as are werewolves. Both sides hired Kreuzritter agents to keep their camps safe from the undead, and both sides pledged not to target those agents, though a few still died when soldiers failed to distinguish who they were. The armies have left, but many of the monsters have not.

The Inquisitio Aquila know that the Inquisition have one of the best, most dedicated intelligence networks and staffs in the world, yet use them for evil ends, enforcing a party line remade in the Third Prophet's image. However, the Third Prophet did not, in truth, invent them - there has always been an Inquisition. The First Prophet's people lacked the modern power and privilege of the Hieros, and they were hunted and persecuted, infiltrated by spies and agitators seeking to betray them. Priests who named themselves Inquisitors were the guards and detectives that protected against those threats. As the Vaticine grew and temporal authoirty became more invested in them, the Inquisition became less necessary. After a mid-12th century Inquisitor aboused his authoirty to seize the city of Stern, the Inquisition lost all support, until the Third Prophet came and, in researching Church history, ediscovered them and decided that the Church needed a single, indivisible truth that they would protect from heresy.

They know this because Inquisitor Octavio Mazabi found those records, too, and vowed to return the Inquisition to its original purpose - hunting down true monsters, evil wizards and others that would hide their evil within the Church. He sought out aid from die Kreuzritter, and through them he realized he couldn't bring back the original IOnquisition without first destroying Verdugo's version. Die Krezuritter offered him training and support, and the Inquisitio Aquila was formed as a subsidiary of die Kreuzritter, hoping to reform the Inquisition from within. They are both within the Vaticine and Inquisitorial structure, and also in the lay population. They recruit sympathizers aywhere they can, and their safehouses are hidden across Castille in caves, hidden catacombs and more. The Dark Inquisitors, as they call themsevles, use them to plan or to hide people and books from the Inquisition. Several have been found and torched, but the Inquisitors currently blame them on the Invisible College. It's only a matter of time, however, before they discover a Dark Inquisitor at work. As with the convention Inquisitors, the Inquisitio Aquila work to dispose of those deemed a threat to the Church, seeking out information and secrets on the mainstream Inquisition to derail their plans and convert what members they can. They must act with caution, to keep Verdugo from discovering them and destroying them before they can act.

Unlike die Kreuzritter, the Inquisitio Aquila has a hard time finding evil, corrupt or monstrous people within their own ranks. It's a big job, but a delicate one. They don't like killing people, but rmeoving an Inquisitor from office or causing a popular rebellion against one is completely okay by them. Gathering information on Inquisition movements is worth 3 Favor, if the Inquisition doesn't learn you were doing it. Removing an important Inquisitor, convincing one to abdicate or replacing one with a Dark Inquisitor is worth 5 Favor. For 2 Favor, you can get a hiding place in one of the society's strongholds, especially if the person you're hiding is targeted by the Inquisition. Getting aid from a Dark Inquisitor costs 3 FAvor. Dark Inquisitors are all skilled fighters, Strength 8, and have the Ordained advantage and either the University or Miracle Worker Advantage.

The Explorer's Society was ofunded in Odiseo and remaisn very popular in Castille. The Inquisition doesn't like their open support of science, education and anthropology, but generally has bigger problems to deal with. Several of the members are war veterans focused on preserving archaeological sites in Torres before more fighting starts. The Invisible College love Castille - great universities, alchemy...and legions of Inquisitors. They have a lot to do there, but it's also very dangerous for them. They work to copy, hide and save heretical texts in the Vaticine libraries, but they most move carefully, evading the Inquisition, as the penalty for their activity is death. Los Vagabundos are on their home turf in Castille...but so are the Inquisitors. They play cat and mouse with each other, as Los Vagabundos are always a step ahead, leaving just enough clues to keep the Inquisitors chasing them over, say, Eclipses. The risk of capture, though, has made many question if they should move their base of power - or perhaps support Odisean independence to have a hiding place from the Inquisitors.

Mociutes Skara have come as relief workers for the populace. The Church has welcomed their aid in food, medicine and clothing distribution for the needy. The Church does not know, however, that they have worked with the Tamatama, nomadic groups from far to the east that are traditionally either al-Din or other obscure Eastern faiths, to establish a network of safehouses and sympathizers, which the Shawl uses to move Inquisition targets to safety abroad. Helping to smuggle mraginalized groups out of Castille is worth 4 Favor, whether they are ethnic or religious minorities, sorcerers from other nations, or any other group targeted by the Inquisition.

The Rliasciare and Sophia's Daughters are essentially the same organization in Castille, and they spend most of their time in small numbers to avoid suspcion. Those that remain work with their Vodacce 'sisters' heavily, as Castille is easy to get to by ship from Vodacce and so is a common destination for renegade FAte Witches, especially as their normal clothes resemble Castillian mourning garb. The Merchant Princes Vestini and Lucani, who have lost the most Witches to the Daughters, have signed an agreement to find out how to stop them, and have begun working with Castillian Inquisitors to screen Vodacce travelers for Witches.

Next time: Places.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Inside The Spanish Vatican

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Inside The Spanish Vatican

Vaticine Island, home of the Vaticine City, has been inhabited since well before the Numanari invasion of Castille during the First Empire. Its coast is mostly cliff, with a few harbors, making it easy to defend. The Numnari, Crescents, Castillians and Vodacce all controlled it over the years, until the Third Prophet settled it during the Moonshadow War. It proved to be a tactically choice area to start a war from. The tribes living there mainly raised sheap, wheat and a few other crops, making sheep's milk cheeses to sell at high prices in Castille, Vodacce and Ifri.

Meanwhile, Fabio Dimas de Bello was descended from a group that fled from Zepeda to northern Vodacce in the early days of the Crescent Empire. The family gathered power for 500 years, but never reached the level of Merchant Princes. Fabio, who would become the Third Prophet, started a fire in the hearts of the Vaticine, accusing the nobility of Theah of corruption, diabolism and witchcraft. The pirer Church that he promised, with no toelerance for imperfection and a clear path provided for salvation, attracted a huge following among the Vodacce, who seized control of the Church from the primarily aristocratic cardinals. They seized the resources of the Merchant Princes, ignoring their authority, and the Princes exiled Fabio to the Vaticine Island in hopes of ridding themselves of extremism.

From the island, the Third Prophet's army, the Blazing Blade, began the Moonshadow War to drive non-Vaticine out of Castille and remake it as a paradise for the faithful. From this, the island has grown in wealth and power. The Hieros, the entirety of the Church, looks to it for direction. Its fortifications are always manned, and the Church ensures it's always self-sufficient in case of war. It also sells wine, cheese, olive oil and similar luxury goods. The City has grown in layers atop itself. At the center is the Heriophantic Basilica, a maze of churches and cathedrals built on top of each other, with the Hierophant's Office at their peak, high in the air. The Basilica is rather disturbing from afar, given its patchwork of styles and geometries from generations of architects, which makes it look like a surrealist painting of a quartz crystal.

The Basilica is host to most the Church's business, sacred and otherwise. Residential and commercial buildings radiate out from its base, housing the workers that keep the place running, and also the national embassies. On the eastern and western edges are the fortified High Chancery of the Inquisition and the Maxentine Seminary. Every nation and Theah, and a few from outside, have embassies within Vaticine City, though positioned as far from each other as possible. The largest and best are the Vodacce embassy, the old Rzeczpospolita embassy (now serving the entire Sarmatian Commonwealth), the Crescent Empire, and Montaigne's. That said, the Montaigne Embassy is currently a very weird place, home to a large expat community of religious Montaigne nobles who didn't feel safe at home. L'Empereur has ignored the embassy, feeling no desire to keep up relations after the excommunication.

The Hierophant's Office was constructed by a now-defenct order dedicated to devotional architecture. The Office has two floors. The lower area contains offices, apartments, kitchens and all the other things necessary for the Hierophant to live, work and pray without having to leave the Office, which many Hierophants have done near the end of their lives. The upper area is a grand panopticon of crystal glass, to allow the Hierophant to observe the island from above. The Cathedral Hierophantic is the name for this area, a throne for the Hierophant during official functions. It is a comfortable leather chair set into a mechanized armillary sphere, which represents the traditional Terran cosmology as imagined by ancient Vaticine scientists. The mechanisms include speaking tubes and spyglasses, to allow the Hierophant to see and speak to distant parts of the city. It rises and falls smoothly and noisly on an elevator that can lift it to the top of the Office, or lower it to any floor of the BAsilica. Currently, the King of Castille and his household have spent the past year living in the Office as prisoners, under guard by the Prophet's Sword, ostensibly for his own good.

The Maxentine Seminary is one of Theah's largest universities, taking students from across the world. The youngest are only twelve, and there are a number of feeder schools on the grounds to prepare students for admission. Given they operate right under the Inquisition's gaze, you'd expect them to produce obedient priests - but they do not. Because it was founded in the spirit of widespread theological debate by Hierophant Maxentius, it has always loved an argument, and the students and faculty have always been prone to arguing a wide range of both theological and political views on any number of subjects. The Seminary's faculty are often some of the most vocal critics of the Inquisition, as their commitment to diversity of views keeps them safe from Verdugo's wrath, much to his frustration. Stereotypically, a student at Seminary will be an extremist version of the views they will later settle into, becoming more moderate over time...unless they become a professor.

The Church frowns on bloodshed in the streets of the city, as it scares the pilgrims. Thus, all dueling academies on the island must lie outside the city, on small farmsteads. The agriculatural labor strengthens the students, and the wilderness is a gorgeous setting to fight in. Most major Thean schools are represented, including the signature Rossini style of the Vaticine, which uses heavy polearms, particularly the halberd. Rossini duelists learn to fight in formation, and also wield the Numanari gladius to fight those who get in close. The current head of the school is Gabriela Rossini, retired captain of the Hierophant's Guard and head of the Rossini family, which has run the school since its foundation in ninth-century Vodacce. Rossini is deeply troubled by the assassination of the Hierophant, as it happened under the watch of some of her best students, all of whom also died with the Hierophant, presumably in her defense. Habriela's age and responsibilities keep her form investigating personally, but she pays very well for any information on the Hierophant's murder.

The Hall of Orders is a walled enclave at the edge of the city, and is the liaison between the Hierophantic Basilica and the many sects of the Vaticine. It is formally seperate from the organizational pyramid of the Vaticine. Monks and nuns may stay in its dormitories and use it as needed. Each order maintains its own idiosyncratic organization, which may mirror the Church or may operate on an entirely different model. Typically, they are built around a small group of people whose devotion to Tehus takes the form of some special practice. The simplest are the cloistered orders, that live in monasteries and convents to avoid distraction from their devoations. Others are gyrovagues, wandering priests that apprentice to elders in their order and then head off to teach or heal others, surviving off donations. Artisan and artistic orders seek Theus by creation of various things. Many orders are restricted by gender. The Budorigan Order of Rzeczspospolita, for example, is known for its mighty warhorses, bred for the military orders and Inquisition, and it will only accept nonbinary members. Monks of the military orders live in fortresses known as commanderies, studying martial arts in order to defend the Church. The eldest of these that continues is les Paladins de Cluny, who date back to the ninth century and formed to defend Montaigne's cost from Vesten raiders. Many more were formed during the Moonshadow War, and it was a military order that developed into die Kreuzritter. The Orders in general disdain the politicso f the main Church, and the hones that have, historically, taken sides tend to lose funding and recruitment opportunities.

The High Chancery is, historically, the supreme court of Vaticine law. For the past four centuries, though, it has also been the home fortress of the Inquisitors. Early in Verdugo's tenure, he had the place rebuilt as a Vodacce-style star fort, which he then filled with extravagant decorations, priceless artwork and fine new suites. The fort's guns poiint in all directions - both at the City itself and out towards the sea. The Vaticine courts employed the original Inquisition as investigators to gather information, but their support was decimated by the Stern scandal that nearly destroyed die Kreuzritter. By 1157, they nearly didn't exist. The Third Prophet reformed them to focus on external threats and heresy, rather than monsters and internal misconduct. The Inquisitors were priests in the normal hierarchy, given special training and a mission to hunt down Crescent sympathizers, sorcerers and other threats. They answered in secret to a High Inquisitor hidden among the cardinals. After the mysterious death of the Third Prophet in 1268, the Inquisition continued to serve as the embodument of his theocratic will. In taking control of it, CArdinal Verdugo restructured it into three parts.

The Prophet's Staff gathers information and investigates crimes against religious law. They are the closest, at present, to the original Inquisition's mission statement, but Cerdugo also has them spying on nearly every political power on the continent. The Prophet's Sword is the smallest group, formed from the elite guards of Vaticine City. Traditionally they recruit from Western Eisen, and have been the enforcers for the Inquisition since the end of the Moonshadow War. They wear distinct orange and purple uniforms, and they primarily wield halberds. When arresting heretics, though, they prefer short swords, clubs and guns. Whule the other branches of the Inquisition are organized on priestly lines, the Sword is a military organization with military ranks. The Prophet's Hourglass are the judiciary of the Inquisition, often referred to just as the High Chancery. While the Church has always had an arm for jurisprudence to try its own criminals and offer legal opinions on actions, this group has also been given the power to process heretics. It has been expanded massively under Verdugo, and the Cardinal himself is the judge for the highest-profile crimes.

The Inquisition recruits professionals who demonstrate distinct skills, but at least half of its numbers are made of children it raises in-house. The Inquisitorial Academy is within the Chancery's walls, and while people can join it any year, often at the encouragement of a local priest, most of its students are orphans who made it to Vaticine Island. The life is full of rigorous study, secluded from the outside world. The Sword and the Hourglass are the most obvious and feared arms of the group, but the Staff is larger than both combined. They have the largest repository of information and records on the continent, and all of its resources are dedicated to collating and processing information to evaluate which threats to move on and what verdicts to reach. While their information is only meant to fight threats to the Church, they have far more diverse uses in practice. Verdugo excels at identifying threats with the aid of his many analysts, and also political fronts or movements that could obstruct the Inquisition or give them new opoortunities. By analyzing things like guard schedules, crop prices and folk songs, Verdugo has discovered love affairs, slave revolts and Sidhe activities, using that information against others and to aid his plans. He's very good at it.

Next time: So what are Eclipses, anyway.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Ethinic Minorities Exist Now

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Ethinic Minorities Exist Now

So, what are Eclipses? The Vaticine are easily the most populous of Thean faiths, but not the only ones. The Yachidi and Dinists are probably the most notable of the others. The Yachidi predate even the First Prophet, and while they believe in Theus, they also recognize various forms of magic as not evil, and they view lesser spirits and gods as servants of Theus. The Yachidi can be found across the continent, but mostly in areas in near the Crescent Empire. The al-Din are closer to the Vaticine, and follow the Second Prophet, believing that the Third Prophet was a false prophet. They are largely from the Crescent Empire, but many either never converted in Castille or migrated to other parts of Theah. The Tamatama of the east are generally Dinists, though not all. Most nations accept these minority religions, though the Inquisition generally doesn't. The word 'Eclipse' is Castillian slang for all these minority groups, and indeed any marginalized group that may come under Inquisition suspicions.

The Inquisition may technically declare anyone a heretic for any sin, but their primary focus is on witches. Verdugo particularly hates the brujas, practitioners of a form of indigenous magic based on old Castillian paganism, which they've never been able to wipe out. Alquimia, also, is technically science rather than sorcery (despite using sorcery rules), but the Inquisition formally opposed scientific research right now. Boticarios must be wary about when and where they practice, especially because of Alquimia's association with the higher classes and the Crescents, who were both favored targets of the Third Prophet, which means many apothecaries are hanged as witches pretending to alchemy, regardless of the truth. Per the Inquisition, Objectionists are Vaticine but traitors, and despite the amount of rhetoric permitted within the Vaticine City universities, Objectionists off the island are likely to be targets.

A royal decree in 1385, exactly one year before the entire royal family died of mysterious plague, the Tachidi and al-Din faiths were decriminalized, and the populace generally feels a lot of sympathy for them due to their long presence in Castillian culture. However, Castillians also grant great prestige to families with the longest history of following the Third Prophet, and the typically way to get out of Inquisition trouble (grand, public acts of Vaticine faith) aren't really open to Yachidi or Dinists unless they convert. The Tamatama in particulary tend to convert in large numbers to avoid Inquisitors. Of course, it should be noted that Verdugo wields the Inquisition as a political tool as well as a religious one, and he's happy to attack any threat to his sovereignty. It doesn't actually matter how ideologically pure you are - Verdugo will happily invent heresies for you.

Let's talk saints. The Vaticine defines a saint as a historic figure who demonstrated devotion to Theus above and beyond the call of duty. Before 1257, saints largely came out of folklore and oral tradition aobut the followers of prophets, particularly martyrs or miarcle workers. The Third Prophet, however, ruled that only a council of cardinals could canonize a saint, and that direct adoration of specific saints was idolatry and thus not permitted. The difference between veneration and worship is still tricky, and the Vaticine encourages dedicating shrines ('aedicules') or churches to formally canonized saints...or informal saints so popular that they were grandfathered in. Most intersections in Vaticine City have an aedicule at the center, with impressive statues and sometimes a fountain. They're often used as landmarks.

The Vaticine's formal organization is a simple pyramid, with the Hierophant at the top, governing the Archbishops. Cardinals are Archbioshops assigned to special councils to advise people like the King of Castille or the Hierophant. Each Archbishop has an Archdiocese of ten Bishops, each with a Diocese of ten Monsignors, each with a Paris of ten High Priests, who oversee their church's priests. In practical terms, their political allegiances rarely have to do with geography or rank, and more to do with the theological, political and networking systems of the Church. There is an informal but large network of patrons and cluents, who typically link during education and maintain close correspondence even across national borders, which is only easier now that the printing press exists. Patrons and matrons have their elder patrons and matrons, and so it is a social hierarchy alongside the formal one. These networks allow reassigned priests to more easily transition into new duties, and can help a priest who is uncomfortable with their bosses or unsure of how to act seek guidance. However, they also often feature a lot of jockeying for favor, and pressure for more introverted priests to engage in unpleasant social duties. The rise of Objectionism has only stressed the system further, as the religious wars have often pitted patron and client against each other. This anxiety about the safety of the network caused a lot of early support for Mociutes Skara among the clergy.

It should not be a surprise that an influential patron with political opinions tends to turn their clients into a sort of political party. These ideas, especially in Maxentine Seminary, can cause a lot of problems for Inquisitorial agents trying to push Verdugo's party line. The four largest factions are the most likely to put forth a new candidate for Hierophant, and even Verdugo acknowledges that the job will eventually be filled. He can't leave his own post to take it, and his backing on the Vaticine Island is much weaker than in Castille proper. He can't stall the cardinals indefinitely - indeed, not even for more than year or so. It's time for the factions to get busy.

The Conservatives seek a return to the pre-reform Church. They like the opulent, old-school architecture and art, which they believe is both aesthetically superior and more authentic. They think the latest reforms of the Church dilute and damage its message. Their enemies suggest that they're in this for wealth and power over beauty and truth. The Reformers have led the Church in trying to reorganize and update in response to Objectionism. They are behind the shift in Church art and music towards propaganda, and in founding new orders meant to keep things accessible yet sinless. They have spearheaded a massive growth in religious orders, and their opposition to traditional Castillian dances tends to be a source of humor for everyone else, leading to people taunting them with dancing that leads to a surprising number of clerical brawls. Thge Reconcilers believe that the greatest threat to the modern Hieros is schism within the church. There's a lot of debate about which worshoppers are beyond help and which can be reincorporated into the Vaticine proper. Objectionists, Dinists and Orthodox followers of the First Prophet are often cited as lost sheep who can be returned to the fold. The Extremists are no longer called that because they're currently dominant. They follow an interpretation of ancient Numanari political theory that has them advocating for a monolithic church with a perfect, charismatic Hierophant, expressing a single, specific ideology from which there is no place for dissent. Verdugo is a variant Extremist - he is quite happy to have no Hierophant and to be essentially in charge.

Now, let's talk locations other than the Vaticine! Ducado de Soldano is the largest ducado and the heartland of Castillian agricultre. It was the last of the old Castillian kingdoms to surrender to Crescent control, and has always resisted Crescent influence. Many nobles from other parts of Castille resettled in northern Soldando and Torres until the Third Prophet came. The Blazing Blade took Soladno first, even though it was further away, because of the area's enthusiastic military support for the Prophet. This led to many families being ennobled, and four out of five Soldanensa are hidalgos today. The area is notable for being the origin of the hacienda, an expansive, self-sufficient agriculatural estate that produces olive oil, wine, cereals and livestock. Most also have a carpenter, blacksmith or other crafter on staff, and away from cities, they may well even have chapels, warehosues or mines. Vodacce influence on local architecture has also given rise to the atrio, an enclosed yard for herb gardens, decorative plants, fountains and parties (or duels).

It was in Soldano that the Montaigne advance was finally stopped. The Montaigne took heavy losses trying to cross the Sophie du Lac river, then wasted more resources fighting guerrillas in the forest. When l'Empereur called for a retreat, they had to flee to transport ships on the coast rather than go back through Torres. Soldano has become a symbol for the defense of Castille...which doesn't set well with many Torrena, who gave up so much in the fight. The proximity to Eisen also means that there's a lot of Objectionists there, at least for Castille. The local Grande, Diego Ruiz, has openly declared his opposition to them and his cooperation to the Inquisition in hunting them down. Practically, however, he's got neither the ability nor inclination to tell who's Objectionist and who isn't.

San Gustavo is the primary port of Soldano, where goods head out for Vaticine Island or to Vodacce. It is named for Gustavo a-Hamid, a corsair who, it is said, captured the Second Prophet, and who converted when the Prophet spoke a few lines of sacred poetry that so moved him that he dove into the sea to save the Prophet as he fell from the plank. The Cathedral of San Gustavo is the only row-in cathedral in Castille, though land access is also available. Pirates or sailors of the Vaticine gulf may visit for ceremonies, setting aside any quarrels while within the safety of the walls. Typically, a boat is rowed in to worship, then departs via the islands, getting a safe distance away before engaging in piracy again. Sailors often carve small wooden ships in the likeness of their own ships, which are hung from the ceiling to ask the saints for safety at sea. Pirates are hated by both the Church and crown, but they founded the city and are common pilgrims. The Inquisition cannot close the place to pirates without losing the city's greatest draw...but leaving the cathedral open allows criminals in. The cathedral is also home to Octavio Mzabi, head of the Inquisitio Aquila, who enjoys it because his office looks out over the city but is invisible from the ground. Also, he can easily send couriers through the heavy crowds in secret. Unrelated, a common group in Castille is the cofradia - a social club of lay Vaticines who share a craft. It's something like a club and like a religious order, but not quite either. The Mesta is a cofradia of ranchers, headquartered in San Gustavo, who work not only with Castille but also foreign goverments, to allow them to move herds safely even during war.

Meanwhile, off the coast are many pirate hideouts and fortresses. The eldest, Hamid's Prayer, which belongs to the Brotherhood of the Coast and is exactly halfway from San Gustavo to Five Sails by sea. It is run by Doctor Ainhoa Extandi, a galeno who joined the Brotherhood to avoid the Inquisition after the War of the Cross. They are a genius surgeon who is known to be able to regraft limbs, causing some locals to go without prosthetics in hopes of getting that. The island also operates a 'ship exchange' - a pirate can temporarily trade in a galley for a longer-range galleon if they need to, and a foreigner in a tall ship can trade in for a galley to do local business. Unfortunately, however, the island is no longer secret. Both the Castillian and Vodacce governments know exactly where it is, and each is trying to get the other to make the first move to clear it out. Neither wants to commit resources to doing it yet.

Next time: Ducado de Aldana

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Alcazar Is A Great Word

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Alcazar Is A Great Word

Ducado de Aldana was the ealiest settled region in Castille, and it is the central hub of the Castillian equestrian tradition, thanks to open terrain and good weather. It is also the most economically stable region. However, its horses are no longer in as much demand, largely because the rest of Castille can no longer afford them. The area has always had a large mix of Castillians, Crescents, Ifrians and Tamatama. The Tamatama originally were traveling entertainers from a subcontinent far to the southeast, and then spread through Crescent territory and into Theah over several centuries. They now make a fairly reliable living traveling between local festivals and noble courts, learning and performing many songs and dances.

San Cristobal is one of the oldest cities in all of Castille, let alone Aldana. When the Crescent Empire conquered the area, it was already a large fishing village with a busy harbor, a nearby river and lots of good farmland. Perfect for a capital. Of course, it's not in the most defensible area, which has always been a bit of a problem, so they built short stone walls to cover their infantry and cavalry, along with harbor battlements with cannons. At this point, only the most coordinated assault is likely to breach the defenses, and so most of Castille's fleet is kept there.

El Alcazar was, until last year, the royal palace of Good King Sandoval. It's a huge structure of Crescent design, originally built by the Amazigh architect Abd al-Majid al-Mzabi (ancestor of Inquisitor Mzabi, incidentally), who named it al-Qasr, after the castrum he built it on. It was heavily renovated throughout Crescent rule to decorate it and upgrade its fortifications, but after that, it hasn't been changed since 1257. It follows a fairly open plan, to allow a small number of guards to survey the entire building for threats. There's few corners to hide behind, and the building is built to echo sounds. While the king was in residence, scholars, performers and lecturers from across the world came through the Palace nightly. The King's sudden disappearance has made something of a power vacuum, and the local nobles have no desire to follow him to Vaticine City. Most of the performers and lecturers have, as a result, not bothered to alter their circuit schedules. The palace has become a social center, with many people vying for power and control over San Cristobal's social scene. It's not all great, though - the palace is full of crime lords alongside the merchants, plus Nahuacan and Amazigh traders who're probably sizing it up for takeover. The parties have gotten a lot less polite - and a lot more interesting and dangerous. The palace campus is also home to Castille's best military academy, and the best stables in Aldana. The local fencing school actually bases its dancing movements not human dances but the gait of Aldanensa horses, and practices a lot of mounted fencing.

When the Third Prophet retook San Cristobal from the Crescents, he often spoke of wrecking the Imperial Mosque. However, when his forces took the city and saw the Mosque, they stopped, for it was the most beautiful structure any had ever seen, with a beautiful geometric pattern and inlaid golden calligraphy. Even the window shapes were perfectly patterned on leaves, allowing light through to show off focal points in the art. In the end, the Mosque was left untouched, but reconsecrated to the Vaticine as the Basilica of Matamoros. It is currently staffed by a skeleton crew of priests, now that the Inquisition has retreated from the capital to Vaticine City, and all of that staff are Dark Inquisitors working for Mzabi, making it the only real semi-public headquarters of the Inquisitio Aquila. So far, they've just been using it to collate information and plan on how to convince the locals that they're scary people and not, in fact, the sympathetic heroes they actually are. Despite everything the Inquisition has done in the past, the Basilica remains a major Dinist pilgrimage site, and many Eclipses come by to worship in secret in the chaos that is the business of a Vaticine cathedral.

The market square of San Cristobal is immense, built in a giant forum constructed by the Crescents. It is notable for having anything you might want, as long as it's cheap and low quality. If you want something better, you need to get the merchant's attention and meet them at a more permanent location, as the good stuff needs to be kept safe from thieves. There are a ton of street performers, pickpockets, forgers and fences in the market, often formed into groups large enough to pay off the city guards. The are is also home to many great restaurants and dueling schools, which represent all major Thean dueling styles and a number of lesser-known ones. Public fencing matches are common.

Ducado de Torres is mountainous on the Montaigne border and the coast, with forest filling the rest of it. The locals used to have close cultural ties to Montaigne, until the War of the Cross and the Montaigne invasion devastated the area. Hastily built mountain forts were torn down, villages burned, battlefields salted with blood. Divided loyalties tore families apart, as some refused to fight the Montaigne they'd always seen as kin. The Grande's own family was decimated, with many of its youth sent into battle well before they were ready or able to fight. The area is a warzone for petty warlords, and a good place to go if you need to hide from the authorities.

Barcino was a mountain fortress constructed during the Moonshadow War as a fallback point. It saw little action, as the Crescents were wary of attacking a fortified location in the mountains, especially with an army made mostly of cavalry. It was largely abandoned after the war, forgotten by all but the local nobles and farmers. The War of the Cross disturbed these locals, who were almost all mixed-heritage Castillian and Montaigne. They attempted to avoid involvement while keeping their homes safe, and frequently failed, as the armies saw them as easy sources of food and plunder. The end of the war brought hope, but that was quickly smashed by the Montaigne invasion. L'Empereur ordered Marshal Eulalia Madariga to lead a force into the mountains, where she had grown up, and secure the area. She agreed, as long as her force was handpicked locals.

Marshal Madariga took her force to a largely empty Barcino, secured it, and then announced that she was defecting - but not to Castille. Barcino was to be an independent city-state. Madariga wrote an impassioned letter to l'Empereur declaring his war cruel and horrific, ignoring the history and feelings of the border people, and that Barcino would be a safe haven for all who hated the war for as long as it stood. It also outlined all possible avenues of attack on Barcino and made it clear that Madariga understood them all. It made it clear that yes, they would lose a siege...but only after a long and costly fight that would cost more resources than either Castille or Montaigne could afford. It is rumored that l'Empereur went into a week-long tantrum on reading the letter, which was fine because it allowed his officers to actually have command in that period and make progress in conquering the rest of Torres.

Barcino's primary material support is from the Atabean Trading Company, as President Rourke felt that independent Barcino was a symbol of his own political philosophy and a place he could spread his ideas. Company agents now use a secret tunnel route to funnel in food, water and Company-branded supplies. The city-state has attracted asylum seekers from across Castille and, indeed, much of Theah. Eclipses, Objectionists, pious Montaigne and anti-revolutionary Numanari are all present, as are criminals who need a place to hide out. Madariga disagrees with many of their causes, but she won't turn them away. No government is currently willing to attack Barcino; Eisen, Castille and Montaigne are all close enough but each wants one of the others to pay the cost. However, many governments have started going after the families of those hiding in Barcino, enraged at the embarrassment they represent. Madariga's own family had to flee the Altamira area that was their ancestral home to avoid Montaigne assassins. That said, many don't even know they have family in Barcino, as the city lacks much in the way of outside contact.

Not much of the land around Barcino is good for crops, but the land that is is extremely productive, and shortly after tobacco was brought back from the New World, the locals built an elaborate irrigation system and began raising tobacco. It used to be traded for food, and now all goes to the ATC in exchange for their supplies. The locals also raise sheep, cattle and goats. Research has shown that the underground tunnels around Barcino were not originally tied into a larger cave network, but the Syrneth altered that, sinking several tunnels and galleries into the mountains to connect areas for unknown reasons. The unnecessarily reinforced metal and ceramic roofs have led some to speculate that the tunnels were not for transport but for shelter against something. No one has any idea what.

If anyone would have known, it was probably the Xana Cult. In the middle of the War of the Cross, the Inquisition learned that a diabolic cult met regularly in the tunnels to worship a figure that may have been a devil, a god or a saint, but which had magical influence over fertility and weather. The most common term for this being was 'xana'. The Inquisitors launched a midnight raid that trapped hundreds in the tunnels, and many died in the fighting. Some of the cultists apparently did have either magic or at least alchemy, but the 'xana' was never discovered. However, the leader of the raid claimed to have seen a woman disappear into an ancient cave painting. This began a witch hunt through Torres that ended up ending 7000 lives, and the incident remains at the center of arguments over whether folk magic is pure evil or a positive part of Castillian culture. The flag of Barcino includes the painting into which the mystery woman is said to have disappeared.

Next time: Zepeda

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Freedom

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Freedom

Ducado de Zepeda doesn't look like much at first glance. Its northeastern islands are full of pirates, its mountainous heartland is barren, its southern swamps are swamps. However, the truth is those mountains are vital to Castille, as they are home to some of the continent's best iron short of dracheneisen itself. Zepeda is, as a result, one of the most modern and technologically advanced ducados, and it is full of Invisible College labs. An engineer from Zepeda can find work just about anywhere they like, and are known for their humor and knack for jury-rigging.

Rioja is a city atop a cliff, home to much clockwork and brass. It has some of the tallest buildings in Theah, constructed at the height of the Vaticine technological push. The advanced machines and engineering libraries, however, are now quiet, controlled by the Inquisition. Verdugo doesn't want anyone to use the advanced machines, but he is afraid to destroy them in case he ever needs to use them against an enemy force. The Inquisitors have not, however, been able to stop the disappearances of smaller devices each month, or prevent the mysterious reactivation of some of the large public machines, like clocks, for short and unexpected periods. The locals alternately blame ghosts and the Invisible College.

The University of Rioja is one of the oldest in Castille, originally founded as a Yachidi yeshiva. It isn't really a unified campus, but rather a series of towers throughout Rioja that were, at one point, connected by a series of cable cars. The science and engineering programs were the best in the nation, until the Inquisition came in and replaced the headmaster, shuttering the hard science departments and dismissing all of their students. Now, only Verdugo-approved theology, philosophy and criminal justice classes are taught. The old departments still exist, but must teach in secret rooms behind pubs or in basements, pretending to be parties and social clubs. Not all of these classes are Invisible College either - some of them are just, well, teachers who didn't want to stop teaching.

The most famous hidden lab in town is that of Professor Artemio Durante de Bessarion, a half-Vodacce inventor responsible for many of the wonderful machines of Rioja and Vaticine City. He was driven from his tenured position by an angry mob who were tired of his newer contraptions exploding all the time, and built his new lab somewhere in a half-flooded cave north of town, visible and accessible only by low tide. Within are more wonders, guarded by crossbow-armed automata. The contents include steam-powered galleys, water purification systems and submersible machinery.

Rioja is, lastly, notable for its cofradia Guild Houses. The best-known is the Cofradia of Bladesmiths, who specialize in folding, single-edge knives called navaja, suitable for the narrow streets of the city rather than the heavier blades favored elsewhere in Castille. Once a year, on the Feast of Saint Arabella of Rioja, each cofradia constructs a parade float for a grand march down Main Street, the only fully level street in the entire city. The guild that produces the best float receives a special appointment for that year to produce goods for el Concilio de la Razon.

Odiseo or Ducado de Gallegos, depending on who you ask, has always been different. The crown has always coveted its resources, its great forests and excellent coastline. While other ducados have been willing to subordinate their characters to the Castillian grand identity, Odiseo does not. It has the most robust seafaring tradition in Theah, and much of the place is coastline. It has always led Theah in naval technology, not least because they kept copying everyone else's innovations. All of their cities are ports, full of foreign goods and foreign people. Cathayan silk, Nahuacan feather crafts, Khemetic cotton - it's all there. Historically, while the other four kingdoms that would become the ducados resisted the Crescents, King Fulvio V of Odiseo married an Amazigh princess, Tajeddigt, and invited her to be his coruler. The people loved her and she was good at her job, and she and her successors built up so much goodwill that when the Third Prophet came to order the Odiseans to give over any who didn't believe in him, they refused and he had to leave emptyhanded.

The Odiseans are renowned as a cosmopolitan people, but they have never been able to fully achieve independence, and have always strained at the yoke, even in the periods of greatest unity. Castille's military power and access to iron means that Odiseo would lose any land war, especially after losing their Crescent alliance. During the War of the Cross, they argued against the increased taxes needed to pay for the army and fought to avoid having their ships commandeered. This kicked off another independence movement, which has advocating reaching out to Ifrian nations for support. Officially, the capital is Lisso, in the north, and that's where Governor Perez rules from, but few locals seem to have noticed. The true capital is San Felipe, and that's where the former Grande, Uxia Serafin, lives. She was removed from rule by the late King Aldana when the independence movement got too big, but everyone ignores the ruling governor, and with Verdugo centralizing power in the Inquisition, Serafin has become the most powerful regional leader in the area. She is a polyglot known for her wit and her essays, written in all kinds of languages, from Katabanic to Castillian to Odisean to even Numanari. She has many suitors from all over the Widow's Sea, and the current frontrunner appears to be Ihsan al-Ibadi of the Amazigh, heir to a North Ifrian emirate and professional adventurer.

San Felipe was the center of old Odiseo after the collapse of the Numanari Empire, and the only reason it fell to Castille was its lack of military resources, not lack of resistance. It has traditionally been a hotbed of dissent, and it still is now. There are Inquisitors in the city, but the locals seem to enjoy making their lives as difficult as possible as often as possible. Thus, the Inquisition views Odisean independence as a grave threat to its control of Castille. However, while the Prophet's Sword is tough, they're more police than an army, and the loss of the tercios has left Castille without the military threat that has traditionally kept Odiseo in line. The only relief for the Inquisitors is that the independence movement has no real central leadership, being a grassroots movement full of undirected but opinionated people. Grande Uxia Serafin is close, but at least until she gets married, she's busy with foreign affairs. The Inquisition has no leadership to strike at, but the movement stagnates without a head.

The Explorer's Society was founded in Lisso, but the San Felipe chapterhouse is much larger and busier. It overlooks the harbor and has an excellent museum showcasing a variety of impressive (replica) relics. It is run by Leandra Souza's son, Nelinho, who often heads to Lisso to meet with his mother, who founded the society and remains active at the ripe old age of 92. The chapterhouse's upper floors are meeting rooms, hotel rooms, and a combination library and bar. Technically, it's not allowed to drink near any important books or relics, but Explorers usually develop a habit of being careful and responsible with their drinks around books anyway.

The real seat of Odisean government is the Restaurante Salazar, founded centuries ago and never closed since. It kept operating even during the wars, and occupised all four corners of a major intersection, connected via skyways. Grande Serafin holds court from there, meeting with her spies and suitors. The political work that'd normally be the place of parties and balls happens at the bar and dancefloor, and has resulted in visiting nobles often having to deal with large numbers of ordinary people to get their political work done. The royal officers keep trying to force their way in to find out what Serafin is up to, but they never seem able to get a reservation and keep getting hassled by drunks. Nearby, San Felipe Harbor is the largest and most active on the continent. It has a gigantic shipyard, which employs over a third of the city's population, especially if you count the doctors and other business that serve the shipyard and harbor. It is also one of the cheapest places in the world to get ship repairs, which brings in a lot of money for the city from crews in drydock. The area is also home to the Flower Quarter, an expatriate community of New Worlders - mostly Rahuri and Nahuacan. It is run by Gonzala "Lalo" Terrazas, a Nahuacan merchant, and is surrounded by a Nahuacan-style wall. Its busiest area is the ball court, which rivals in size those in the New World. The local Ollamaztli team, the Jaguars, are the best on the continent, but some other Castillian teams are getting up there. On nights without a game, the court is home to markets, dances or wrestling matches. It is also one of the best areas in Castille for authentic Nahucan food, including candied insects carefully raised by the local chefs. The Nahuaca also have a reputation as lawyers, and Nahucan lawyers often find Castillian law refreshingly simple compared to law school back home. Lalo has been sending coded messages back home via unsuspecting trading vessels, though few realize it and fewer are sure what they're about.

San Felipe is also home to a number of dueling schools, including some from the New World or Ifri. The city is the modern home of the Siqueira style, a martial art that legend claims was developed by Odisean shepherds to fight wolves and bandits by use of clubs, quarterstaves, canes and other cudgels, using the versatility and range to handle multiple attackers. Siqueira duelists are expected to train in every possible position, even lying on their backs, while attacked from multiple sides. There is also an outpost of the Gallegos style, and a few New World ones, including the only present place on the continent to learn Jogo de Dentro, overseen by the elderly Mestre Gaviao, who spends most of his time at the Restaurante Salazar.

Next time: Alquimia, the Sweet Sorcery Science

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - I Can't Believe It's Not Sorcery

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - I Can't Believe It's Not Sorcery

Castille has no native tradition of Sorcery. (The folk magic of the brujas doesn't count because it's extremely location-based and definitely not a PC thing.) This is largely because of the Vaticine's influence, which has instead had many generations seeking knowledge and wisdom instead. However, some of that knowledge is secret, once considered only slightly inappropriate but now hunted by the Inquisition. It produces marvelous effects, like Sorcery, but it isn't Sorcery. It is Alquimia, born of reason, philosophy and experimentation. It can be dangerous, but it is still pursued today, in secret, by the Boticarios, as the practitioners are called. They work in an underground network to connect mentors and students, and to share their thousand years of knowledge.

The basic idea behind Alquimia is the idea of perfection. Boticarios have explained it differently over the centuries, but the idea is that every part of reality is ordered and interconnected in one continuous existence. Thus, by carefully studying the reactions that transform the simple into the complex, you may decipher the unseen ties between the imperfect and the perfected. The fundamental theoretical framework of this experimentation is that all things are composed of a combination of four basic qualities - hotness, coldness, dryness and moistness - which correspond to the four observable elements - fire, water, earth and air. These are balanced by the celestial aether, which exists only in minor quantity in Theah but serves an essential role in alchemical reactions.

Despite Alquimia being based in advanced experimental procedure, what truly separates it from other sciences is its mystical nature. While other sciences can teach you about the past or help solve problems, Alquimia is, in theory, a worldview that encompasses everything and also has practical application. Thus, even when a Boticario's goal may seem trivial or materialistic, it always entails a transformation that affects the self as much as anything else. The quest for perfection is both an objective and practical goal and a transcendantal one, sought both within the self and in the world. This aspect grew out of the Vaticine's sponsorship of study, and Boticarios tend to grow increasingly religious in their approach to their work, to the point that many texts state outright that the goal is to clear a path to Theus by developing a science that understands the self, the world and Theus simultaneously.

Boticario is, mechanically, a Sorcery and not a Sorcery. It is bought via the Sorcery advantage, but a Boticario is not considered a Sorcerer for any mechanical effect that cares about such things, like dracheneisen's extra damage. Each purchase of Sorcery, including the first, gives access to one of the five Juvenilia. Further, each purchase after the first improves your laboratorium, allowing you to bypass the requirements of specific effects. For each purchase after the first, you may select a single item or concoction from a Juvenilia you know; you may create it in your lab without any requirements.

The laboratorium is a safe, controlled environment in which to perform the often-dangerous experiments Alquimia requires. They are typically well-lit, ventilated underground facilities, with expensive and heavily modified equipment, materials and chemicals, along with many handwritten and often ciphered texts on the art and journals to record experimental results. To the uninitated, such labs appear disorganized, messy and chaotic, but this is by design. It is a layer of secrecy to protect one's work from prying eyes, ensuring that the untrained and unworthy can learn no useful secrets of the sacred science.

The goal of Alquimia is highly personal. These crowning achievements are known as the Opera, the Works, and are the most closely guarded secrets of the Order, a group of Boticarios that oversee most initiation and training of new apprentices. These mysteries cannot easily be duplicated without intensive training, and what they are depends on the Boticario. While Boticarios belong to the Order and follow a common method and philosophy, their findings cannot truly be understood even by each other. One may seek the secrets of immortality, while another wants to transmute lead to gold. The results of this mean that the science can only be discussed in a general sense, dividing things into the Juvenilia, or minor works, and the Magnum Opus, or major work.

Juvenilia are typically temporary effects, lasting perhaps a round or a scene. Each requires the expenditure of a Raise during a sequence to activate. Creating an alchemical item from a Juvenilia requires a Hero Point and the use of a laboratorium. Some effects will also require one or more Requirements, chosen by the GM. You may attempt to create an effect from Juvenilia you aren't trained in yet, but doing so always adds an extra Requirement. Most Requirements will require a Risk or a Story Step to acquire. The following is a list of common Requirements, which may not be called for more than once unless they explicitly say so.
You can store two alchemical items per Sorcery purchase in your lab, and may carry one alchemical item per Sorcery purchase on your person safely. If you carry more items than this, the GM may spend 1 Danger Point to create an appropriate convenience, such as one of them exploding or activating in an untimely way. Note that for all Juvenilia, you are free to invent more things you can make - you and the GM just have to work out what they do, and keep in mind that they're all temporary.

Wai Dan is the Juvenilia also called the External Elixir, focusing on purification of the body and spirit. This is primarily achieved by the consumption of various concoctions, called elixirs, which are made from various chemical substances for various purposes. Example elixirs include, but are not limited to:
Longevity: You can withstand damage that would kill any normal person by drinking this. Until the end of the scene, the drinker does not become Helpless at 4 Dramatic Wounds. Instead, at 4 Dramatic Wounds, Villains get 3 Bonus Dice against you rather than 2, and you gain an additional tier of Wounds, becoming Helpless at your 5th Dramatic Wound. This elixir needs 1 Requirement.
Memory: For one scene, the drinker can remember everything they see and hear in perfect detail, allowing for instant memorization of documents, faces and conversations. This elixir needs 1 Requirement.
Intelligence: The drinker gets +1 Wits for one scene, unlocking the potential of their mind. This elixir needs 2 Requirements.
Youthfulness: The drinker gains the adaptability of youth. They may immediately alter their Approach to a different one without any penalty. This elixir needs 1 Requirement.
Excellence of Luster: The drinker's inner beauty shines forth. They gain the Fascinate advantage for one Scene, and may activate it without paying a Hero Point.

Rasayana is the Path of Essence, the Juvenilia that focuses on the creation of essential salts, alloys, inks and powders. Its creations are generally referred to as compounds. Examples include, but are not limited to:
Light Without Heat Salt: You can make a compound that will produce enough light to illuminate a room for one Scene without any heat and/or combustion.
Unbreakable Alloy: You produce a compound that will render any inorganic object entirely unbreakable (except via magic) for one Scene. This compound needs 1 Requirement.
Soporific Ink: You create a special ink compound that puts a target into a deep sleep on contact, rendering them Helpless for one Scene or until they are awakened somehow, such as by vigorous shaking, taking Wounds or being near an explosion. This compound needs 2 Requirements.
Anesthetic Powder: You make a compound that causes a target to become immune to physical pain. Until the end of the Scene when it is ingested, the target may spend a Hero Point to ignore all negative consequences of Dramatic Wounds. This compound needs 1 Requirement.
Essential Lodestone Salt: You make a compound that creates a magnetic forcefield when poured onto something, deflecting all foreign objects and force for one Round. Anyone attempting to fire on the user must spend an additional Raise to overcome this magnetic field.

Chymystry is the Juvenilia focused on analysis, synthesis, transformation and production of material substances. Its creations are generally referred to as preparations. Examples include, but are not limited to:
Boticario's Cement: A preparation that can join two objects. Breaking the bond requires one more Raise than would be needed with normal glue; generally, this means 2 Raises rather than 1.
Light As A Feather: A preparation that reduces an inorganic object's weight by half, but preserving all other properties. Carrying such an object is easier and requires no additional Raises, but its accuracy is reduced if thrown, costing an additional Raise.
Water To Ice: A preparation that, in the span of one round, crystallizes 1000 cubic feet of water until an appropriate solvent is applied. This preparation needs 1 Requirement.
Positive Universal Solvent: A preparation of highly damaging acid. Any organic material that comes in contact with it suffers 1 Wound per action in contact. It takes an Action to remove it if it is thrown on you. This preparation needs 1 Requirement.
True Lead: A preparation involving lead mixtures that, when applied to an inorganic object, renders it immune to all Sorcery-related effects for a Scene by hampering the flow of magical energy.

Spagyrics is the most recently developed Juvenilia, focused on herbal medicine. Its products, called extracts, typically involve fermentation, distillation and extractions of mineral compounds from plants to treat disease. Examples include, but are not limited to:
Amaranth: An extract to treat blood diseases and prevent hemorrhage. Upon drinking it and spending a Hero Point, the target heals 1 Dramatic Wound.
Betony: An extract that produces unnatural strength. The target gets +1 Brawn for a Scene. This extract needs 2 Requirements.
Celandine: An extract that renders the drinker less aggressive. Until the end of the Scene, they are under Pressure if they attempt to perform any aggressive action, such as causing Wounds.
Euphorbia: An extract that prevents fear. The drinker is immune to Fear for the rest of the scene, and during that time any action using an Approach based on Intimidate needs 2 Raises to succeed against them. This extract needs 1 Requirement.
Sunflower: An extract that renders the drinker unable to lie for one Scene. This extract needs 1 Requirement.

Takwin is the Juvenilia focused on creating artifical life, typically via use of various mechanisms that imitate movement, sensory organs or other living functions. These devices function normally for one Scene unless otherwise noted, then require 1 Requirement to function again - or 2, if you don't know Takwin. Examples include, but are not limited to:
Long-Distance Amplifying Lens: A device that allows the wearer to perceive otherwise un-noticeable details. For as long as you have clear line of sight, you can see perfectly out to a mile's distance, and if you make a Risk that relies heavily on vision, you get a bonus die if using the device.
Underwater Breathing Apparatus: A device that mimics the function of gills, allowing you to breathe underwater as if it were air for one Scene.
Night Vision Detector: A device that imitates certain animal eyes, allowing you to detect solid objects in your vicinity out to 60 feet in every direction, no matter how much light is present.
Mechanical Arm: A device that functions as an arm. It straps to the body and can hold any one object indefinitely in its hand, which does not require a Raise to activate. It can do anything else an arm can. You may take a single action using the arm as if you had spent a Raise without actually spending one, but if you do, the arm ceases function afterwards. Preparing this decice needs 1 Requirement.
Simple Construct: A device that imitates the behavior and movements of one small creature. It can be commanded to attack, carry, defend, fetch, follow, guard, go to and seek. If it must do anything that'd require a Risk, it rolls 4 dice. If it takes 4 or more Wounds, it is damaged and must be repaired before it can function again. Preparing this device needs 2 Requirements.

The Magna Opera, meanwhile, are greater works. The Juvenilia are powerful, but they are diversions. The Magna Opera are the goals. To complete a Magnum Opus, you must make a five-Step Story, with the Reward depending on your vision for Alquimia. It can be any range of effects, but will supersede the power of the Juvenilia, such as making a reagent that can embody or violate a natural law, allow you to use a Juvenilia's effect freely without a Raise, make mixtures not subject to the normal carrying limits, make items that are permanent and need no ongoing maintenance, or even discover a new Juvenilia. Typical goals for Boticarios include Chrysopoeia, the conversion of lead to gold, which may have Stories ending with the discovery of a philosopher's stone that can only be used once, ever, or the discovery of a new alchemical material never before seen, or a secret that embraces reality as it is rather than changing it. Panacea, the preservation and extension of life, which might have a Story where you create a cure to many diseases at the cost of making an incurable disease by accident, the secret to unaging youth (which is now sought out by others that want to learn or steal it), or a cure to all disease and infirmity (that must now be kept out of the wrong hands). The last common goal is Alkahest, the universal solvent that can dissolve literally any substance and might reveal the prima materia, the origin of all material existence. This might result in Stories of terrible disfigurement but a potent solvent, a creation of the alkahest that gets stolen by a villainous apprentice, or a potent dissolvent that isn't quite the alkahest.

Next time: Castillian dueling.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Dance

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Dance

Dueling in Castille is a spectacle. Regardless of if it's sport or dispute, Castillian Duelists have a strong sense of showmanship, and every year, Castille holds el Festival de la Espada, the Festival of the Sword, though it is more commonly called el Baile, the Dance. It happens in Odiseo, at O Castelo no Penhasco, the Castle on the Cliff, which is an old castle along the coast that spends much of the year empty, save for the five festival days.

The first day is a day of gathering. There are no scheduled events, but most attendees make a point of heading out to meet others that seem interesting. All dueling on the first day is strictly forbidden, and breaking that rule results in expulsion from the festival. Travelers spend the day arriving and drinking fine wines. None of the shops are open yet, but the wine stores and eateries are. Many duelists use the time to boast about their skills and tell stories long into the night.

The second day resembles many festivals. Vendors and merchants set up all over the grounds, from Castille and beyond. They sell foods of all kinds, and some of the best swords ever made. Many duelists come to the festival to show off new styles, or to seek a student or trainer, and the second day is full of dueling exhibitions. Swordsmiths from across the land come to sell their wares, sometimes spending the entire year to make one masterpiece blade for el Baile. Many duelists come for the sole purpose of buying a weapon, and do not even participate in the dueling festivities on later days.

At the start of the third day, the former year's champion receives 19 favor tokens to distribute. The rest of the day is a grand exhibition of skill, and the champion may freely give the tokens to any duelist they choose. Receiving a token, however, means you must defend it. Anyone who has a token must answer any challenge as long as they have it, risking it in a duel to first blood. Whoever wins that duel gets the token, with all accompanying rules, and yes, sometimes people will deliberately lose a duel for the token to pass it on to a friend. At the end of the day, anyone holding a token is entered into the next day's tournament. Loss of a token isn't a total failure, however, as various other prizes are awarded on day 3 as well, including la Joven Promesa (best newcomer), el mas Bravo (most courageous), el mas Cortes (most gracious, for whoever shows greatest hospitality in victory or defeat, and el Noble (most knightly. for whoever most captures the crowd's heart with daring and coolness).

Day four is the tournament. The nineteen favor holders and the defending champion enter a highly structured dueling tournament, with the last one standing being named la Espada de Castille and earning the honor to be the one handing out favors the next year. They are carried by the crowd through a shower of many-colored rose petals to the castle's throne room, where they are crowned, and for the rest of the day, they are treated like royalty.

The final day is host to the unique ceremony, el Baile del Toro, the dance of the bull. While the rest of the tournament is primarily about swords, this is where the festival's unofficial name comes from. A bull is released in the courtyard, and three toreros (bull dancers) show their mastery, each armed with a vara and an ornate costume. The vara is a cylindrical stick about two feet long, heavily decorated and bejeweled. The toreros take turns using their vara to grab a horn of the bull and flip around it. This continues until either the bull is exhausted or the toreros are rendered unable to complete the dance. Many train all year for the event, though injuries are not uncommon anyway. If the bull defeats all the toreros, it earns its freedom. Otherwise, it is placed on a large pillow and feted with treats and affection in thanks, then taken to the local butcher for a feast at the end of the day. Legend has it that the bull's meat grants virility and long life to those that eat of it.

Toreros are traditionally trained in the Siqueira style to control the bull. Some say the style originated with shepherds fighting wolves and bulls, and it is traditionally practiced with the vara to control the target by enraging them. The duelist tries to anger the foe by poking them with the stick or even insulting them, then getting the target to charge. During the charge, the duelist moves aside and strikes the flank, then makes distance. The goal is to keep the foe away and force them to come to you, so you can control the duel. It can be used with just about any large stick, though, not just a vara. While armed with a quarterstaff or large cudgel, you can use the Tomar al Toro Por las Astas Maneuver. When you do this, you apply Pressure to the foe regarding any action other than dealing Wounds to you by any means available to them. If your target does choose to attack you, you automatically deal (Finesse) Wounds to them when they do. You may use this once per round.

Next time: Leyendas

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Maestre

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Maestre

Just about everywhere in Castille, down to the smallest hamlet, has leyendas - the sheer diversity of the nation's people and the many invasion have spawned so many folktales that they're everywhere. One says that, long ago, a powerful warrior fought several wars to defend her Grande, and she was so great at this that she became known as Maestre de Campo, the Battlefield Master. Due to her loyal defense, her Grande grew strong and powerful. After many years, however, he died and his daughter succeeded him. She had always been jealous of the Maestre de Campo, and so her first edict was to strip the woman of her lands and titles, sending her into exile on pain of death if she ever returned. Many feared for the kingdom, but the Maestre behaved honorably - she left without protest. When news came, of course, the old Grande's enemies struck, and this time, there was no Battlefield Master to defend the land. The new Grande, having lost her husband and nearly died herself, offered a full pardon and great reward to the old Maestre if she would return. The Maestre did, but refused the reward, leaving again as soon as the lands were safe. To this day, the name of the Grande has been forgotten for her foolishness, but the deeds of the Battlefield Master are spoken of still as a cautionary tale.

The story is, of course, an inspiration to loyalty, honor and resolve - all great virtues of the Castillians. However, beyond this, there may be something magical behind it. Some tales speak of battles nearly lost, when a figure all in black appears, fighting with unmatchable grace and will. Others speak of a mysterious figure in black saving them from bandits or outlaws. Some whisper that El Vagabundo is, in fact, inspired by the Maestre de Campo's tradition, as a way to protect the people against those who would abuse their power.

Then there's the anjanas, spoken of wherever people live by water, especially rivers. These creatures dwell wherever pure water is found, and are described as slender, delicate and often walking or floating along forest paths or riverbanks. They are usually, but not always, described as female, though likely more because of how willowy they are than anything else, for all agree that they are not of this world. Others say they are tiny, winged beings the size of a flower. The tales of what they do are no less contradictory. Some speak of the anjanas rescuing them from danger, while others speak of being robbed by them or even having their children kidnapped. Others say they cannot be touched, while yet more say that they can, and indeed can have children with humans. Just about everyone knows someone who knows someone who's run into an anjanas, and the stories rarely match up in any way. The primary consensus is that anjanas are dangerous, worth avoiding, but are not always hostile. Some are foolish and even try to capture them, of course, but that's little spoken of.

The truth is...that they're all true, sort of. The word 'anjanas' actually refers to two types of being, you see - the anjanas and their foes, the ojancanas. The anjanas are responsible for all the tales of good fortune and help, saving mortals from drowning, helping those in need and even granting wealth. The ojancanas are the ones that cause problems and mischief, seeing mortals as playthings to abuse or kill if they feel like it. They don't consider this murder, for the ojancanas are descendants of anjanas that were, themselves, abused by mortals, and when an anjanas uses their magic to abuse others, they become an ojancanas. Most anjanas prefer to treat mortals fairly, but if a mortal tricks them into using their powers solely for his benefit, than the anjanas becomes corrupted into an ojancanas, which only bolsters their hateful and cruel natures. Anjanas are unlikely to attack people, but are Strength 5, Shapeshifting and Winged. Ojancanas are Strength 5, Fearsome and Winged.

The Estantigua, the Ancient Host, is a common belief in most of Castille. The stories differ by town and city, but some things are shared. The Ancient Host is said to be a procession of dead souls, possibly in torment, who cross a village at midnight, guided by a cursed (but living) man or woman. Many argue what the purpose is. Some say it helps the dead find rest, while others say they mark the houses of those who will join their ranks. When asked, the living leader of the Estantigua never remembers their nightly work. Some say that those who lead the Host too long become more dead than alive, turning pale and sickly. Others say the curse is only passed on to another living person while leading the dead, taking the form of a cauldron appearing in the new leader's bedroom.

One consequence of the Estantigua leyenda is that people in Castille rarely go out late at night, especially after midnight. Those forced to do so have several things they can do that, folklore says, will prevent the curse. For example, you might lay face down while the Estantigua pass, draw a protective circle in salt or chalk, or do various warding gestures, most famously the horns. (Yes, the metal ones.) The main issue with all this is that, besides the living leader, the Host is entirely invisible and inaudible, sensed only as a sudden chill or shudder as they pass, a sudden silence, or the sound of a bell tolling over dog barks. Thus, most who go out by night do so in numbers, avoiding lone figures. Those who are seen to lead the Estantigua are shunned, as are those marked by the procession. This mark is performed by the living leader circling a house three times, from west to east. The people within that house will be shunned until someone dies. The Estantigua, if fought, are a Strength 10 Unliving Monster Squad. Their leader is a normal person, kept enthralled by the group and moving under their direction. The leader will not respond to any stimuli until the night ends or the Host are destroyed.

Brujeria, or witchcraft, is often blamed for bad luck in Castille, and not always wrongly. By conventional wisdom, a bruja is a woman who has traded her virtue and soul for great power. The source varies by story and place, but all agree that brujas are to be feared and avoided. Thus, the people will shun any place identified as the home of a bruja or their gathering place, often at all costs. The powers of the bruja are broadly divided by leyendas into two types - mal de ojo, or curses, and amuletos, or blessings. Mal de ojo are performed by brewing potions, turning into animals, all the standard witch stuff. The most feared of these is the aojar, the evil eye - a curse laid on infants or children related to someone that angered a bruja. Thus, most children wear at least one piece of red clothing at any time, or wear their underwear inside out, or both - these practices are said to protect against most evil curses of the brujas. Amuleto or fetichismo is related to good brujeria, typically in the form of amulets or talismans made by a bruja to protect against brujeria. These objects are highly valued, extremely expensive and usually passed down in families. They can take any form - collars, earrings, weapons - and can only be used effectively either by the original recipient or by one who received it as a true gift from them.

Most women that live alone in modern Castille, especially old widows or the unmarried, are feared to be brujas. Most of these are just lonely people with tragic pasts and bad tempers, living in isolation and rarely going out. They have no powers and perform no wicked deeds. 90% of stories of brujas are just stories, in fact, to entertain or to teach children proper fear and respect. However, the other 10% are very real and very dangerous. Brujas do gain terrible power for service to an otherworldly being. What that service entails varies by what the master is, but all involve submission to the master's will. Real brujas know the folklore and profit off it, however. Typically, when people get accused of being bruja, the real bruja is among the accusers - especially if they are men. Brujeria is equally usable by both men and women - all you need to do is submit to the will and desire of something from beyond the world. Real bruja tend to be unnaturally long-lived, can turn into animals or other people, and tend to cause chaos. They are extremely formidable, but their real power lies not in their abilities, but in their extreme guile and subtlety.

A bruja avoids revealing themself at nearly any cost short of death. They will lie, trick and mislead if possible, and if that doesn't work, they will try to turn the community against their foes. Only when these fail will they turn to using their magic powers. Brujas are always Villains. Always. Period. They very in Strength, but always have Sorcery. Their powers can mimic such sorceries as Glamour, Dar Matushki or Sanderis most often, and they usually have monsters serving them from among their demonic allies, for a group of demonic minions with total Strength no more than twice their Influence.

But why, you ask, do the brujas go to such lengths to hide? The reason is that their ability to speak to and get power from their masters is bound to specific geography, called aquelarres, or covens. The term roughly means 'meadow of the male goat,' as the male goat is often associated with brujeria and the primordial forces the brujas serve. Aquelarre refers both to the gathering of brujas at a place of power and the place itself. While popular legend names many aquelarres, the truth is that they're rather rare, unholy places guarded by powerful magic, and so very difficult to locate. That's why most brujas hide their secrets so dearly - once revealed, they'd have to leave their home, and that would mean abandoning their place of power as well and needing to find a new place that they can communicate with their masters from, which usually means bargaining with or subordinating themselves to another bruja, for they are very jealous people by and large.

The Burlador, or Mocker, is a leyenda of a man who had no soul, and thus no care for morals or rules. Some say he was not of this world, others that he was the son of an evil creature. Most other Theans find the entire story ridiculous, but it is common knowledge in Castille. The tale goes that the Burlador enchants various people, forcing them to sin against each other, betray their vows and responsibilities and so on. All of these victims are believed to have been enchanted by brujeria, but the truth is that the actual Burlador had no magic - he was just very charismatic and a sociopath. It is said that the Burlador disturbed people with impunity for so long, that when confronted by a lord, he just smiled and said that only when Death came to dine with him would he ask her forgiveness. ...so she did. When Death came to him as a stony figure, demanding he pay, he first tried to seduce her. When this failed, he knew fear for the first time, trying to force her to leave. When this also failed, he knew he could not succeed at all, and at long last, he begged forgiveness for his wicked deeds, asking for time to atone. Death, at last, smiled - and denied him, taking him with her into the afterlife.

The morality tale this represents has become increasingly relevant to modern Castille. After decades of war, infighting and the Inquisition, most common folk believe that the time for payback is coming. This is why they endure so many difficulties with a tenacity few others ever dream of. They know that, sooner or later, Death comes for all, and she does not grant pardons. She just does her job, taking with her all sinners, judging them for their deeds. Most treat the story as mere folklore, but the elders caution against this, for the tale is old and true, even if it didn't really happen. The young tend to ignore them - at least until Death comes to claim them herself.

Next time: Montaigne

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - HELL FRANCE

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - HELL FRANCE

Montaigne appears to outsiders as a hub of culture, art, fashion and high society. And, indeed, it is that. However, the courts of Montaigne are only a very small proportion of the nation's population. The rest, the dispossessed lesser nobles and the impoverished peasants, are its backbone, and they are crumbling. The nobles live the high life at their expense, using courtly intrigue and l'Empereur's favor to mark themselves as special, given that so many have no land or title. The peasants are exhausted by war, abused, excommunicated. They are on the verge of rebellion. Corruption is rampant, and the catastrophic failure of the Castillian invasion is constantly lauded as a great success. The number of young dead from the war will cause a population crisis within the decade. The people are at a breaking point, smuggling Vaticine symbols into their homes and looking at the Sarmatians enviously, and even the Eisen, who seem to need no leaders, and the Ussurans, who at least get to elect them.

The wars have ravaged the Montaigne people, and no one's even sure why l'Empereur decided to invade Castille. Some speculate that he has arms deals with the Vendel, getting a sizable kickback for weapons purchased, and certainly the League sold arms to both sides heavily. It'd also explain l'Empereur publically sending his son-in-law to Ussura to lead troops and the discussions of an Ussuran war. However, any profit made on the wars has not been matched for the nation's people. The corruption in the nobility is rampant, and even minor nobles are starting to sympathize with the common people. The poor are starving, making do with feeble leftovers, and the nobles are losing the labor that keeps up the land, with a generation lost to war. It is the wealthiest it's ever been, but that won't matter soon. L'Empereur has been offering incentives to join the military, giving noble title to any that serve for at least two years. The nobles are unsure how to deal with this as they watch their peasants give up toil to gain minor nobility. Without workers, they'll have to till their own fields to get food, and yet most nobles also seek glory, and so the fields have gone fallow.

Let's talk about Leon Alexandre XIV de Montaigne, l'Empereur du Monde, Roi de Montaigne, Soleil de Montaigne, the last male heir of his line, and king for the past fifty years. He's a narcissist, a decadent egotist, and a symbol of all of Montaigne's problems. When he isn't meeting with the Dukes or his ministers, he is constantly partying. He's become jaded, seeking constant gratification, but he's got no qualms about just ridding himself of anyone he dislikes, though he prefers exile to murder most of the time. He sometimes goes into rages for no reason, and then only his wife and daughters are safe. The nobles work to impress him without ever insulting or offending him, and the only pattern that is clear is that he has no patience for incompetence or disappointment. Some call him mad behind his back; he doesn't care, allowing them to underestimate him. Unpredictability and misdirection are tools for him. He considers none of his daughters to be a fitting successor, and while he cares for them, he wants another child soon, hoping that the next one will be a Porte sorcier, and thus fit to inherit the throne. His youngest daughter, Dominique, is easily his favorite. However, long ago, he promises his eldest, Louise, that she could have the throne if she'd marry a sorcier or have one as a child. So far, she has not done either, and Leon Alexandre is the last of his line to have the magic - which has been waning in him the past few years. The Empereur relies on delegation to handle most of Montaigne's day to day work, and when he sees a problem, he picks someone to solve it and gives them carte blanche to do whatever they need. The carte blanche is a thick, white parchment bearing his seal, signature and enough space to write in anything required. However, abuse of this power often leads to execution for the abuser.

L'Empereur's decisions are generally based on what is reported to him, so many Dukes have taken to omitting some problems in hopes of solving them before l'Empereur has to know they exist. Most recently, false reports of plague have been covering up a violent uprising among the peasants of Dechaine, though the king already knows that it's a lie, thanks to his spies. He wants to see how far the Duke of Dechaine will go to deal with it. His goals are simple - rule Montaigne and elevate it over all others. To do so, he must have control of every decision that affects the nation as a whole, and so he uses his spies to stay informed of anything that interests him. Once, he was a powerful Porte sorcier, but his power has weakened over the years. Marquise Jeannette de Claire is trying to win his favor by secretly feeding him the blood of other sorciers; the rest of the court is horrified (if intrigued) and no one dares speak up, but nearly everyon wants it to stop. Leon Alexandre is firmly a Villain, but one of many moods, jovial and threatening both. He loves to meet new people at parties, and is always looking for good problem solvers. He acts as a god among men, and rewards those that reinforce this feeling, who bow and scrape and worship. He socially destroys those that question that. It should be noted that he explicitly encourages the idea that he's a caricature and fool - it makes his enemies underestimate him. He's still an egotist and a narcissist, but he's not nearly as stupid as he appears at first.

Morella Alouse Giacinni is l'Empereur's third and current wife, a Vodacce Sorte strega. She is polite, sweet, sincere and proper, but few trust her due to her power and her subtle manipulations. She uses this fear for her own ends, playing the court without any fear of repercussions. She curses and poisons her husband's foes, when public shows of force are not appropriate, and she works to use fate to aid her husband and his proteges, granting luck to those with the king's favor. She is perfectly suited to be the wicked wife of the King, and while they each have affairs, they deeply love one another. Morella knows her husband intimately, and he her. They work in tandem, never competing and, indeed, barely needing to compare notes or even spend time together to know each other's moves. She spends much of her time resting in her cottage or gardens while he parties. Morella appears uninterested in intrigue, yet is always well-informed, and some say she has spies everywhere in the palace. If so, they are very loyal, as no one has ever claimed to be one or gotten caught in the act of spying. She and her husband exchange love letters each day, and while the Rilasciare and other groups have tried to decode the poems and double entendres within, they have always failed. This is because there is no code - the letters are, in fact, just exchanges of passion and adoration for each other. Morella speaks in vagaries and questions most of the time, which allows her to never actually lie. She is also, in secret, a Vodacce loyalist, who sends regular reports back to her family. These are encoded, and contain much information about Montaigne's hidden politics.

Dominique du Montaigne is the only child of Morella and l'Empereur, the youngest of his nine daughters. Like her sisters, she has no Porte magic, and therefore her father does not consider her a worthy heir. Women are not prevented from inheritance of land or title in Montaigne - he just really wants a sorcier on the throne. Most of Dominique's sisters are uninterested in rule anyway, having either settled in Castille, where their mother was from, or retired to manage their own estates, with the exception of Louise du Montaigne, who desperately wants to rule and will do just about anything to do so, including removing Dominique from the picture. Morella wants her daughter on the throne and actively works towards that end, but she refuses to act behind her husband's back and instead wants him to name Dominique as heir. Dominique's relationship with her father is rather strained; he has distanced himself from her and no longer seems to love her as he once did, which has broken her heart. She gets on quite well with her mother, though. In fact, Dominique, Morella and Dominique's husband, Montegue, are the only ones to know that while Dominique is no sorcier, she is a very skilled Sorte strega. Dominique is an intelligent and cunning woman...and, despite her parentage, very kind. She actually does care about the peasants as well as the nobles. She's as good at Montaigne politics as anyone, using her magic to secretly empower those she considers worthy and to curse those who overstep. While l'Empereur has worked to estrange her, she remains one of the few people able to really get under his skin and push him to action.

Next time: Less royal people.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Middle Management

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Middle Management

Louise Marie-Francoise de Beaufort was made Chief Administrator of the Chateau de la Vie as an insult last year due to her slighting the king. He expected her to retire to the job, cowed, like every administrator before her. In fact, she has brought more change to the place in a year than it's seen in decades. She works closely with the old administrator, Colonel Francois de Chambord, who's been helping her network, and is close friends with the captains and instructors at the Musketeer Academy, so she stays informed of their work. She now has final say in all royal pardons and punishments in all judicial matters, with only l'Empereur able to overrule her. However, she's been trying to avoid attention because of the reforms she wants to instate. She wants to save Montaigne - she's seen the chaos building and thinks she's best placed to stop it. First, she needs to overhaul the corrupt judiciary, and then she has to increase the power, ability and influence of the Musketeers. This means she's going to have to limit the operations that oppress the peasantry and increasing their involvement in actually upholding justice. She intends to outlast the corruption and lay in a foundation for power from nobility of character rather than bloodline. She is a pleasant, polite woman who dresses pretty masculine and, while young, is an excellent judge of character. She rarely calls out lies, but instead works to force people into corners so they must expose their own lies.

Maurice de Thoulieu is the Ministre de la Culture, head of the only (and famously) incorruptible ministry in the Montaignois government. He is a small, witty man with a taste for progressiveness in art. He and the Ministry of Culture, which does have a small squad of armed soldiers, carefully control the art and performances made in Montaigne, both for l'Empereur and his own reputation. Artists must apply for permits to perform or display their works, even street performers, and the ministry does launch sting operations on unlicensed performers. They forbid anything that might insult or harm the Empereur's reputation, and Maurice only ever hires the most loyal officials. Thoulieu is an honest man who is deeply loyal to this king, and he does not take bribes. Ever. The Ministry never falsely accuses an artist, nor do they ever spare someone who does commit what they consider art crimes. Thoulieu is extremely cultured and the height of fashion; he looks down on the masses in disdain and frustration, and while he does not chastise others for fashion faux pases, he does judge them, along with word choice and speech patterns. He is, in fact, so good at this that he can deduce your nation of origin and much about your past just from how you speak. He is a historian and knows quite a lot about Montaigne's past, and he thinks himself superior to all but the royal family.

Yvonne de Gineston, Marquise of Batonnier, has ruled her land since the end of the War of the Cross. Her city is only a little smaller than Buche and was the ancestral capital of Valdoc before that land was given to Buche as a reward for something no one remembers. Gineston has never forgiven l'Empereur for that, but has not been able to get Batonnier made the seat of Valdoc again, as the Council of Marquises blocks her petitions. This has changed the direction of her plans. Raymond de Taulose is the current Duke of Valdoc, but due to an obscure law, the Marquises of the are actually vote in a new duke every five years. L'Empereur can veto, but he allows the tradition because it amuses him. Gineston is now campaigning for the position, primarily by lies and deceit. She knows Taulouse has been promising bribes and trade deals for votes, and she has been undermining him every step of the way, arranging for his promises to fail or fall short. She's approached the others, making her case and promising wealth if they vote for her, and has even made a good impression on the king. She has made sure Taulouse is aware of this, to make him treat her as a threat. She hopes to, eventually, replace him as Marquise of Buche as well, giving her majority control of the council and sealing her power in Valdoc. Taulouse has lost two of his three children, and while there is no evidence of it, Yvonne had a hand in both deaths. She's allowed the youngest son to live because she thinks he's a good husband candidate to further her plans. She considers l'Empereur an idiot and hopes, eventually, to split northern Montaigne from southern Montaigne, with herself ruling the north. She is an austere woman who dresses in the conservative Valdoc fashions, often coming off as uptight in public. In private, she is friendlier and nicer, though that's partially an act, too. She is not well known outside of Valdoc.

Marquise Sidonie du Carre is a cruel, controlling tyrant, an elderly woman given command of the Castillian city of Altamira. She is very upfront about her plans: protect Montaigne's interests in Castille, which at the moment means rescuing troops cut off from supply lines. Beyond her straightforward nature, she is extremely flawed as a ruler. Her cruelty goes far beyond her goals' needs, and she takes pride in making everyone around her miserable. She has her right-hand man, Marechal Pointu, kill anyone that dares defy her. The elderly Grande of Altamira and his children are her prisoners, subject to her petty cruelty whenever she gets bored. However, the Grande's son Gabriel has, unknown to her, been trying to get in contact with the outside, at risk to his own life, to get the help his family sorely needs. He wants to get his father and sisters out, but only if he can make sure they do so safely. Sidonie despises Castille and its people, but she loves Altamira for being a playground for her. It's the first time she's had such complete control, largely thanks to Pointu, who obeys her without question. Without him, her tiny empire would collapse, and she knows it. She is pleasant and polite with Montaignois dignitaries; everyone else is either undesirable or useless. She has no patience for either. She becomes very petty when things go wrong, losing her normal calm demeanor and facade of approachability.

Eve Lafrisse is Charouse's greatest assassin. She began as a 15-year-old jenny, and may have stayed that way if not for her brother, Arnault. He was a sickly child, who needed expensive medicine, and most jenny houses didn't want the kid hanging around, so Eve bounced from house to house to keep him safe. In her final house, a drunk and abusive customer killed Arnault, and in her rage, Eve overpowered him, tortured him and killed him - and quickly realized she had a talent for it. It pays better than being a jenny, too. She quickly built her own crew and reputation, and now runs a lot of the crime in the city. She has more money than many nobles, but she still needs more. She regularly bribes the judges and lawyers to stay safe, and she gathers blackmail on any noble she can. Many owe her a debt and are happy to be her spies in court. She's very good at business and has a tendency to kill traitors. People around her often assume she's less ruthless than she lets on, which is false, and she's got no idea why people keep thinking it. She still does her own wetwork if hired to do so, though the price is very steep. She can be very charming, and usually acts like she knows more than actually she does.

Francois DeGaulle is a favorite at court, first son of a duke and possibly second cousin of l'Empereur. Some even think he will be made heir to the throne, especially given his Porte strength. DeGaulle has no real interest in being king, however. It doesn't help that he had a small affair with Dominique and wants her to inherit the throne, or that his best friend is her husband, Montegue, who he is certain is not, in fact, in Ussura, where l'Empereur claims. He's usually far more interested in cave-diving for ruins and occult artifacts than in romance, and he studies books on Porte and magic in general any chance he can. He keeps most of his knowledge secret, save from Montegue...who has somehow shed the Blood Mark DeGaulle placed on him years ago, which Francois finds very worrying. He is a personable enough man, but often comes off as distracted or disinterested due to his secretive nature and occult studies.

Ragnar Odinsson is a local legend around the Lock-Horn Forest near Pierre-Percee. He has many stories - he was a drachen slayer, killing the last one centuries ago. He died and visited the Great Hall of the Vesten, but his friends brought him back. He drinks from an ever-full silver mead flagon, but shares it only with those he names friend. He has great fortunes that he shares with the worthy. Many assume he is long gone if he ever existed, that his tales are grossly exaggerated. They are wrong. Ragnar is now very, very old, but alive. He is fearless, but deeply sorrowed by a too-long life and seeing his own line largely extinguished. He goes by the name Vieux Gerard, an authority on the Treasure O'Roorke and tales of Ragnar's life. People say they are tall tales, but they are true - even the one where he stole a king's son after bringing the boy back from the dead, or when he sailed to the skies, or when he died fighting a drachen and returned. Every so often, he gives a worthy treasure hunter enough clues to find a piece of his great fortune, one chest at a time. He wants to bring them the same adventurous spirit he had in youth, and eventually to find someone worthy and able to end his life. He's still got a sense of humor about it, but he desperately wants to die. He avoids politics and hates any scheme more complex than a practical joke. It is unclear how this old damn viking managed to survive so long, and his mood shifts easily and quickly.

Next time: Even more people.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Hail The Musketeers

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Hail The Musketeers

General Pardie Soussens is tired of war. She doesn't like violence much any more, and were she not a general she'd have deserted a long time ago. It's not that she's afraid of death in battle - she isn't. Indeed, it was her foolish bravery early in the Castillian war that got her her rank. The problem is that the war has eroded her youthful enthusiasm and her willingness to harm others, no matter who they are. Her once red hair has gone white now, and her face is harsh from her bitter sorrow. For the last few months, she's been working hard to rebuild the Montaignois army to better support the supply lines in the retreat from Castille, though the troops remained stressed, underfed and overworked. She works closely with the navy to reassign troops to maritime fighting, and desperately wishes that she, too, could get a new start. However, she has a lot on her plate thanks to l'Empereur's strategic incompetence. The local Duke has asked her to retake Dechaine, and she's learned that there was no plague there - there was a rebellion against the nobles. Now, she's unsure what to do. It breaks her heart to see the soldiers suffering, to see the Montaignois people suffering, and she knows her actions are being watched carefully. She has to mobilize her men, to send them to fight again - against the very people they came from, who have dared to rise up against tyranny. But if she hesitates, she will be called a traitor and killed. She is not ready for this at all, especially since she has no family and, instead, sees her command as her family. She has no interest in schemes or politics except if they'll save lives, and has always favored a direct approach, despite being a master strategist.

The Musketeers are the elites of Montaigne's military, the most loyal, brave and honorable soldiers...yet all of them are nobles, handpicked by nobles, and so their ranks are unintentionally filled to the brim by privilege. They date back to the early years of the War of the Cross, when a group of soldiers held the line against Castille for 30 days, losing tons of men, until at last only two units were left - and won. Their sheer ferocity convinced the Castillians that reinforcements had come, driving them into retreat. When those two units returned, l'Empereur renamed them the Musketeers, giving them leave to recruit the best of the best. He pulled several of them to join la Garde Lumineuse, the Lightning Guard - his personal bodyguards. Three of those original Musketeers are still members. At first, the unit took commoners and nobles alike, but as the years went on, fewer peasant soldiers had the training to keep up with the elite force, and because each year, Musketeers retire and are replaced, only the best trained get in. Those are the nobles now, and so the unit fills with nobles. The young Musketeers claim not to care about noble birth, and always treat the commoners that are their elders in the unit with great respect, at least.

The loyal Musketeers often serve as bodyguards to nobles as well as Lightning Guardsmen, and while the order is capped at a thousand members, they have a saying - once a Musketeer, always a Musketeer. Even if you're retired, you're one of them for life. They are beloved even by the peasantry, despite their bias to nobility, and they are trusted to enforce justice far more than, say, the city guards. They are welcome and trusted everywhere, and usually asked to deal with any local problems, even in the poorest areas, which hate l'Empereur most. Their renowned loyalty has been causing them moral quandaries lately, though. They love their nation and want to defend its people, but they take actions that improve the lot of their corrupt king. Balancing honor and duty isn't easy for them - that much is clear among their leaders. Guillame Houbleton, Lieutenant-Captain of the unit, strictly enforces the law and l'Empereur's policies, but also protects the people from those laws. His second in command, however, former army corporal Julien Reinette, has no trouble with supporting l'Empereur's more abusive powers and often sends Musketeers to protect disliked nobles.

Musketeers follow orders, but cannot be asked to do so unquestioningly. After all, their devotion to honor and justice is part of why they get picked to join. They'd die for their king...but they'd also die for the peasants they defend. They may see l'Empereur as oppressive, but are sworn to protect him, even assist his regime. Musketeers must decide what they will do - and some retire early, while others try to put the people first, justifying their actions as protecting the king from himself. Many Musketeers follow this attitude, often assisting Louiselle Marie-Francoise de Beaufort in her efforts to cleanse Montaigne of corruption. Their main efforts involve keeping Houbleton in charge and getting Reinette to retire. However, several elder Musketeers favor Reinette's philosophy of following the law to the direct letter, and this is leading to some rifts.

Cedric Beadoux was an orphan from Crieux who worked odd jobs and stole to survive. He eventually joined a street gang, learning better thieving skills, and soon took over the gang. He insisted that gang learn to use real weapons, watching the guards train for tips. They were hired to collect on a debt at one point...and when the debtor pulled a knife, Cedric killed him. It changed him. He swore, after that, never to kill again, but he couldn't just abandon his gang that easily. He became distracted and sloppy as the guilt ate him alive. His life changed again when he tried to pick the pocket of a Knight of the Rose and Cross, but rather than getting sent to jail, the knight offered him a chance to be a better person and become his squire. Cedric jumped at the opportunity, and served under Sir Babineaux for ten years, honing his fencing and trying to right the wrong he'd done in youth. Last year, he was sponsored as a full knight, which surprised Cedric, who never thought himself worthy. He's very proud of his new tabard and almost never removes it. He's polite and quick-witted, but wary of strangers unless they seem to need his help.

Sigsvald is a native Vesten and a legend in Altamira as the owner of the only mead hall in the city, the Troll's Beard. Also, he's a master brewer and storyteller, and he built the hall with his own two hands. He was a raider in his youth, and he can tell a story for every scar on his body. He left the raiding to work under Brewmaster Skard, however, when the man offered his entire crew an experimental mead as reward for stealing a shipment of Numanari honey. He began helping out around the brewery, eventually becoming a master despite never being a formal apprentice - which meant the Vendel League couldn't accept him as successor for the Guild of Brewers, as they'd never actually heard of him until he was made a master. He retired to Altamira after spending a few years fighting for it, and he sees the place as his true home. He's very unhappy about the occupation, and uses his mead hall as a safe refuge for Castillians looking to leave. No one bothers him, even the Marquise, though she tried at first. She gave up after he put her and her guards in their place, and is now given a wide berth. The Troll's Beard is home to the finest mead anyway outside Skard's own Vendel brewery, specializing in light and fruity meads, with some sparkling variants that are excellent. One of the tables in the bar is covered in runes, and anything that happens at it seems to be more daring, epic and grand.

Renee Martin was a rural peasant. Her family did fairly well, for peasants - not a lot of money, but enough to eat. Her elder brother died of a wasting disease when she was a baby, and her two younger siblings died in the Castillian invasion. Renee did not. She and her siblings, all no more than a year apart, joined up together in the second year of the war. The other two were probably too young to fight, but Renee excelled. In her first skirmish, she was the only recruit in her unit to attack rather than freezing up or fleeing. She was moved from unit to unit, often with few other survivors after an assignment. By the end, she was a commander, and had a unit of her own to lead. When she came home, she was a changed woman. She knew the glory of victory and the harshness of war, and she quickly took the test to join the Musketeers, passing with flying colors. She is one of the few non-noble Musketeers, and the only one that's young. She works hard to prove herself to the others, though if they notice the difference, they don't say so to her face. There are a few that bully and mock her, but she weathers it without a word, just pushing herself to be better. She finds them irritating - she just hates showing it. She isn't the strongest fighter, but rather focuses on speed and flexibility, and in dealing with others, she is a down-to-earth, plain-spoken woman. She genuinely believes in the Musketeers and Montaigne.

Next time: Secret societies in Montaigne

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - What If Los Vagabundos...But FRENCH?

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - What If Los Vagabundos...But FRENCH?

The Brotherhood of the Coast are very active south of La Motte, often raiding Vesten merchants trying to avoid the Montaigne luxury tax. Die Kreuzritter do not have many members in Montaigne, but all the ones that are know each other by name and reputation. They trade information when they can, and have finally learned about le Diable du Sommet, the Devil of the Summit. They're likely to organize a hunt in the nearish future, once they can gather more information on the creature and why it seems to return after being beaten. The Explorer's Society have many clubhouses, libraries and collections in Montaigne, funded by the elites. There's a lot of work to do, too, such as getting access to the many churches turned into museums by the nobles, though that's been made more difficult by the clergy smuggling artifacts and reliquaries out of the nation to keep them away from the greedy nobility. The Society has yet to be able to get much access to the restricted parts of La Grande Cathedrale in Charouse, besides a standard polite tour. It has many artifacts they'd love to study and papers they want access to.

Mociutes Skara has recently heard about all kinds of conflict and possible plague in Dechaine, and while the plague rumors may be exaggerated, those people need help. It is unclear whether they will be going to stop a civil war or cure a disease, but either way they're likely to butt heads with the Rilasciare. The Invisible College have been quite busy in Montaigne, as the Inquisition is very weak there. Buche is their central headquarters in the nation, working to find placement for various Vaticine scholars in the universities. They are also active in Charouse's military colleges. They would love access to La Grande Cathedrale's texts, too, which may be a problem if they have to compete with the Explorers for them. Los Vagabundos have a lot to do in Montaigne, given the sheer number of nobles to assess and either protect or defeat. Further, they seek to free Altamira from Montaigne control and rescue the captive Grande and his family, though so far security's been too tight even for an attempt. Helping a worthy noble gain power in Montaigne is worth 5 Favor, and freeing the noble family of Altamira would be worth 12 Favor.

The Rilasciare may or may not have had a hand in the expulsion of the Vaticine from Montaigne; it doesn't really matter if they did. What matters is that the expulsion has emboldened l'Empereur and the nobles, and that l'Empereur is an absolute monarch. The Rilasciare have had to infiltrate the Montaigne government on every level. A few months ago, they pulled agents to the cell in Dechaine. The revolution there may have occurred on its own eventually, but the Rilasciare accelerated it, first by intensifying the negative effects of l'Empereur's rule and then by educating the populace and rousing them to action in the name of Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite. They'll do anything to keep the momentum going from this huge success. Their agents in the courts work to distract the king and spread the idea that a quarantine for plague is all that's needed, and attempt to sway General Soussens to their cause. The leaders of the Montaignois Rilasciare have lowered their moral standards to get things done, however. Most Rilasciare agents struggle to decide what the right way to get rid of the monarchs and religions of the world is, and most don't like murdering spies or sacrificing the few for the many - both things the Montaignois Rilasciare have decided are necessary. These and various disagreements about what the next course of action should be has made a rift. Some say that the time has come, that they will soon take the nation, while others feel they must wait and look for the right opportunities. Either way, starting a peasant revolt in a city in Montaigne is worth 5 Favor.

La Bravoure de l'Epervier, the Sparrow's Bravery, is a small group of men and women who now work towards a common goal. They wear the Mantle of the Sparrow, a red leather hood with a pointed nose and caplet, when they go on missions. They were founded and work on the same principles as Los Vagabundos, who have known for some time that l'Empereur's vast resources were going to make it hard for them to operate. Their greatest threat in Montaigne is the sheer number of spies and allies to the crown, and many Vagabundos were thwarted and slain at the height of the Castillian war. To circumvent this issue, Colette de Lioncourt, Duchesse d'Arcy, has offered to fund and maintain her own sect - la Bravoure. Her reason is simple: her grandson died fighting l'Empereur's agents while wearing the El Vagabundo mask.

She had no idea, at the time, that her grandson belonged to the society at all, even as he held secret meetings in her home. She had her agents and spies (which any Montaignois noble of great rank has, of course) track down her grandson's friends to find out why he was killed, and when she captured them, they thought that Los Vagabundos' efforts in Montaigne were doomed. However, the Duchesse liked what she heard, understanding the importance of their goals and her grandson's sacrifice. She freed them, returning the mask and telling them to bring it back to Castille. She would handle Montaigne. When the members of the cell returned from Castille, they formed the Bravery under her leadership. It's been operating for six years, and it's still not very big, but it's growing. Its goals are simple - protect the good nobles, and thwart the evil ones. This means a lot of work, though, for a small team.

Most of La Bravoure's spies are simply Colette's own, who have no idea they're supporting the society. They have, little by little, worked to undermine l'Empereur's influence, mostly by showing exactly what a terrible job he does as a ruler. They believe that it is in the best interests of Montaigne to depose Leon Alexandre and place his youngest daughter, Dominique, on the throne. They largely operate in and around Charouse, where l'Empereur's power is greatest, but recently their agents have also been sighted in Dechaine, rescuing innocent nobles from the mob. They operate independently from Los Vagabundos in order to protect their parent organization from being further threatened by the crown's agents, but both groups know how to get in contact with the other, gain favor and get what they need done. Favor with La Bravoure and Los Vagabundos are interchangeable and identical.

Next time: Places

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not Paris, Home Of The Deal

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not Paris, Home Of The Deal

Charouse is a city full of energy, business and passions. It is, in many ways, a nation in itself, with other people from Montaigne looked at Charouse and its people as different, fundamentally, from themselves. Everyone cares about fashion and art, sure, but the Charousiens set the fashions and make the art. They see opportunity everywhere. They move with aggressive purpose, always looking for a chance to do business. They tend to be good at telling where you're from at a glance, to better be able to tell who's got the cash and who's got the tendency to spend it freely. Charouse is for merchants, big and small, always looking for the next big deal or the next big con. Not that everyone's a crook - but everyone needs a living. The Sinueuse River feeds the city with many goods, as it makes it easy to sail up from the sea. Exotic goods sit side by side by with the frontrunners of fashion, and often are those front-runners, brought in from across the world. Servants are sent out to buy novelties for noble salons as status symbols, and no one's usually too focused on if they're faked. The wealthiest nobles are rarely seen in public, however, as they use servants or lesser nobles to represent them at the market, for the truly powerful live in Le Chateau du Soleil.

Le Marche du Pont-Neuf, the New Bridge Market, is the busiest spot in Charouse. It's an immense open air market that covers the entire bridge (and a way beyond each side). The bridge connects the noble districts with the rest of the city, and the goods there are extremely expensive and heavily taxed. Most of them are luxury goods, even the foods. It's easy to get lost, but you can find nearly anything you want, if you have the money to pay for it and the wits to tell a counterfeit from the real thing. It's the largest, most well-known market in the nation, and the counterfeit market is so big that you can find entire stores dealing in (clearly marked) replica goods for people to resell as real, often made by artisans as skilled as the originals. Merchants set up their stalls at dawn, and must get tem down well before sunset, by order of the city Marshal. Anyone that fails to pay the tax and exit the bridge on time is fined, jailed or even banned from selling there. At night, the bridge is home to dancers, jugglers and entertainers working to get a coin or two from strolling nobles. Escorts - either jennys or bodyguards - also work for hire from the bridge, and where the plazas start, the street theatre troupes and magicians compete for attention.

La Chateau de la Vie is an immense building of light stone, once the seat of the nation;s power before l'Empereur moved his court to the Chateau du Soleil. It is still the home of La Caserne Royale des Mousquetaires, where said people train and operate from. This was the castle of Leon Alexandre's father, and is sometimes called Le Chateau du Vieux Roi, the Castle of the Old King. It was, in the Old King's reign, a home for royals, their guests, foreign dignitaries, ambassadors and the top-ranking courtiers. However, activity has largely dwindled now to just the Musketeers and the courts, with only a few noble bureaucrats regretting their assignments there. L'Empereur uses it as a punishment - a title with endless boring duties resolving minor disputes, stamping papers and so on. This often forces them to miss out on all the society galas, where influence and wealth are made. When Louiselle Marie-Francoise de Beaufort was assigned there as chief administrator, her family mocked her, as did the other guests at the party. It was a way to punish her for reprimanding corrupt and immoral courtiers. She's allowed her ambition to make it more than that, though she has learned somewhat more finesse in her speech. She and the old administrator have managed to balance the budget and have a surplus within her first month, and became friends with the Musketeer captains by the second. With each month, she brings new life to the old castle, renovating and remodeling it. That is why it is now known as the Castle of Life, and while the Superior Court remains corrupt, everything else is changing, with hope returned for the first time in ages.

La Chateau du Soleil lies at the edge of Charouse, on the border of the royal Montaigne hunting grounds. It used to be a royal lodge and sprawling estate, but is now the Palace of the Sun. It is several stories tall, massive, and covered in frecoes of excellent design, plus sculptures and gardens. It makes the viewer feel tiny compared to the estate - and therefore its master, l'Empereur. It was, of course, massively expensive, but that's never been an issue. The army of engineers, sculptors and gardeners remain on hand in case things need changing. The interior is even more opulent, full of fine furniture, immense paintings and decor, and immensely detailed. Servants travel via complex passages in the walls, using swiveling panels to remain invisible until needed. There are tons of guests at the daily parties and gatherings, most hoping to impress the king. Things are calmer if he isn't present, and if he likes someone, he will assign them an apartment in the palace to keep them around. There are a limited number of these, and his favor changes on a whim, of course, so you might be moved or even evicted without much warning. The favorites are usually young, wealthy, beautiful and desperate for favor.

The palace has been in use for a decade in the main parts, but new ones are always being built. New pavilions for more guests and ambassadors, new apartments - the work crews have their own barracks outside one of the auxiliary gates. Small barracks at each gate link back to the main garrison via gravel paths, operated by the Lightning Guard. The Lightning Guard, or La Garde Lumineuse, are the hand-picked elite that protect l'Empereur. They have never failed to keep him safe, and their strict schedule and regular reports make it easy for them to find imposters and infiltrators in their ranks. They are ever vigilant for dangers to the king and his court, though most guests barely notice. The court rarely sees any problems, thanks to their work, and when they do happen, the Guard are ruthless in seeing to any punishment l'Empereur demands of them.

Le Grande Cathadrale is home to the tallest tower in Theah and can be seen from most of Charouse. IT was built long ago, though the tower is only 20 years old, built when l'Empereur was on better terms with the Vaticine. Now that the entire nation has been excommunicated and the religion banned, the Cathedral has been refurbished as a museum, home to a guarded collection of architectural models, Syrneth artifacts, ancestral swords and treasures from conquest, along with historical reliquaries. In the depths of the crypts, somewhere below what used to be the altar, there are sarcophagi and reliquaries of saints. It's not secret that they're still there, but they are not open to the public. Beneath the crypt, in the rooms that hold the foundation, the Order of the Rose and Cross meets regularly. Le Grande Cathedrale is the seat of the society in Charouse, and they meet there with authorization from l'Empereur, under pretext of displaying artifacts or discoveries. Leon doesn't really care what they do as long as it's not Mass. The pretexts are excellent excuses for the Rose & Cross, but the place has also drawn the attention of the the Explorer's Society and Invisible College. Territorial disputes aren't likely, but some of the books and artifacts may well get stolen.

Les Catacombes are mostly avoided, except by artifact hunters, the poor, the sewer workers and criminals. The tunnels are of Syrneth origin, but the criminals have developed a huge network there, with a clear hierarchy and charter. La Raine des Catacombes, the Queen of the Underworld, sets the prices and taxes on all illegal goods and services, in much the same way the city officials do above. Her cut's usually more reasonable, however. Eve Lafrisee is the Queen, and she's got plenty of wanted posters up for her capture. She rewards loyalty and respect heavily, rather than just skill at murder, and the fees she sets usually depend on the target's power and what is being done. Rumor has it that she does assassinations herself, which is true, but it's impossible to be sure thanks to her network of cut-outs and false witnesses. She is not hunted by the guards, for fear that getting rid of her would cause a gang war in the power vacuum.

Next time: Buche

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Doc Valdoc

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Doc Valdoc

Buche is situated in a low valley full of rivers converging on the sea. It is a sprawling port of red brick, surrounded by farms and orchards. It's easily the biggest tax haven in Theah, as the Marquises of Valdoc have found a way to avoid l'Empereur's opportunism. Like most cities far from Charouse, they have a lot of leeway in how to implement policy. None of the locals are more than a Marquis for very long, but due to obscure law, they have the right to elect one of their own as their Duke every five years, to represent them at court. The Duke has sweeping powers - including the ability to overrule l'Empereur's tax policies. The Marquises deeply value the peace of the region, in spite of attempts to push them to fight Castille and Barcino, which they've worked to maintain more peaceful relations with. However, sabotage from both sides raises tensions.

Les Maches Ouverts, the Open Markets, refer to any popup market in the city. Their name shifts based on location - Le Marche de Saint Saturnin, for example, would be next to the Holy Saturnine Church. The location is rarely relevant. The city's canals and rivers are slow and easy to navigate, letting these places pop up anywhere, hard to regulate but easy to estimate earnings on. The markets would normally be taxed on those estimations, but they often move to avoid them, leaving the neighborhood's nobles to pay. This lets the markets set their own rates, the best in Montaigne, though finding the best bargains means hiring a local guide that knows their ebb and flow. The markets can sell even illicit goods, provided they avoid the estimator, and what would be on the black market elsewhere can often be found for open sale in the right place. Most stalls don't specialize in any one type of goods, hoping to get a customer to buy more in one place, though illegal goods rarely see much market competition in order to maintain a firm price. Instead, these traders rotate their goods, so that they don't sell the same kind of illegal wares week to week, to avoid legal scrutiny. The guard officers are aware of this but tacitly allow it.

The Scholars District is a center of higher learning for the nation, with highly progressive, purely merit-based universities. They hold regular debates and lectures on all kinds of subjects, even those seen as taboo or controversial elsewhere. Yes, l'Empereur's Minister of Culture frequently has people arrested, but that doesnt' stop the lectures and debates at all - indeed, a debater who has not had to defend their ideas before a legal tribunal is often seen as untried and untested, and the arrests are a source of entertainment and spectacle that reinforce the power of ideas. The Invisible College love the area, and have worked to help Castillian scholars integrate into the city as tutors, professors and librarians.

The Holy Saturnine Church is named for the sainted martyr Saturnine, a follower of the First Prophet who proselytized in the area. He founded a temple that, within ten years, was despised by the pagans that lived nearby for attracting their followers. The current church is built on the site where Saturnine was killed, after he refused to participate in a polytheistic ritual and was whipped and dragged by a bull. He was mourned, and the church was founded there in his honor. Since that time, it has grown to the largest in the region. Because of Buche's distance and relative independence, the Church still holds regular Mass, even without the support of the mainstream Vaticine. It is home to exiled bishops and priests from other parts of Montaigne, and its tithes are controlled solely by the local Bishop rather than the Church proper. He uses the funds to protect other clergy, to fund secret pilgrimages and hire guards, or to buy land for exiled monks and nuns to work. It is also the site of many holy relics that got moved to protect them from l'Empereur. The Bishop of Buche knows it's only a matter of time before their defiance gets them in trouble, and he's afraid of what will happen.

The Chateau of the Marquises is currently run by Duke Raymond de Taulouse, Marquis of Buche, and has been for a decade. Eight other Marquises are spread throughout Valdoc, but they regularly meet at the Chateau, which is technically owned by all of them. Each has their own quarters, and the Duke lives there. He also uses his ancestral estate, but spends most of his time in the Chateau, discussing local and foreign affairs. Despite the attempts at balance, the Duke's power and wealth have grown over time, and Raymond wants to keep the job at the next council meeting, when the vote occurs. He needs a two-thirds majority to keep the title, or else it goes to l'Empereur's pick - or worse, someone else who manages to win that majority. l'Empereur would likely pick Raymond again, but would definitely use it as an excuse to enforce his policies more strictly, and the Marquises are all tense, preparing to mobilize troops in case the Council fails. Raymond's biggest rival is Yvonne de Gineston, Marquise of Batonnier, who has spent the last several years building a position in which the Council's failure would benefit her. Whether she is elected Duchess or l'Empereur picks her doesn't matter to her, though she says she'd prefer the Council's support. And that's not to say the other Marquises aren't ambitious, either. The Chateau itself is a stone fort, less refined than newer designs, but easily defensible - though not much good as an offensive base due to the cost of supporting mercenary troops.

Dechaine was once a major port, but is now under quarantine. A small fleet blockades the coast, to intercept incoming ships and warn them off, and news of the quarantine has spread to Vesten and Avalon, who no longer come to the city. It used to be a well-established city in the north, but now all inland trade is also blocked off by the army. The plague, of course, is propaganda - a ploy by Duke Jean-Richard du Lac to distract from the truth: revolution. The locals hit rock bottom about a month ago due to high tariffs, heavy death tolls in the War of the Cross and Castillian war, high prices and religious oppression. A mob formed in the docks, encouraged by local church officials, and was soon joined by respected community leaders and bourgeois merchants, sick of stagnating under noble rule or fond of various freethinker philosophies. They stormed the gates of Marquise Isabeau de Dechaine's estate, demanding reparations, and when her staff went out to appease the mob, it only angered them. The mob attacked. The staff and noble family were captured in a fury of violence, and they were about to savagely beat the elder of the family, Mere de Dechaine, mother of the Marquise, as she held the Marquise' infant daughter, Helene, until a mysterious hero arrived, saved the pair, and vanished into the night while the mob burned the estate to the ground.

The locals paraded the Marquise's corpse through the streets to great cheers, singing songs of freedom into the night. Under Rilasciare direction, they used their military training from the Castillian war and quickly chose leaders from among the original assault, to organize a citizen's council, which quickly fortified the city walls and prepared for siege. Within two weeks, the city was capital of a free land, as the farmers and villagers around it heard the news, organizing food camps and trade. They have declared themselves all equal, with all nobility abolished, even if they had to die to do it. The city's had accents added to the name, to change its meaning to 'Unchained.'

Outside, news of the rebellion spread slowly, amidst reports of plague forcing the current embargo and quarantine. The biggest threat to the revolution is 50 miles from it, at the army camp where the troops prepare: Duke Jean-Richard du Lac, duke of the province. He is offering General Pardie Soussens vast wealth and titles to retake the city before l'Empereur learns what's really happened there. In the event l'Empereur does learn of it, the Duke hoeps to show his worth by quashing the revolt before it can spread. Soussens is an old veteran who hates war and fighting now, having won many battles in Castille and learned much from the king's son-in-law, Montegue. Her force was the last to come home from the war, and many deserted once they crossed the border. Those that remained loyal have built up a camp over the past few months, expecting an order to return to Castille. They still wait there, as Soussens tries to decide whether to attack Dechaine. It will be no more than weeks before she has to do something. The Rilasciare want to recruit her, and she is war weary...but she's also loyal. It is unclear what she will do.

Next time: La Motte and Altamira

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Cliff Moat

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Cliff Moat

La Motte is an island in the far south of Montaigne, with a number of tall, rocky sea cliffs, which can only be accessed via carved steps or the low-hill port town. The Low-Hill Markets are the port's trading hub, used to resupply before goods go up the river to Charouse. Until recently, you could get just about anything there quite cheaply, but Montaigne has increased the tariffs on luxury goods heavily, and the Vendel League (who use the port extensively) have had to raise their prices to compensate. They correctly believe the taxes are an attempt to reduce their power and undermine the Guilder, and they work hard to get them reduced. L'Empereur recently made a deal with Vodacce Prince Vestini, raising luxury taxes in exchange for Montaigne nobles moving to his city, Five sails. The deal is a closely guarded secret, known in La Motte only to the Port Master, Jean-Luc de la Porte, and the Vendel Leage would pay handsomely for the details.

The increased tariffs have led to a lot of business for Les Falaises, the Cliffs - the local black markets. 'Going cliffside' is local slang for heading to the black market for untaxed goods. Its most famous product is Magie Rouge, the red magic - a plant with euphoric effects when ingested or smoked. It grows along the coast of La Motte and, so far as anyone knows, nowhere else. Its use causes short term memory loss, and the authorities have banned it. Growth or harvest of the plant is punished with a hefty fine. This has not stopped the cliffside markets from selling it, however.

Mont du Flambeau is a small island fortress north of La Motte, dating back to before the Vaticine expulsion. It was once the region's noble seat, and is home to the largest cathedral and monastery in the nation since the 1200s. It was once a major pilgrimage site, and when the Hierophant excommunicated the nation, the monks and pilgrims outnumbered the local nobles and their forces. The monastery's monks stormed the walls by night, capturing the nobles and locking them and the soldiers out of the walled city. Since then, it has become a new kind of pilgrimage site, as pious pilgrims travel with supplies to bring to the believers in the city, to help them survive the slow siege. The local Marquis hates this, and has spent much of his fortune attempting to retake the island and failing. The latest calculations by the monastic quartermaster show that Le Mont has six months before it runs out of food, if they ration well. The pilgrims that come by night can't supply them forever, and so the Bishop is organizing for a supply run to get several years' worth of food for the fortress.

East of La Motte, atop a hill, is L'Auberge del Croix d'Or, the most important inn and way station in Montaigne. It is run by Marie and Claude Bonvalet, and due to its key location, messengers and spies from governments across Theah use it to relay information to agents, exchange letters, pay blackmail and more. The Bonvalets and their seven children know what's going on and like it. You can pay them a lot of money for information, and a lot more to not tell people what you asked. They are masters of information dealing and lies, and have managed to exist for 32 years without pissing anyone off enough to get rid of them. The inn is a rustic place, with room for several horses and carriages and a few horses for rent. The interior is welcoming, friendly and covered in brass and copper household items made by famous and skilled artisans. They have the best food in the area, too. At the back, they have a side building for visitng nobles, with a lovely garden (with many nooks for secret meetings) and lavishly decorated rooms in a more modern style. The Bonvalets typically hold their own private meetings in the large wine cellar.

Northwest of La Motte is a small island, not big enough to be on any map, hard to access, and receiving supply drops every six months. Those who climb its cliffs are never seen again. This is Le Chateau de Nulle Part, the Castle of Nowhere - the place that, for the last eight years, l'Empereur has sent those he never wants to have to think about again. New prisoners are rare, and all prisoners are kept in solitary cells, too small to anything but lie in the dark on the cold stone. The soldiers working there are sworn to total secrecy, and are practically prisoners themselves - an assignment to the island is pretty much permanent. Sometimes a soldier goes mad and deserts, trying to swim to La Motte. These are killed by snipers. It's rare, but always memorable. There are no more than a hundred prisoners on the island in total, and the most notable is probably Montegue, believed by most to be leading a military campaign in Ussura. He is the son-in-law of l'Empereur, beloved by the people and was born a peasant, but promoted heavily after saving l'Empereur's life from the Castillian forces. He was made High General for all of Montaigne, married Dominique and helped ensure a brief surge in l'Empereur's popularity with the common people. If word were to get out that the great hero Montegue was imprisoned on the island, the Rilasciare would surely try to use him to start a popular rebellion.

Altamira was once a Castillian port-city and trading hub for Montaigne, Eisen and Castille. Now, it is occupied by Montaigne forces, one of the first places to be conquered in the invasion. It was the center of all Montaigne military operations in Castille, and its noble family is kept alive largely to confuse the Grandes of Castille and keep them off-balance. Despite several attempts by Los Vagabundos to save them, they remain under house arrest by Sidonie du Carre, who runs her administration out of their estate. They are kept under constant surveillence in a single wing and generally forced to stay with the people in the household that most annoy them, under strict curfew. The rest of the estate has been taken over and rearranged by Marquise du Carre, who enjoys the Castillian decor. She has one of the best surgeons in Montaigne on staff - Jacques Ferrand, whose job is now to treat the nobles injured in battle and little else.

Marquise du Carre runs the Administration as if they were still at war, and works to keep abreast of all troop movements. Many believe she helped plan the initial invasion, and she's certainly a skilled commander with a heavy focus on detail, with a council of wealthy soldiers aiding her, mostly nobles promised lands (still unconquered) in Eisen and Castille. They are largely bitter about lack of support from home and the stalling of the invasion. The Marquise's primary orders are to extract troops safely and return them to Montaigne, however. There are many troops trapped in Castille, with few supply lines, stuck in pockets of resisting locals or just without resources to do much of anything but live off the land. About half of the local soldiers serve du Carre and her forces, while the other half are just passing through and give no shits about her and her orders. It is unclear what, exactly, the troops are doing or preparing for as they fall back to Montaigne and the government ignores all need for supplies. This has caused stife between the soldiers under the Marquise and those passing through, and she's shown she has no hesitation in executing officers that cross lines with her.

Left without leadership, the Altamiran people have turned to the clergy for help. However, the local church has been closed by the Marquise, so the clergy have had to go into hiding among their flock, passing themselves off as mere scholars and workers. Bishop Alejandro Lucio Pereida is actually thankful for that chance to get closer to his flock, though, and works with them to plan out how to free the Grandes of Altamira and send coded messages to clergy outside the city. He feels more involved now, at the age of 55, than he has ever been, and that it is just that he help the people fight the Marquise. For now, he's been listening to the advice of the priests and merchants that prefer the status quo to his open resistance and getting executed, but he has been sending out priests to nearby cities in hopes of finding heroes to help get the Grandes out. Until that happens, retaking the city is unlikely to happen, for fear of the family's execution.

Next time: The Three Kings of Lock-Horn Forest

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Magic Forest In The Middle Of HELL FRANCE

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - The Magic Forest In The Middle Of HELL FRANCE

Lock-Horn Forest has a long, complex and highly magical history. At one point the area was owned by Avalonian lords, then Eisen mercenaries, then Vesten raiders. Now, it is Montaigne's. The official language is still Montaignoise, but the commoners speak a variety of dialects and creoles combining it with Avalonian and Eisen tongues, which often makes for surreal and difficult communication. The further you go from the main roads, the weirder things get, with rumors of Sidhe and Syrneth ruins lurking in the forest. The locals often say the place has three kings.

First is the King of the Tower - the local ruler, Baron Philippe du Niord. He is renowned as a hunter, and his dogs are said to be able to beat even the most fearful creatures of the wood. He lives in the Tower of Niord, an old keep predating the unification of Montaigne, with the path leading to it nearly overgrown. Philippe is an old man but a gracious host to any traveler that wanders into his estate, though the staff are small enough that the keep is barely kept from falling apart. He loves his lands and people, and also theater and books. He is often lost in reveries of adventure and romance. The people mean him whenever they speak of their king, le Roi de la Tour.

Second is the King of the Forest, a Sidhe lord said to live in the woods southeast of Pierre-Percee. He is the Horned King, Jalan, a powerful Seelie lord who has lived in the forest longer than the idea of Montaigne has existed. He was cast out by the Avalon Sidhe for reasons unknown, and he and his court consider the forest to be their own, guarding it against encroaching civilization and hunting down troublemakers. The only place that the Horned King and his deer-riders avoid entirely are the Syrne ruins in the area. It is custom to leave an offering to Jalan before leaving the forest if you've been hunting.

The third is the Straw King. Legend tells of someone who will become the King or Queen when the people of Pierre-Percee desperately need help. The title is both serious and a joke. The first Straw King was a Glamour Knight, Lanvaus de Pierre-Percee, a friend to Paega du Lac. King Jalan gave the title as a mockery for Theah's adoration of titles, for he is called King of the Forest largely because the branches and leaves that stick in his horns resemble a crown. Lanvaus took the title, and with it the duty to rally the people against clear-cutting Montaignois tyrants. The title is now long forgotten by those not familiar with the history of the region, but were a Glamour Knight worthy of it to arrive in Pierre-Percee and the need for a heroic King arose, Jalan would surely keep his promise to Lanvaus and grant the title once more.

Pierre-Percee is the deepest part of the forest, full of remote villages, brigands and forested roads. Most of the rustic villages are very different than the normal culture of Montaigne, primitive and typically surviving by hunting and foraging rather than farming. While they are isolated from l'Empereur's cruelties by the wood, they have plenty of their own issues, in the form of giant beasts, evil druidic orders, ancient Vesten treasures and other legends. Fortunately, heroes seem to arrive fairly often to help out. Part of this is because of the Treasure O'Roorke, said to have been brought to the region by a pair of Vesten raiders after they attacked Ifri and the Crescents. Folklore claims they originally planned to go back to Vesten and share their treasure, but a witch made a storm that caught them and forced them inland, where they settled near the Lake of Pierre-Percee, hiding their riches in the forest. The name is said to come from the first major treasure hunter, Fin O'Roorke, who is said to have died hunting for it. He never did find it, but did find many mysteries that revealed new meanings to local folktales and songs. Others say the name is from the initials of the two raiders, Ragnar Odinson and Oden Ragnarsson - R.O.O.R. The tales about them are usually more about their deeds than their treasure, and the locals don't think there even is a treasure, and make a hobby out of spreading rumors and lies to treasure hunters, though always with tiny bits of truth thrown in. These treasure hunters are referred to, sometimes in mockery and sometimes with fondness, as Rouqueurs. The legend endures because, around once every 20 years or so, someone gets lucky and manages to actually find a small fortune in hidden treasure somewhere.

Le Ballade de Ragnar is a common tale and song of the region. Ragnar is generally the subject of the tales, though lyrics usually mention Oden as well, and describe the pair as inseparable. Historians have managed to verify the details of their raids on the Ifrian coast and the Crescent ports, and Ragnar and Oden both did live in the area. Their descendants are prominent in the region, coming from the marriage of Ragnar's son to Oden's daughter. To this day, many believe Ragnar to be alive, hunting for a way to Valhalla, perhaps willing to part with his treasure's location to heroes that can lead him to that one last battle. (This is, of course, correct.)

Les Feuilles Blanches, the White Leaves, is a place unlike any other. Some say it is the birthplace of Porte sorcery, where the first sorcier learned to bind with blood, and where he finally died. Others say that it was the site of a major Sidhe oath, and the Glamour left behind by this vow got into the land. Others claim its strangeness is due to nearby Syrneth ruins. Whatever the case, finding your way there without already knowing it is shockingly difficult. When you do get there, the forest goes quiet. The leaves slowly grow silvery and white, and as you go further in, the forest gets whiter and more serene, until at least even the tree bark and the fallen leaves are white as snow. This leads to a grove of six pure white trees, too bright to look upon directly. If you go forward once you reach that, you will be transported away by an intangible wind in the trees, taken to your deepest desire, whether you consciously realize what that is or not. Your trail - a glowing bunch of white leaves - remains for several minutes before being blown away on that same intangible wind. Because of the magic of the place, most locals avoid it, though some enjoy the feeling and happily guide travelers to it. The real danger is in trusting the Leaves to take you home.

Next time: The True Secrets of Hell Dimension

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Welcome To The Blood Dimension

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Welcome To The Blood Dimension

So, Porte. Use of Porte involves tearing a screaming hole in the universe with your own blood. The space between spaces is called the walkway, and every sorcier knows, you never, ever open your eyes on the walkway, no matter what voices you hear. Very little else is known about the place, though scholars have various largely unsupported theories. Every sorcier claims they know someone who knows someone who opened their eyes inside and lived, but the details are never straight. Doing it is extremely rare, and those who manage it come back changed by what lies between. Sometimes, they gain strange powers, but they always lose something in exchange.

What lies beyond the portails may seem like another world, surreal and mirage-like, with shimmering colors in peripheral vision and voices speaking without source. You can find mirrors of places you know and places that never existed anywhere. You can find your own home, yet subtly altered in unsettling ways. All the doors open the wrong way, perhaps, or there is an extra room that shouldn't be there. You find impossible fortresses read of in books, inhabited by those long dead. But they're not real. There is no world between spaces. Nothing in the walkway is real. In the beginning, before any sorciers came, there was nothing here. A vast, vast span of nothing. Over the millenia, the dreams and memories of those trapped in the space between forever have built a warped echo to live in, a projection made from their desperate desire to return. As they went more and more mad from the loneliness and the fear, their imaginations spawned ever-stranger places, out of stories and nightmares. Today, you open your eyes in the walkway and you see reflections of places long gone, fantasized into being by the sorciers before you, lingering on indefinitely in a space that is nothing.

So if there was nothing in the space between to begin with, if it had no native beings, what are the walkway entities that speak to travelers? They were humans. Once. They were humans corrupted by the madness of the Place Between Worlds. Trusting them is foolishness itself, for their desires are all warped into monstrous yearnings. They want to trade lives with you, to take on your destiny or ride you back into reality like a horse or kill you and take your power or trick you into staying with them forever. Even if you could find the true human spirit of someone you lost in the walkway, they would be forever changed, ruined by the solitude. They would probably be a Monster or Villain, still distantly recalling their old life, but too corrupted by the experience. Walkway entities can be statted up as either Monsters or Villains, typically having acquired Monstrous Qualities by exposure to the Walkway's madness, but it is possible that a foe who wasn't trapped long or who is redeemable might not have any. The Influence of a walkway entity Villain likely reflects authority over other entities, or how much the walkway terrain reflects their inner self.

An optional rule is presented if you want to do walkway adventures that aren't just 'the sorcier does shit while everyone else sits around' - a sorcier may choose to spill extra blood on behalf of others to bring them through. In addition to the Dramatic Wound to open a portail, they may take normal Wounds instead of paying Hero Points to bring eithers with them 1 for 1, and can freely mix the two costs.

So, what happens if you go into the walkway with your eyes open? Your soul grows corrupted and corroded, even if you do nothing evil there. Every story Step you complete within the Walkway grants Corruption as if it was an Evil Act, except that there is no roll to lose your character. Instead, if you hit 10 Corruption in the Walkway, you become trapped, even if you still had Marks to Walk to. All connections to your Marks are severed, even the permanent ones from direct blood relatives. You do not become a Villain unless you perform an actual Evil Act, though. If you can escape before you do that, you can still redeem yourself before you turn into a walkway entity. You may escape the walkway with a story modeled after a Redemption Story, and the Steps of such a story do not gain Corruption.

One other reason to keep your eyes closed: walkway entities can't hurt you directly until you see them. They can speak to you and apply Pressure, but they can't harm you. Once they can harm you, though, if they deal a Dramatic Wound to you, they can consume your blood to steal your Marks and power. After all, each one of them was once a sorcier. Once you've had your blood stolen by a walkway entity, any time a portail opens near you, the entity can escape to the real world - and they also usurp all your established Marks. Now, sometimes you might trap yourself inside the walkway to close a blessure made by a Villain, and may not have the luxury of shutting your eyes when you do. Closing a blessure requires you to navigate the dream logic of the walkway's 'world' and perform a symbolic act of healing or soothing, such as curing an ailing dream-king, rebuilding a wall or ending a child's nightmares, all while keeping walkway entities from getting out into the world. This may take one or more Sequences to do and carries all the danger of getting trapped.

So how would you get out once trapped, possibly with your blood stolen? You can make deals with other walkway entities or passing sorciers, but doing so is always part of a Redemption Story, and always involves paying a price. You might wander through the memories of the dead, visit places that never were or pass through the fears and dreams of sorciers - even your own nightmares. Entities may try to possess you or trick you into leading them to a blessure, or try to get you to forget your life. Death inside the walkway is no release, either - death causes your soul to become a walkway entity. Getting someone trapped in the walkway out as a sorcier, incidentally, has the same cost as bringing them in.

Once you get out, any Corruption gained from just being in the walkway fades at 1 point per scene, as you overcome the darkness you experienced. Time has no meaning in the walkway, so it doesn't matter how long your internal experience of the walkway was - you might get out seconds later, or centuries, or even in the past. The walkway's fucking weird. And no matter what, you pay a price. You might give up a treasured memory, a prized possession, even a loved one. You may have had to bring something terrible out with you, or traded one skill for another, or made a Villainous rival from your fears, or gained permanent Corruption, or had a shift in how your magic works. No matter what, you and the GM need to sit down and work what, exactly, you had to pay to get out.

Lastly, we get some new variants on Porte, if you want Porte that works slightly differently:

Next time: Fencing.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Fencing In France

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Fencing In France

Most nobles have some passing knowledge of the sword, but few are Duelists. Montaignois culture prefers to avoid direct conflict, after all, and have raised passive aggression to a high art form. It does happen occasionally, though, that an insult rises to the level of physical quarrel, and so the courts pay to retain Duelists as bodyguards, often without really needing them. The Duelists of Montaigne find their roots primarily in Castillian and Vodacce traditions, enhanced by Montaignois ideas and rules. Lawyers in the Guild ensure that their contracts are deeply entrenched legalese, as well. This is for two main reasons. First, it means only the educated can understand dueling legality, preventing the poor from drawing steel on their betters. Second, by codifying dueling laws this way, death duels are rare. Duelists are expensive, after all.

Montaigne's duels must be within a Guildhall, and must be witnessed by a Guild member. Duels to first blood or a touch can be any member, but to the death requires a local Guildmaster. Verbal agreement is the only requirement for duels to first blood, but to the death requires written terms, signed by all involved. Duels to yield must be overseen by a Guild Chair, and lawyers of both sides often review terms. Death and yield duels must be approved by the ranking authority of the region. Death duels must be approved by l'Empereur. Thus, they are very rare. Most non-Duelists in Montaigne see the duels as a form of sport, an event to socialize and network at. Betting on them is in bad taste, however, and only done by the base. All agree that, regardless of the result, the insult that caused the duel is resolved, and seeking revenge for a duel's outcome is extremely illegal.

This doesn't mean illegal duels don't happen when passions flare. They do. The Montaignois do have a fiery streak, after all, and many Duelists have fought in unsanctioned duels. It is now tradition in Montaigne for a duelist to grant a rose to their opponent or rival. These normally are without thorn, but Duelists leave one thorn in for every unsanctioned duel they've fought in. This has led to some interesting non-duels, such as when Claire Bouchier presented her foe with three dozen thorny roses, and he yielded immediately. Some of the noble lines of Montaigne have also developed dueling traditions that rely on their Porte skills, making them highly feared. They are rumored to be able to move across the ground in a blink, striking from impossible angles. Officially, the Guild forbids all use of Porte in duels unless both fighters can use it. While many nobles have the magic, few Duelists are masters of it, at least officially. Unofficial duels between sorciers, however, often end in one trapping the other in the walkway.

In the village Auzat, high in Les Sommets Blancs, there is a chateau named Mont de Vore, home of the de Vore style of fencing. There, students learn posture, Montaigne's cultural superiority and efficient movements. They hold their rapiers high, parallel to the ground, and move as little as possible when fighting. On graduation, they receive a riding crop to remind them to have good posture. The head of the school is Monsieur Riche la Barre, a charismatic former member of the Lightning Guard who lost his left eye defending l'Empereur from an assassin, whom he slew while blinded. He left because of some scandal involving one of l'Empereur's daughters, but his life was spared due to his history, and he has retired to Mont de Vore to teach others. When wielding a rapier in your lead hand, you can use the de Vore Politesse Maneuver. When you do this, you select one character in the scene (which can be yourself) and spend all your remaining Raises. You prevent all Wounds that would be dealt to that character this round, including Wounds otherwise impossible to prevent, such as the Dramatic Wound from a gunshot. Wounds prevented this way must be dealt by someone else - damage from environmental effects, Consequences or sorcerous costs can't be prevented this way. You can use this only once per round.

Now, legends. Deep in the Lock-Horn, where the path is often overgrown and the sky is barely visible, you might lose the trail and become lost. It is said that when you do this in the twilight hours, you may run into a beautiful stallion, saddled, bridled and sized for you. However, you must always be sure to check the color of the horse's coat. If the horse is white, with a golden mane, he will lead you to safety and a clear path. If he is black, with a roan mane, he will take you only deeper into the woods. No one knows what happens to those that ride him. The horse's true name is Bayard and there's only one of him. He is a magical horse, friend to Jalan, and if you pay the traditional offering to the King of the Forest and act respectfully, he will help you. If not, he will bring you to Jalan and let the Sidhe decide what your fate should be. The reason he changes color is to amuse himself. In winter he's generally pale, and in summer he is dark; this has nothing to do with if he's going to help you or not. Some say the material of the bridle or style of saddle determine if he'll help - this is also fasle.

Strange tales surround Les Sommets Blancs and Mount Dore, of strange events when blizzards hit. The snowflakes form into les Dames Blanches, the White Maidens. They dance and sing in the snowstorms, inviting travelers to join them. This may seem a trap, but legend has it that it will ensure you travel safely through the storm, and denying them will trap you forever. Descriptions vary - some say they are solid women with pale skin and dresses, others that they are merely shapes of whirling snow. Their voices always sound like wind surrounding you, though. In fair weather, you may seek their aid by offering up a trinket when you go to sleep. It must be white and hold some value - typically, a silk or fine linen handkerchief, a lace fan, gloves or a hair ribbon. If left in the snow overnight, they vanish, replaced by footprints that lead you back to a lost path. Many say those lost on the mountains join les Dames Blanches forever in their dance.

The truth is that there is great magic around Mount Dore's peak, causing les Dames Blanches to form from snow and wind. The magical energy follows the paths most often used by travelers, and so following the movements of the illusory snow women will often lead to safety, though not always. They only help those they like, often in exchange for a wonderful gift. Gifts thrown over the side of a cliff work best, and causes the illusions to actually try to help you out. Tributes left in the snow might get the same help in clearing a snowed-in path, but are less reliable. If they are fought, they vary in power but are usually Strength 4 and Elemental.

Next time: Dame Fortune, the black coin and the Vaticine Angel

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - O Fortuna

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - O Fortuna

In the markets of Montaigne, a common sign worn by merchants around the neck or displayed over the door is a coin with a hole in it. This coin, traditionally the first earned by the merchant, is an offering to Dame Fortune. They say it ensures a thriving business as long as it can be clearly seen. Merchants also frequently toss a coin into the canal each morning to draw business and avoid police. Legend has it that Dame Fortune herself sometimes appears around closing time, and may stop in to make a purchase. If she is treated badly, you are doomed for one year to terrible business, and if you treat her well, your business will boom. She looks no different than any other customer, though. And if you forget to display your holed coin, she will ignore your shop and it will not last another month. She does not protect those who don't offer tribute to her, but does protect those who do. Even the most competitive merchant would not dare steal or tamper with a holed coin, for fear of Dame Fortune's wrath, and all merchants will happily tell the legend of Dame Fortune.

The truth? Well, the force of people's superstitions can cause the effects blamed on Dame Fortune sometimes. New merchants just follow the tradition to avoid being outcast or ignored for breaking it, even if Dame Fortune's not real. Many eventually learn that there is a specific coin, made of dark metal and worn around the neck, which marks a merchant out to buyers who want a black market deal. The practice actually began with Eve, la Reine des Catacombes, but has spread across Montaigne. Anyone selling illegal goods without the dark coin is either an idiot or a cop. Law-abiding merchants learn to ignore the dark coins and not report them, because the dark merchants are not squeamish about silencing people. Dame Fortune herself, well, no one knows. She might not be real.

Le Diable du Sommet is a tale told of the dangerous mountain regions, particularly Mount Dore. They say a creature lives there that craves human blood, but will steal livestock if it can't get any. Travelers are told to avoid the woods around the mountains, and never to travel at night, for that is when the devil hunts the peaks. It is said to be an immense creature, as at home on four legs as two, with an abnormally large body covered in a thick coat of matted reddish fur. It has wicked horns and claws, and its legs end in hooves. No one is sure what animal it is, or if it even is one, given it walks on two legs a lot. Perhaps, they say, it was once human. Others say it is a pure, nightmarish demon of Legion. It has tormented the valleys for a long time, especially the cattle ranches, and Pierre Flaubert de Dore regularly sends hunters to kill it. While they have often returned with the skins and heads of various beasts, the attacks have never really stopped, just paused for a few weeks or months. No manner of corpse destruction has worked, either. The people say the beast is immortal, rising from death each time.

Local predators are the cause of some of the attacks, but not all. The average wolf, for example, lacks the power to behead a cow. Some say it is a bear instead; they aren't wrong. The same magic that creates les Dames Blanches has wrapped illusions around le Diable, warping one of the mountain bears to immense size, strength and age. The tales of goat hooves and horns are false, invented by locals to demonize the beast. It doesn't hibernate, hunting year-round, and often attacks towns in winter, when other prey is scarce. Few have ever run into it personally, though it has several old scars from the times it has been found. The reason it is said to be immortal is that it can heal from pretty much any wound that doesn't kill it; it is not undead. It is a Strength 6, Fearsome and Powerful Monster.

The people of Dechaine have largely returned to their Vaticine faith, now that they've kicked out the nobility. They gather in the city's small cathedral, and pray for Theus' aid. They pray harder than most, for they have the Vaticine Angel. It is said to come by night, leaving food, blankets and other such goods for faithful families in need. To show devotion, people have started to inscribe symbols of faith on their doorframes or hang Prophet's Crosses and above them. The Angel is in theory active across Montaigne, but is spoken of most in Dechaine, where it leaves supplies for the community at the cathedral as well as its home visits. The deliveries are usually on foggy nights, and are taken as a sign that the revolution is good and should be spread.

The truth is that this entire thing began with priests in hiding, using their resources to help local communities without insulting their flocks by giving them charity. After all, the Montaingois are proud people who don't like to take handouts. Gifts from Theus are different - they aren't given in pity. And so, in La Motte and Dechaine, the priests have taken to operating as the Vaticine Angel, inspiring some elsewhere in the country to do similar. They deliver much-needed resources to the people as well as organizing shipments to places like Mont du Flambeau. They serve their own people first, but will not ignore anyone in need. They work independently of any secret society, but Mociutes Skara is aware of the priests using the Angel disguise, and they try to help where they can.

It is well known that Eve Lafrisee controls all crime in Charouse and is terrible to cross. Speaking ill of her or backing out of a deal earns terrible, swift punishment. There is even gossip of disappeared nobles; in polite society, this is referred to as falling under Son Ombre, Her Shadow. The implication is always that those who deal in the dark are not safe. Nobles don't generally fear assassination, but those involved in the underground know there's a lot of danger. It doesn't seem to matter how secretive you are - speak or act against the Queen of the Underworld and you get beaten down and, usually, lose some goods or cash in the bargain. Even nobles have died to it. When asked about it, Eve just smirks. Some say she has a handful of secret spies and enforcers that uphold her reputation and maintain her so far perfect alibis. Eve herself has noticed that her will's enforcement has gone beyond anything she pays for. There is something helping and protecting her, and she has no idea what. It's never asked her for repayment, though, and apparently supports her unconditionally. She's happy to leave it at that. The truth is that Eve has an elder sister that she is never met. Margaux Lafrisee was separated from her family very young, and sought out Eve after hearing of her brother Arnault's death. She shadowed her sister for some time, watching as Eve rose in power. While Margaux lacks the conviction to run a criminal empire herself, she often assists her little sister from the shadows, typically as a hooded figure in the crowd. She is Strength 6, Influence 4, and mostly spends her Influence to hire street thugs to protect her sister's plans and reputation.

Finally, the Sword of Achille is a relic dating back to the Third Prophet. It was wielded by one of his paladins of the faith, Achille, who came to Montaigne, uniting the people and establishing the Vaticine faith in the region as the dominant one. The people were in awe of Achille, who fought any that would harm the Vaticines, winning even against powerful sorcery. Many converted in the belief that he was divinely protected, and after his death he was buried in the catacombs under the Grand Cathedral. His sword was displayed by the Church for many years, until l'Empereur banned the faith. Since then, it has vanished, though scholars are sure it still exists and will surface again - some say to bring about another religious revolution. The peasantry see the sword as a symbol of the faith that they might rally around, and it is said to ignite into bright white flame in the hands of the faithful, ensuring victory and fortune in spreading the word of Theus.

The sword exists. Most of its power has nothing to do with magic or holy blessings, however. Rather, it is a dracheneisen blade, and has lost none of its power. Its 'flaming' in the hands of the faithful is a reference to its shining color, and its innate power against sorcerers is what helped Achille to defeat them. For centuries, the blade was kept in the catacombs under Charouse, hidden in an unassuming name while another sword sat on display. This was to keep it out of the gaze of die Kreuzritter, who hate seeing dracheneisen they don't control. Various scholarly groups moving artifacts have left its exact location a mystery, especially since the blade is kept in a plain, unadorned scabbard rather than its fine original one. To date, no one has found the sword, and the group that took it out of the catacombs may not even know what it is, thanks to the secrecy it was kept under.

Next time: Vestenmennavenjar

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Guilder Rules

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Guilder Rules

For centuries, the Vestenmennavenjar existed as subsistence farmers in the ice and snow, raiding other lands for any wealth and resources beyond the meager few of their native home. Now, the Vendel League has brought unprecedented prosperity, and the raiding economy is now the trading economy, which some have embraced and others have not. The nation is an economic powerhouse, with the Guilder growing stronger by the day. It has no king, no ruler, no crown. It does not need one. Each town and village has its jarl to run things and its carl to handle the economy. There are nobles and strong families, yes, generations of brave heroes who have earned the fame of words by the strength of deeds. But unlike kings and queens, the jarls work with the carls, they don't necessarily rule them.

Once, Vesten was seen as a land of bandits and barbarians. It is now one of the most peaceful on the planet. Under the Vendel League, their merchants have discovered that trade can bring incredible profit, and while the Vesten remain brave and strong, they no longer really need violence to support the economy. They often wonder why no other nation seems to have caught on, in this war-torn world. The jarls maintain executive power, controlling law and policy, but the carls hold the power. Every carl is, in some capacity, a member of the Vendel League, and they represent the League's interests, working closely with the Guilds to ensure the nation runs on a solid economic foundation. While no single ruler leads the nation, the League serves as a kind of central government, deciding best practices and the standards the carls bring to the jarls. Many seeking to become carls cross Theah as representatives of the League, pushing its agenda of profit and getting its hands into all other nations.

Vesten appears, to an outsider, to be weak. It has no army, not vital exports, no ruler. Its navy is a mercantile fleet, its bays are hounded by piracy. And yet, League ships reach most ports safely, the Vesten export more luxury goods than anyone else, the Guilder is accepted almost everywhere, and there are Guildhalls in almost every major city in Theah. The Vesten learned long ago that war was no way to make friends, and have been working to gain power by being a force of stability and economic strength. Why have a military fleet when your ships are welcome everywhere? Why have an army when no one will bar your travelers? Why conquer anywhere when your coin is spent on every corner? While their influence is far from complete, the Vendel League has spread its power far and wide. They deal weapons to everyone, they take bribes from Vodacce to influence prices in Castille, they buy Sarmatian food and sell it to Eisen for weapons to sell to Ussura. If there's trade, they're part of it, or at least know about it.

Frederick Ulfsen, Jarl of Vendel, is the hand-picked replacement for the last powerful jarl of the city of Vendel. He's not a bad man by any means, but he's not a good leader. Many believe this is deliberate by the League. Frederick, unlike most jarls, was not raised a warrior, but a furrier and dealer in luxury furs in the north. He charmed Sofia, daughter of the old jarl of Klorhulg, and she was happy to move to Vendel with him. Many say she's the real reason Frederick's popular with the League - she's a shrewd planner. Her young love dimmed, however, as she grew tired of her husband's expensive tastes and selfishness. When he grew bored of fur, he took his wife's advice and invested in silver, which paid off wildly when the Guilder became accepted across the world. With his wealth, he bought an advisory role under his uncle, Aksel Redhand, the old Jarl of Vendel. Due more to his personality than his skill, he became quite popular as a supporter of art, education and charity, and generally being a really nice guy. He inherited the jarldom upon his uncle's mysterious and untimely death, and while still popular, his peers have long suspected he has no real political power - rightly, as it happens. His frequent visits by influential foreigners lead some to believe his loyalty to Vesten and the League isn't great, and some fear that he, perhaps unknowingly, provides confidential information to enemy spies. He is a handsome, fashionable (if overpolished) man who cares deeply about his appearance and mainland fashion. He is easily flattered, bribed and seduced, and he gets very angry and petty if his appearance is insulted. However, he is not quite as incompetent as the League believes. He hates their use of slavery and works to undermine the slavers' power in the League, though he's worried he'll get caught at it without help. His apparently supportive wife, Sofia, actually hates him and wants him dead, but not until her kids are old enough to inherit. Some say she resents Frederick for being made jarl over her, as she is far more politically skilled.

Gylffi Hafgrimmr, Jarl of Klorhulg, is a wise but very grim man. He wants his people to prosper, but he fears the benefits of the League are outweighed by their price. He has served as jarl for several decades, and is renowned for his strength and dedication. His people have survived off the land for a long time, harvesting furs from the animals of the ice floes, fishing when the sea thaws and working the silver mines. Recently, however, his town has changed from a working outpost kept alive by bravery to a bustling town on the backs of slave labor. This concerns him. He, like many of Klorhulg, spent much time in the mines as a youth, and he knows the difficulties of mining firsthand. He worries not only for the oft-abused slaves that work the mines and the moral toll that using them is taking on his people. Slavery is technically illegal in Vestenmennavenjar, but the use of indentured servants, or thralls, is common. Laws protect thralls and give them rights, making it difficult to force them to work day in and day out in the mines. Some of the League have been importing slaves, forcing them work in the mines and lying to anyone who asks about their origins - even Gylffi. Mociutes Skara has recently come to Klorhulg, and while Gylffi is unsure why, he's glad of the help. He is a very traditional sea-king of the Vesten, with braided hair and whalebone in his beard. He refuses to dress in foreign styles, or to adorn himself with foreign jewels. He's easy to meet for outsiders, as he believes hospitality is his sacred duty, and he is fair and generous, but neither gullible nor naive. He might help those that share his concerns, but he has nothing but scorn for bribes or insults. The Vendel have maneuvered most other prominent leaders of the town out of the area, so he has few allies right now. He quietly turns a blind eye to and funds groups that try to free slaves, but most appear impartial publically, so he can't help as much as he wants.

Ragna Ankidatter, Jarl of Kirk, would have been perfect...oh, a century or two ago. She is fierce, wise and honorable. However, she is not necessarily modern. She was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, destined to lead even from childhood, groomed for the job. She's nearly a century old, and was fostered by the old Jarl of Kirk, who taught her all a jarl needed to know...a century ago. Her traditional focus has served well, but brought her into conflict with the Vendel, who seek to break from some traditions. Vesten folklore claims that the Jarl of Kirk is immortal, merely changing in form, and that when the old jarl dies, their soul retreats into an eagle's egg in their chest, which their successor removes and swallows, gaining their knowledge. Keeping this in mind, Ragna struggles to find a successor to carry on her legacy. She's been grooming potentials for decades, but all of them have died in strange circumstances. She's currently training a number of people, hoping at least one survives her and can continue her traditional ways. However, one of them has a poor constitution, and another, her favorite, is so much like her that almost everyone realizes he's poorly suited to lead the city in the future. The League did not consult her about creating the Breffa, their minting operation in Kirk, though she does understand the political and economic reasons they put it there. She doesn't understand the Mestrkirk, however, and has adamantly opposed the cathedral, which she sees as heresy and corruption to the traditional Vesten ways. The Master Church continues apace, despite her best efforts. Despite her age, Ragna is a tall, potent woman, with braided hair to her waist and traditional, timeless clothing. She carries a staff that is both cane and weapon, and she really does want the best for her people. However, she assumes all traditions are good, and all modern changes are corrupt.

Alvor Ekillsdatter is the leader of the pirate fleet known as the Vesten Raiders, the best-known of the Vesten pirate queens. Her crew loves her, and she has not given up the old way of raiding and theft from other ships. Some blame the Vendel League for not stopping the Raiders, and others wonder if they are somehow connected, since the Raiders never target Vendel ships. Ekillsdatter began life as a fisherman's daughter in Eskjo, but was captured by pirates, who intended to sell her into slavery. She escaped by her daring and wits and a whole lot of luck, making her way home by working aboard various freebooter vessels and discovering that, even when she did get back, the sea and piracy were part of her now. Thus, she set out on her own to gather a crew of raiders. She's worked with numerous crews over the years until, at last, she got her own ship within the Vesten Raiders. Now, over a decade later, she commands the fleet thanks to her intellect, daring, practicality and nearly unnatural luck. She's middle-aged now and has spent most of her life at sea. She's a leathery tan and very scarred, dressing practically and in layers. She enjoys taking trophies in the form of hats, scarves and jewelry from her quarries. She is jovial, and she seems to thrive as much on risk as on profit. She never denies a challenge of any kind, fencing, racing or gambling, and will even take on overwhelming odds if the offer is made in the right way to catch her interest. She never cheats, but anything that doesn't break a stated rule is fair to her, and she respects those who beat her by thinking outside the box.

Elisif Geirsdatter is a brusque, businesslike woman with a great head for numbers. She started as daughter and assistant to a fur trader in Klorhulg, then worked her way up to be the town carl before being persuaded to head to Kirk and become mistress of the League mint. She's always been a very independent woman, as her father left her alone for long periods at a young age, and by the time she was a teen, she handled most of the business end of his fur trade so he could concentrate on trapping. After his death, she worked for the city and eventually became its youngest ever carl. Not long after the slave imports began, she was offered the chance to lead the Breffa, which'd mean relocating to Kirk. This was done as much to prevent her from protesting about the mining slaves as it was to use her business skills, and now she is far too busy with the mint to think much about what's going on back home...though it hasn't stopped her from sending letters to Mociutes Skara about the situation. She is nominally in charge of records, but she handles pretty much all the high-level work of the Breffa, including arranging Guilder shipments, supervising mining quotas and ensuring the underground mint remains a secret. She is intelligent and witty - far moreso than many expect, given her youth - and carries herself with military precision and control in all aspects of her life. She has no real time for intrigue or romance, considering work to be almost sacred. Any attempt to get her to stop that via bribery or blackmail would be prosecuted to the fullest extent she could push for. Her big vulnerability is her concern for the effects of the mines on Klorhulg, which someone who wanted to influence the Mint could exploit.

Ivethay, Giantess of the Island, is legendary - the giant witch who claims Ivethay Island at the center of Wyrd Lake. Ivethay does not, however, exist in the way most people expect. Ivethay is a word meaning crone or witch, and it's a title given to the most respected wise woman of the Ukonsaari tribe, who live on the island. The current Ivethay is Brynhild Bergljot, who's held the post for nearly a decade after her mother retired. She was raised for the role and deeply understands the Ukonsaari beliefs and traditions as well as being a skilled diplomat. She is also a good tracker and hunter, who often travels the length of the island alone, as the Ivethay must not live with any one village and must split her time among them all, offering blessings and advice. By tradition, the Ivethay may have no husband (though she is expected to take various lovers, and can bear children fostered among the tribe). The Ukonsaari consider all adopted children to be the Ivethay's, just fostered out, even if they never meet the Ivethay. She is both a mother and spiritual leader to the people, as well as a war leader, political representative and arbiter of disputes. She unifies the various villages of the Ukonsaari, keeping the peace. All of the islanders respect her, but the groups are warlike and often raid each other when they think they can get away with it. She represents them to the outside, and anything shipped in must pass her inspection first. Brynhild is a head taller than the average Vesten, who are tall enough on average, and is often seen carrying a child. She is never unarmed, and she plans to hold the role for maybe another decade before she passes the job on to a daughter, either adopted or born to her. Those who approach the Ivethay generally find her wary but reasonable, focused first on protecting her people and the children they take in before all else. Those who threaten her people find her an unyielding, eternal foe. She's having some trouble with fosterlings, though - the current Vesten don't need to abandon children much any more, and the islanders won't survive without that population supplement, but she doesn't want to steal children. She wants to open the island, but that gets pushback from more traditional islanders.

Next time: The League

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not The Most Evil Capitalists In The Game, Because ATC

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not The Most Evil Capitalists In The Game, Because ATC

Lucas Gillespie grew up in the Highlands, listening to stories of the Knights of Elilodd. He idolized the heroes and heroines of these tales, hoping to one day be like them. He studied the Sidhe, the ancient laws of Glamour, the code of the Knights and more. All that was tested when a Sidhe settlement appeared near his village, and their Glamour began to take over the land, endangering his family's crops and livelihood. While still a boy, Gillespie was brave enough to go to the Sidhe lord and ask for boon in return for some equal exchange. The lord agreed, assuming the boy a fool, but Lucas invoked the eldest laws of Glamour, binding the Sidhe to a speciic area, well away from the town, and in return, he exiled himself from the Highlands. The Sidhe Lord, unable to deny the deal, as trapped in the tiny holding, unable to leave it or spread her magic until such time as Gillespie returns to the Marches. Now, he travels the world as a member of the Knights of the Rose & Cross, fighting for all that is good. He may not have any Glamour sorcery of his own, but he works to the best of his ability to embody the ethos of the ancient knights. He has recently come to Vesten after hearing of the inhumane treatment of the miners and the Vendel League turning a blind eye to slavery. He works not just to free the Klorhulg slaves, but also to depose those members of the League that allow it to happen. He is a friendly, helpful and very chatty man just barely out of his teenage years, an amazing judge of character, and a loyal friend. He is a poet and storyteller by preference, spreading the tales of what he's seen in exchange for stories from travelers. His biggest issue is that he's a brash, daring go-getter who has no idea that anyone else is working to help the slaves and is liable to blunder into making problems for, say, Mociutes Skara.

Now, the League! Formed almost two centuries ago, it began as merely a loose alliance of merchants and traders to protect their interests and wealth. They employ, work with and trade with countless people, but formally the League itself is only 100 people - nine Chairs that form the ruling council, and 91 Seats representing various powerful people, carls, businesses, towns and trade houses around the world. You could run into a League member anywhere, pushing the goal of making the Guilder the world's currency. Some of them are Villains, others more heroic. The original membershop was just eight carls, each head of a guild. Their decision was voted on by all carls in Vesten, and included trade pacts with Avalon, Eisen and Ussura. The Imperator of Eisen at the time gifted the League with a large boost of start-up capital in exchange for a permanent place in the League. These eight carls and the Imperator's representative became the Chairs, each replaced in time by their hand-picked successor. The rest of the seats were made of various carls and merchants throughout Vesten.

Sortly after the War of the Cross, the Vendel League Chairs decided to spread themselves further beyond their shores, beginning to fill the 91 seats with foreign trade partners. In doing so, many of the members took on AValonian trade names to make it easier for foreigners to pronounce their names. Now, League membership is primarily about profit and political alliance rather than any loyalty to Vesten ideals. Each of the Chairs and Seats holds the title of master in some way. Only the Chairs are permitted to call themselves simply Master, while Seats use things like Guildmaster or Master Merchant or Master Trader. That said, the idiosyncracies of what to call a member of the League are sometimes made up on the spot. Master Mokk occasionally requires people to use as many titles as possible, even 'Carl of Vendel'. That said, no one calls on Chair Master Sigvald Gunnisen, Val Mokk, Carl of Vendel unless they're in truly great need.

The 91 Seats can be bartered, bought and sold. The Chairs cannot. Interference with a retiring Chair's choice of successor is considered practically blasphemous, and anyone who attempts to bribe, murder or buy their way to a Chair is removed from the League, either by sanction or murder. That doesn't stop the Chairs from scheming against each other, lobbying for various successors and so on. Blackmail, bribery and threats used to be commonplace, but that kind of corruption is rarer now, if only because the Chairs have gotten better at hiding their infighting. The Seats are generally more corrupt, though. They come from across the continent, and generally have much more infighting, at higher stakes. The Chairs may threaten or blackmail, but the Seats try to break each other. They mey undermine reputations or legitimacy, or bankrupt each other. Then, someone else - someone of the winner's choice - comes in to buy out the Seat. They make alliuances, gathering networks of merchants and representatives to guard against this kind of treachery.

Master Val Mokk, Sigvald Gunnisen, is head of the Merchant's Guild. On paper, all the Chairs are equal, but Val Mokk is their effective leader. His great-great-great-great-grandfather was one of the original founding carls, which he brings up often and loudly, and the Guild Chair has passed directly through the family line. Mokk was born and raised in Vendel and inherited his position from his mother about ten years ago. He is bald, poor mannered and grossly obese, but he's extremely good at what he wants to do. Which, unfortunately, is mostly manipulation, profit and powermongering. He will trade anything and everything, focusing more on the movement of goods than any specific specialty, and his fortune is largely in taxing other merchants to do business in VEndel. He was the one with the bright idea to universalize the Guilder, and he wants to use it to tax, well, everyone. Under Mokk, it has spread across Theah, but that's also meant an endless demand for silver to make new Guilders. He also has absolutely no qualms about the slavery, abuse and corruption in Klorhulg if that meets the demands. He has no love for anyone who causes loss of productivity or who meddles with the League, but is a powerful ally if you serve his purposes.

Master Allen Trel, Avor Troelsen of the Sailor's Guild, was a 15-year-old boy from Eskjo when he inherited the Chair from his mentor, Jal Erksen, who died unexpectedly. Many believed he was unready, but he's spent the past 15 years proving that he's a cool-headed, well-spoken leader who's up to the job. He's a practical man who oversees the planning of trade routes, schedules and other League matters that require knowledge of the sea. He avoids speaking his mind on any topic that doesn't concern him, and he works well with every other Chair except Joris Brak of the Carpenter's Guild, whom he has an unrequited crush on. In Brak's presence, he becomes a babbling fool who can't stop talking. Some of the League have noticed, but Brak remains entirely unaware of Trel's love for him. Most of the League sees him as entirely apolitical, which he prefers. He does have views, but primarily those are that Vesten should be led by its jarls and carls, and he's neither one. He stays out of politics as much as possible, offering up business solutions that suit everyone in areas he understands and remaining neutral otherwise. He is often sent gifts or offers of support in hopes of gaining his alliance, which he generally returned unopened. He also has some sway with the Vesten Raiders, though he does not directly employ them.

Master Joris Brak, Joris Braakenjorsen of the Carpenter's Guild, sees himself as an artist. He joined young to find an outlet for his creativity, and while his attention to detail meant he'd never be very fast, his talent for mixing beauty and utility earned him a great reputation in his village, Soroya, and later across the natio. He moved to Vendel to apprentice under the then master of the Guild, spending ten years learning and then surpassing his master's work. He was surprised, if not entirely pleased, to be appointed the next Chair when the old man retired, but he's been able to delegate must of his practical respnsibilities to others, leaving him time to pursue his art, if not as much as he wants. He is a massively strong man, yet his fingers are delicae neough to carve tiny details. He is a handsome man who ignores all attempts at flirtation and appears to be entirely married to his work. He cares little for politics, except to believe that the Vendel League must remain in control of Vesten, and he's got no head for infighting or spycraft. Most of the League knows he's loyal and strong, so they ignore him. He'd never help undermine another Chair, but could certainly be talked into fighting off some threat to the League.

Mistress Sela Cole, Selma Colbjorsdatter of the Blacksmith's Guild, is the newest of the Chairs. She was apprenticed to the best smith in Klorhulg when she was very young, and over the years proved to be extremely talented as a smith. Her mentor took her under his wing for extra training, which drew the resentment and hostility of her peers, who spread rumors of a sexual relationship between her and the old widower, though they were entirely untrue, making her life miserable. She left for Vendel with his blessing and a recommendation to the Guild Master, who soon became her next mentor, though she took great care this time to downplay any special treatment. After the old Master's death by pirates, his will named her as his successor. Despite her best efforts, some still assume that had more to do with her relationship with him than her ability. She is an extremely attractive woman who dresses to play that up by preference, often in tight-fitting Montaigne fashion. She's an excellent businesswomand and forgemistress, and her outgoing, talkative nature makes her easy to befriend and hard to hate. She's probably the most approachable of the League Chairs, though she's no slouch in politics if she has to fight. She could be a great ally to anyone who made it worth her while.

Madame Lorraine Weller, Chair of the Jenny's Guild, has been a Chair so long that no one currently in the League can remember when the Avalonian woman was not a part of it. She has a massive spy network across Theah, using her Guild to gain information to help the League. She inherited her seat after decades as aide to the old Vesten Guildmaster, and rumor has it that she's had more royals as clients than any other Jenny, though she never speaks of it and, indeed, mostly just glares at people who ask. She never appeared in public without her hair perfectly arranged and her outfit a risque gown with modest scarlet underpinnings to serve as her badge of office. Her cosmetic skill is nearly perfect, and even at her advanced age, she is an elegant beauty. She regularly takes clients at the jenny's halls, at exorbitant prices, noted as well worth it. She claims it keeps her young and invigorated. She is probably the most informed person in the League, and when it comes to protecting League interests, she is terrifying and ruthless even by the standards of the other Chairs.

Next time: The Guild of Usury

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - I Just Love The Word Usury

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - I Just Love The Word Usury

Mistress Red, Gytha Hallesdatter of the Usury Guild, knows that money that isn't being used is purely decorative. Money makes more money, and Mistress Red is expert at making it do that. She has had the League open branch banks for loans in every town and large village in Vesten, and she personally supervises Guilder loans to other nations. If they get paid back, the League makes a nice profit. If not, they get political advantage and the land deeds put up as collateral. Win-win. Mistress Red is extremely logical, and neither cruel nor dishonest in her practices. She always ensures her contracts are crystal clear in all of their terms, and she has no sympathy or empathy for those who commit to a contract and then fail to fulfill it to the letter. She is always, always faithful to her contracts, and considers the contract a vital part of any business deal, in or out of the Guild. She is scrupulously fair in wording the contracts to ensure both sides have equal weight, and never includes any hidden loopholes or vagaries of language. Mistress Red believes that they are unneeded - no matter how simple you make a contract, some people break them anyway. She benefits from her fairness pretty often, anyway, and it earns her useful social capital. While she is fairly young, the League respects her deeply. She wears her messy red hair in simple braids and prefers simple, conservative clothes. She is always stern and severe, and some call her ruthless, but she sees it as simple pragmatism. She is good at spotting a deal and always reads the fine print.

Master George Skard, Jorgan Skaardalsen of the Brewer's Guild, is a cheerful, stout man who smiles and laughs often. He's held his Chair nearly as long as Val Mokk, but he has much less influence. Skard is certain that the secrets of good life, good marriage, good towns and good nations are all found at the bottom of a keg. Thus, he's used the League to turn Vesten brew from a local necessity to a massive export, and funded exploration of bees, fruits and grapes sturdy enough to survive the Vesten winter, in hopes of expanding their brewing possibilities. His primary interest is making unique brews that everyone wants, and he spends a lot of time tending his fields as well as in the Guild halls. He's got a lab outside Vendel where he experiments with mead, wine, beer and other drinks, using both flavorful additions and various types of cask. He sells his results at high prices in small batches, to pay for the next experiment, and offers paid tours. He cares far more about his brews than being Chair, and he largely ignores the other members of the League. They do likewise, making decisions without consulting him, even when it concerns his trade, because he's happy as long as he can brew and drink freely.

Master Eladio Ballesteros of the Miner's Guild is the only Castillian Chair, and one of three non-Vesten Chairs. He apprenticed under the former Guildmaster, also Castillian, and went to Vendel with her after she became Chair. Not long after his arrival, he was injured in a cave-in while inspecting Klorhulg's silver mines, and he had to have his arm amputated to save his life. He became bitter and jaded from the loss, seeming to lose any concerns about mine safety in the belief that since he had sacrificed an arm, no one else had room to complain. This apathy mixed well with Mokk's greed, and Mokk began to work to discredit any of Ballesteros' rivals for the Chair's succession. He now manipulates Ballesteros via his ego and callousness. Not that he needs much prodding, most of the time. The two have turned the silver mines from a moderate luxury good to a staple export (in the form of Guilder coins). Mokk keeps everyone else fuzzy on the subject of slavery, and Ballesteros keeps the mines going. He is honestly probably a worse person than Val Mokk, who is largely motivated by greed. Eladio Ballesteros, on the other hand, is bitter and sadistic, and he's not that concerned with profit. Even Val Mokk is afraid of him at his worst.

Joseph Volker, Representative of the late Imperator Riefenstahl (and former butler), is unique in that his Chair has no tie to a Guild. He was the Imperator's butler before he was given it, which may have been designed as an insult to the League by the late Imperator. As a contingency of Eisen's original backing of the League, one Chair has always belonged to the Imperator, who appoints its holder and chooses the successor. Or, rather, it did until Riefenstahl died and was not succeeded. Now Volker, who's been around nearly as long as Lorraine Weller, is waiting for his homeland to get their shit together enough to send him a successor. He's sent letters, but he's afraid to leave Vesten and give the League cause to nullify his Chair. Nicklas Trage has, at least, responded to him. It's been negative, as Trage has no intention to do anything but sit on Freiburg, but he has at least adopted the Guilder and kept Eisen somewhat relevant to the League. On the other hand, Freiburg is unstable and Volker knows it. The other Eisenfurst haven't even really responded. Volker loves Eisen deeply, and while he's not left Vendel since his appointment, he always wears a felt hat in the Eisen style. He's an old, thin man who does his best in the memory of his ruler. He cares about the League's interests as much as any Chair, though his preoccupation with his homeland can make him distant. He can play the political game well, and mostly uses his resources to guard against assassination, as he's afraid that or death by old age will mean he has no replacement and the Chair gets nullified.

Secret societies! There are a number of Syrneth ruins in the mountains that interest the Explorer's Society. Just one problem: they spend most of the year buried by snow and ice. The mountain paths are dangerous, even in the warmest months. They try to send expeditions at least once a year during melt season, but so far, not even one ruin has been fully explored due to natural disasters ending the expeditions. Most casual members refuse to even go to Vesten now, leaving much of it unexplored. The more daring sometimes return with a few artifacts...when they return at all. The group has been looking for more coastal ruins, but so far have found only old rune-carved standing stones. The Brotherhood of the Coast have plenty of members in the Vesten Raiders. Not all Raider ships are Brotherhood, but they agree on must things anyway. Few fly the Brotherhood's colors in their own home waters of Grumfather Bay, though, and any Brotherhood member that wants to pirate in those waters has to join the Raiders if they don't want to be sunk. So far, the arrangement's largely worked out. Die Kreuzritter are quite rare in Vesten. The land has many creatures that the order would consider monsters - the Jotun, for example, or trolls - but the locals get very upset if their living myths get attacked. Reports of ghosts and trolls are often conflated with reports of bandits, and some towns will hire people to go clear out trolls causing problems, but for the most part the Vesten prefer to live alongside their monsters, and getting their help in hunting is something die Kreuzritter has rarely been able to do.

The Seekers of the Word of Ekerila are scholars of the Vesten oral tradition, but also scholars of the runes that are studied by the Ypperste Prest. It is said that the runes are the written tongue of the gods, each defining part of life. A Ypperste Prest can use them for magic, but even they can only access the basic runes that are still understood today. These are the backbone of the language, but not its whole. Some standing stones contain large stories that are mostly untranslated, due to loss of runic knowledge. The Seekers want to revive the art of runic translation. They follow a set of stories about Ekerila, the first Ypperste Prest, who translated the language of the gods into the runes, naming them Futhark. She knew of an ancient, powerful race, recording her knowledge of them in runes, and the magic of the runes brought these legends to life, letting them teach her even more words of power. Naively, Ekerila chose to share these words with others, who abused their power and nearly destroyed the land by tearing apart the magic that defined life. Terrified of what she had caused, Ekerila took the runes back and destroyed all but the most vital. Today, only a small handful of Ekerila's runes survive.

The Seekers believe that Ekerila's ancient race that taught her were the Syrneth. They hope to not only rediscover the lost runes but to eventually reconstruct the entire Futhark language that Ekerila used to call forth the legend of the Syrne. They are convinced that the Syrneth and the runes are more connected than most legends indicate, and seek out clues to further this understanding. They are primarily focused on the study of ancient runes, particularly those in and around Syrneth ruins, along with any evidence of the two being connected. Gaining an artifact, relic or knowledge about an ancient runic text is worth 4 Favor if you turn it over to them, which might range from translations, runic artifacts or the location of previously unknown standing stone. Evidence of a link between runes and the Syrneth is worth 5 Favor, which might be runic relic recovered from a Syrne ruin, or texts or translations of the runes that mention the Syrne. You can spend 3 Favor to get temporary access to one of the Seekers' artifacts, though you have to return it once your mission is over. For 1 Favor, the Seekers will encrypt a message in runes for you, meaning only a Ypperste Prest would be able to translate it. For 2 Favor, you can hire a Ypperste Prest to help you out temporarily. They are Strength 6 and have the Sorcery (Galdr) advantage.

The Invisible College operate essentially openly in Vesten. The Inquisition has little to no power there and the League happily funds science. Some more controversial research remains hidden, sure, just in case, but other than that, they're quite happy. Assisting in the construction of a school or university in Vesten earns 5 Favor with them. The Knights of the Rose and Cross have found many benefactors in Vesten, as the Vendel League believes that backing them with Guilders is a great way to make Guilders more popular. They are treated quite well and many have come visiting. However, they also often find that the locals don't actually require their help very often, and they're working as caravan guards as often as not. That said, the League would love to convince Knights to be debt collectors for them. Los Vagabundos work to ensure the League cannot control every jarl or carl. They try to keep the good, strong ones in their positions of power, staving off a total League takeover, and watch League agents very closely for signs of treachery. Mociutes Skara have not been to Vesten much before, as the place has not known war in centuries, but have arrived recently to follow up on reports of slavery. They've been sending in aid to anti-slavery resistance fighters and to help escaped slaves get medical attention and food. The Rilasciare hate Vesten, seeing the Vendel League as merely the exchange of one form of tyranny for another. Even if all jarls and carls were deposed, the League would still be the corrupt, fat leader at the top. They work to undermine the League and its Guilds as best they can, though it isn't easy. Blocking or preventing a Guild member's activity is worth 4 Favor, as the Rilasciare consider the League to be worse even than most kings.

Next time: Places

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Vendel: The Place, Not The League

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Vendel: The Place, Not The League

Vendel was once the seat of the High King, back when Vesten still had High Kings, and it is still the heart of political and economic power. It is said among the Vesten that more bargains are born in Vendel than anywhere else put together. The first traders to establish routes across Theah were from ancient Vendel, and the city is built in a natural port, a sanctuary from the normally stormy waters due to two large natural jetties called the Beard. This plus the deep cove that is Hal Bay and its location near Grumfather Bay have made it a very convenient place to venture out for all kinds of purposes. It is the home of the earliest Vesten permanent settlements, due to easy access to strong spruce lumber, lush farmland and clean springs. The mountains shelter it from the normally harsh Vesten weather and from invasion, and so the early village Vendel grew quickly without ever suffering the overcrowding common in many cities. Most of the fruits and vegetables of the nation are still grown near Vesten, and cattle can be raised there, unlike much of the nation, which relies on hardier goats and sheep. These foods are shipped out to the towns around Vesten, which send back various luxury goods for sale to other nations.

Modern Vendel is a rival to any city in the world for its progress, yet still respects its ancient roots. In the oldest districts, many of the buildings are original, due to their solid and masterful construction, and the old buildings were generally not destroyed to make way for new ones. Rather, the new districts grew around and between them, so that the further you go from the heart of the city, the more modern the architecture gets. There are many public gardens, parks and squares, and while the guards do try to patrol them, at night these areas are criminal hotspots. The older parts of town tend to have fewer of these, though the Vendel builders always took great pride in their architectural skill. Almost all of the populace is employed, as the League goes to great effort to provide jobs for any who want to do them. Civic projects like schools or universities offer many jobs in service, and the local carl has made a program to help the less employable find work maintaining the city's appearance and upkeep as ragpickers, sweepers or gardeners. Even the elderly or infirm can find work, as the League provides them opportunities to teach, be bookkeepers, manage projects or work as artists.

Visitors are welcomed in Vendel, and many schools, museums, galleries and libraries are open to the public. The more martial can explore the shops of weapon and armorsmiths working alongside the builders of ships, artillery and siege weapons, with a wide variety of goods in every shop. All transactions are in Guilders, and while no trade good is forbidden in Vendel, some are handled more discreetly, taxed heavily and so on. The League generally believes the market itself decides what goods are acceptable, but they're aware that problems can happen. The jarldom of Vesten is now largely a ceremonial role, as the city is pretty much run directly by the League. The current jarl, Frederick Ulfsen, is seen as a useful idiot who lets them handle most policy, though his wife, Sofia, is far more politically adept and has spent much time arranging influential engagements for her eight children, none of whom are yet out of childhood.

The Vendel League Guild House is an amazing building, designed with aid from master architects from across Theah, with elements hand-selected from each to maximize beauty and functionality. The grounds allow for easy surveillence by a limited number of guards, and also draw attention to the building's grandeur. The first floor is mostly the League Hall, where the Chairs can meet with people either as a group or in smaller galleries, or even in private chambers, with decor in all levels of opulence depending on who's being met with. The local pages often have a side hustle selling information on where people were made to wait, and for how long, to serve as a kind of socioeconomic barometer for guests. Above the main level, each Chair has their own wing, which each spread out from the central hub. These are as large as many estates, and are the official homes of the Masters and their staff during their time in Vendel. Traditionally, dignitaries are never hosted in these halls, as that is far too informal for the League business model. Many of the Chairs also keep more private lodgings elsewhere, where private gatherings are less frowned on with business partners. A few of them don't, however, preferring to remain close to their Guilds, and typically these people have expanded their halls to be fully functioning Guildhouses, with training and crafting grounds. Mostly, that's the Carpentry and Usury Guilds at the moment.

Mjotuthrstoll, the High King's Throne sits at the heart of the city, atop a stone hill peaked with granite and ringed with standing stones, each twice the size of a man and carved with runes telling the stories of ancient gods and heroes. On the Winter Solstice, the rising sun shines directly on the stone throne at the center, nearly as tall as the stones around it. This was where the old High Kings ruled from, and it is inscribed with a bindrune symbolizing the four pillars of Vesten culture: luck, loyalty, honesty and courage. While no High King has existed in centuries, the throne remains very important to the Vesten people. It is said that those with true leadership can feel a power when they touch the throne, and many would-be leaders of men make pilgrimages to the stones, always claiming to have felt the pulsing thrum. Those with incurable ailments often travel to the throne as well, to supplicate before it for aid from the leaders of the past, in hopes that they will reach out from the afterlife and grant relief. Mothers rub the caps of their children on the bindrune, hoping to grant them its virtues.

The Market is greatest proof of the League's success. It is larger than most outlying villages, built on what had once been grazing land and festival grounds. Permanent stalls have now been erected, with guards patrolling the area even during winter's chill to keep the merchants safe. It bustles throughout the year, and anything that you might ever want is sold there, from precious metals to carrots to fur. Some businesses have been part of the Market for generations at this point, though others use only temporary, seasonal stalls. Goods typically have their own dedicated streets in the market, if they're popular enough. There is also a quarter for slave dealing, carefully overseen by the League to ensure the highest standards of care...within the city proper. Vendel is one of the only locations in Theah that currently sells slaves.

Kirk is a keystone in Vesten culture, and while Vendel is the most powerful city, Kirk is the capital, despite their best efforts. The standing stones in the city's center are said to be the oldest in Vestenmennavenjar, and the buildings around them are home to some of the nation's most revered priests and priestesses. Many of the areas around Kirk are sacred to the gods, dense with standing stones covered in runes that date back to ancient times. The small villages in the area are home to the priests that care for the stones and help guide the locals. Each season, pilgrims from across the nation travel to Kirk for grand festivals and celebrations of the gods, rededicating themselves to the ancient faith. Kirk is the second-largest town in Vesten, historically protected from danger by its distance from the coast. Instead of raiders, they often fought with supernatural beings - mountain giants, river trolls and other legendary beasts that didn't want to share the land. Modern scholars tend not to believe these tales, but almost every building in Kirk still bears rune-signs of protection against such foes, even if the local architects say they're just traditional now. Kirk has many universities and libraries, due to the difficulty of invading it, most of which contain sacred knowledge to the Vesten. Per capita, it has more schools than any other town or city, and many of the nation's best and brightest studied there. The same difficulty of invasion that led to the sacred texts being stored there is also why the Vendel League chose it to host the Breffa, thought by outsiders to only be a record of their business dealings. Its basement contains more wealth than the entire rest of the nation together.

Mestrkirk, also called the Greatest Cathedral, is a construction project drawing interest from across Theah. Objectionists don't necessarily perform pilgrimages, but the cathedral has such a reputation that it's drawn in devotees from across the world to witness its glory, incomplete still even after decades of work. Because Kirk is home to many historically notable temples and churches of the Vesten traditional faith, some find it confusing that the League would sponsor the world's largest Objectionist cathedral there, especially the traditionalists, who often consider it an insult. They say the greed of the merchants blinds them and tempts them to insult the gods with this blasphemy, dreading the day the Allfather and his kin destroy the abomination and all involved. No one can claim the church is ugly or not majestic, however, and it's definitely brought a lot of commerce to the city.

The Breffa is seen by many as merely the home of the endless accounting records of the Vendel League. It is a common Vesten joke to say that the demand for rags to make paper threatens to leave the nation with full pockets and no pants, or that the Vendel seek people with four hands to double their efficiency in accounting. And the Breffa certainly does contain records of every deal the League makes, no matter how small, since its inception in the 15th century. These official records are kept in runic script, possibly due to heritage and possibly as a cipher against outside spies. It has spawned entire businesses of inkmaking, archiving and innkeeping in Kirk, so it's definitely important. But even more than that, it hides a subterranean mint and vault. Within, the League keeps its vast trove of gems, precious metals and land deeds, its most important documentation and more. Spies would kill to get access...if they knew it existed. This hidden vault is a well-kept secret from all but League members and the Mistress of the Breffa. And below that? That's the mint, unknown to all but the most ranking in the League. A single master craftsman known only as Meister supervises the mint. It is said he was brought in from Vodacce and is loyal to the League, but even the Mistress has no idea how that was achieved. He and his trio of apprentices, who live in the depths with him, create the Guilders. These four strike each coin, and no Guilder leaves the Breffa without the Meister's approval. Only the most loyal of soldiers are employed to guard the Breffa's storage and mint, many of whom owe life-debts to the League or have family fostered by the Chairs' households to guarantee their loyalty.

Next time: Grumfather Bay

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Vendel: GRUMFATHER

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Vendel: GRUMFATHER

Grumfather Bay is a great body of water reached by heading up Hoppe Channel, an inland sea large enough to hold the entire Glamour Isles comfortably. The northern shores belong to Vesten since time immemorial. Eskjo is a small but highly independent town along that coast, relying almost entirely on the bay to survive. Its people are mostly fishers, and the jarldom is highly traditional, following the same loose family line for generations. However, Eskjo's most notable figure is not its jarl, but Alvor Ekillsdatter, leader of the Vesten Raiders. She uses Eskjo as her main base of operations, directing her network of pirates from its shores. They largely ignore Vesten vessels, but all foreigners are fair game. Alvor is beloved for her sense of humor and her love of gambling. The Raiders actually are a largely bloodless operation - they show up and ask ships for a 'donation,' and if the offering is worthy, they let the ship go. If they refuse or pay poorly, then the ship is shot to bits, of course, and everything of value is taken, often including the clothing of those aboard. The survivors are then let go to face ridicule at port.

Somajez is probably the least Vesten town in Vesten, because only a few years ago, it was an Ussuran garrison. Ownership of the village has always been hotly contested by the two nations, largely because it's located on the furtheast eastern point of Grumfather Bay and thus is a strategically ideal location for both land and naval recon and military missions towards either nation. The locals have taken parts of both cultures, integrating them into a unique whole. Somajez is more of an outpost than a town, however, relying heavily on funding from whoever owns it. It's got few natural resources and is not on any major trade routes, so without the military base there, it'd never have developed beyond a minor village. It is unclear who put the garrison there first, but they brought enough resources to hire the locals to support them, and that allowed Somajez to grow to a decent size today. The villagers have spent generations providing service to the two miltaries. The fortress has had many names, but the locals are always hired to handle its domestic services, and the troops always rely on them for anything that doesn't come through local channels, such as good food, non-military-issue goods of all kinds and entertainment. The most recent change in ownership is probably the least dramatic in the town's history, almost entirely bloodless and the result of the Vendel League interceding with Ussura as part of a trade agreement. Vesten tradition demands a jarl and carl, so two locals were promoted to those roles. The fortress has a commander, too, appointed by the League to watch over the military. The real power in the town is none of these three, but instead Waldemar Hagensenn, the representative of the League and nominally a servant of the jarl. The jarl is well aware that in any matter of real importance, his word is the League's, and that word is law.

Jarl Forest covers much of the Vesten interior and is the thickest forest in the nation. It's said that the trees at the forest heart may have been there when the gods walked the earth. It's where the wood for the League fleets comes from, and also most of the lumber exported to the less wooded parts of the rest of the world. It is also home to several-hundred-acre estates, usually used for nobles to hunt things. Hunting is popular among jarls, especially since war is no longer something Vesten really does. Only the bravest hunt in the forest heart, however, where folks say there are giant snakes large enough to eat a horse and rider whole, or spiders the size of a small house. The most feared and respected beast, however, is the legendary lindworm, a wingless drachen with powerful forelegs and no hind legs. It is said to be highly venomous, with the largest also breathing fire and noxious smoke. Legend says that one of the last High Kings slew a lindworm in single combat to prove her skill before taking the throne.

Krog, literally Pub, is also called the Inn at the Crossroads. It was begun as one building, but is now a small village of descendants of the original owner. It sits in the Jarl Forest, serving as a popular spot to rest, as the forest is too large even for the swiftest horse to cross in a single day. It is now in its second generation, and has a smithy, two inns, a brewery, a general store and a carpenter, plus whatever traders have set up shop for the season. The village is run by the original owner's son, Bjorn, and his wife Justa. It's the only non-religious settlement to be found deep in the woods, and because of this and the forest's long folkloric tradition, some claim the pair are actually not mortal humans. They are certainly spry for their advanced age, but neither will claim to be anything other than healthy from clean living and hard work. The Krog is frequently used as a meeting place for spies and criminals due to being so out of the way, and Bjorn and Justa are probably aware of this, but can't be choosy. They are, however, still Vesten loyalists despite whatever may go on in their home.

Standing stones can be found throughout the deep woods, some of the oldest in all of Vesten. Some bear clear messages of praise for the gods or brag about achievements, but others are so ancient that no one can actually understand the runes carved on them. One group of such stones, originally a full dozen but having lost one over the years, is so ancient that even the most learned Ypperste Prests cannot understand anything about them or their purpose, though several have dedicated their lives to protecting the formation, known as the Stones. Travelers make pilgrimages to the site each year, often leaving gifts or sacrifices on the slab-altar there and consulting with the priests in search of solutions to life's trials. The priests do their best to help and advise, sometimes calling on their Galdr sorcery to assist. Rumors say that an oracle is among the priests, and that while the priests do not allow outsiders to meet the seer, they may pass along questions. She is said to see the living myth around her so clearly that she can follow its flow into the future. Some say that a Stones oracle predicted the advent of the Vendel League a full generation before it happened, though if that oracle is the same one as exists today is a matter of debate.

Many of the immense trees in the forest are majestic, but Gandr, the Staff, stands above the rest - literally. Stories say the gigantic oak was the walking stick of the Allfather himself, thrust into the ground to grow. Its trunk is larger than a house at its base, and its branches go so high that legend has it that any who climbs to the top on the night of the full moon can speak to the gods themselves. It is the only oak in a forest otherwise made largely of birch and pine, and has been a pilgrimage destination for centuries, especially for those that wish to abandon their past and join the sacred band that worships and cares for it. Some say that swallowing an acorn from Gandr will cure any poison or illness, and others say that only an arrow made from its holy wood can slay a lindworm. The tree is extremely sacred to the Vesten people, and any that harm it will find the entire nation ready to fight them.

Heading further into the Northlands, the land becomes harsh and inhospitable...compared to the rest of the nation. Those who live there are admired for their stoicness and fortitude even by other Vesten, for it is the most extreme region. Most of the population live in small villages near stands of trees, fresh water or seasonal migration paths. Their growth is limited by food availability more than anything else, even armed with Vendel League wealth, and they are the poorest places in the entire nation. Many of the coastal villages can only be reached by water in the summer, during the melting of the Allfather Ice Floes. The rest of the year, they can be reached only overland, mostly by caribou sleigh or dog sled.

Klorhulg is extremely notable in the Northlands for having been a full-size town for generations. This is due mainly to being on one of the deepest fjords in the area, and being on top of a silver mine. Its bay is so deep that it never freezes over entirely or becomes ice-locked, so it is the most northern active port, distributing supplies to the rest of the Northlands. It is the local hub of culture, trade and communication, with other villagers making hundred-mile trips (or longer) to trade furs for necessary goods there. The mines of Klorhulg are the richest in Vesten, perhaps the world, and were originally just worked by the locals for export. When the Guilder was created, however, demand outstripped production, and thralls began to get sent to the mines to work. For a time, this was good. The thralls worked off their debt faster than they would elsewhere, the locals enjoyed the help and the quotas were met. As demand increased, though, it wasn't enough, and the labor demands became tyrannical. Thralls quickly paid their debts and fled south, and the locals balked at what was asked of them. The League began to import slaves to assist, claiming they were just thralls. At first, it helped ease demand, but now, even more silver is needed to fuel the Guilder's popularity, and humane production levels are insufficient.

The Allthing's laws on thralls have caused outrage at the treatment of the slaves, but most of them are entirely unaware of their rights within Vesten. As conditions worsen, the actual thralls and independent miners refuse to work, citing safety concerns and inhumane treatment. This revolt threatened to shut down production, so Master Bellesteros has fired all local labor, thanked them, and replaced the entire mining crew with illegal slaves. To prevent a town revolt, the locals are offered a small subsidy to not work in the mines and overlook the slave conditions. Some, however, including former carl of the town and current Mistress of the Breffa, are less willing to accept that. The League does its best to distract and misdirect them, and many wonder how Jarl Hafgrimmr will decide to deal with things.

Next time: The Jotun of the Ice and the Ukonsaari

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not To Be Confused With The OTHER Jotun

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Not To Be Confused With The OTHER Jotun

Allfather Ice Floes are a set of frozen glaciers and floes that, combined, are as big as the entire rest of the nation put together, at least during winter, when they double in size. In summer there is significant melt, allowing access to the northern coastline above Klorhulg for a few months of whaling, fishing and trade. The floes have always been vital hunting grounds for the locals, who often head out to the ice in search of seals, walrus, ice bears and other fat-rich animals to eat. Many do not return, though, for the ice is treacherous and the beasts dangerous. Also, there are monsters. In recent years, explorers have taken to heading out on glacier safaris to hunt big game, which is a good source of income for the locals who are willing to babysit rich idiot foreigners. Besides the great ice bears, walrus and other beasts, some explorers seek legends - most notably, the Jotun, a mythical tribe of cannibal half-human giants that were driven into exile in the early days of Vesten. They are not to be confused with the Jotun, mythic spirits or living legends that appear around the nation. These Jotun, the cannibal giants, are said to possess lost and ancient magic, such as the secret of survival on icy wastes. To date, no one has ever actually proven they exist. The local Vesten know that Jotun are real, but they aren't cannibals - at least, not all. If asked, they will explain that the Jotun are living myths, creatures and people of the past that continue to influence life today. This has never stopped them from lying to idiots about the cannibal ice giants for a buck, though.

Wyrd Lake is on the northern edge of Jarl Forest, formed in the remnants of an ancient volcano and fed by the purest of spring waters. It is the source of several major rivers and smaller tributaries. It and the island at its center have always been important in local folklore. Some say it is the home of the great tree that binds the living world to the afterlife, while others say it is where the ancient giants that fought the Vesten ancestors retreated to. This is the source of the island's name - Ivethay Island, either Island of the Crone or Witch Island depending on how you translate it. The island, it is said, and all within it are owned by an immortal witch that turns trespassers into trees, and so it is covered in forest.

Ivethay Island is large enough to, honestly, be a small nation of its own, but all that is there are a few tribal villages, most of which have very little contact with the outside world. These all belong to the Ukonsaari tribesmen, who have lived on the island for as long as anyone has ever known. They are notable for being a full head taller than most other Vesten, for being matriarchal and for having fought the other people of the land until driven back to Ivethay Island, which they defended fiercely. Over the centuries, various legends and rumors about them have spread, some out of lack of information and others actively fostered by the Ukonsaari for protection. While the island is more than large enough to support at least one town, there are none - just small villages that shelter the various Ukonsaari family groups. They are all related via a complex system of matriarchal lineages, and to prevent inbreeding, the women carefully track genealogy and arrange marriages, often fostering children out to other villages to help diplomatic relationships. Each village has its own leaders, but all look to the Ivethay, a single wise woman, to deal with inter-village disputes and important issues.

The legends of the Ivethay have actually been, historically, the solution to the island's potential inbreeding problem. See, one legend says that the giant witch living on the island loves children and will never harm them, and for centuries, a woman unable or unwilling to raise her own children has followed this folktale and brought her child to Ivethay Island, leaving them on the shore in the hope that Ivethay will watch over them. This was often done by unwed mothers or the very poor, though the Ukonsaari have also historically adopted children targeted for death, such as rivals for a throne or the bastard offspring of powerful nobles and leaders. Adopted children are raised as full Ukonsaari, with no social stigma, and in some ways even value them more, because of the greater ease in arranging their marriage genealogically. The Ukonsaari see this adoption of children as their sacred duty and honor, and this has occasionally caused conflict with the rest of the Vesten, who want to use those kids as pawns in their politics. The Ukonsaari have always known they can't beat the rest of Vesten, so they rely heavily on stealth, secrecy and superstition to keep people away from the island and its adopted children. Over time, the tradition of leaving children for Ivethay has started to fade, so the people are now desperate to get new blood in. Some want to open trade with outsiders to get people to immigrate, but others fear the changes that would bring. That said, the Ukonsaari do have some contact with the outside world. Sometimes, a tribesperson will leave the island to trade for goods they can't produce at home. However, they always hide their origins when doing this, passing themselves off as a traveling merchant or similar.

The western coast, meanwhile, has developed largely independently of the rest of Vesten. They are more isolated than others, as the western coastline is dangerous and far from most places, with rocky cliffs and dangerous storms. The largest of the coastal cities are Soroya, Costa and Thorshofn, but even they are rarely visited by sailors due to the dangers. Their dialects differ from the rest of Vesten, and they tend to consider themselves Western Coast rather than normal Vesten, though the three cities are not identical by any means.

Soroya, in the north, is like a place out of the past, when isolation was normal and each jarl was a foe to each other jarl. While most of Vesten has embraced the Vendel League, Soroya rejects their 'advancements' as weakness. Most Soroyans know they can't hope to stop the League, but they seek to remain as aloof and distant as possible from it without drawing its ire. The Soroyans are very proud, especially of the fact that the last High King was from their city, and their current jarl is his great-great-grandson. They do not like outside religions, and while they are generally xenophobic, they are especially cold towards openly Vaticine or Objectionist strangers. Officially, violence is forbidden against those of other faiths, but there's never been a guilty verdict in any case involving crimes against those spreading the teachings of either church. Probably due to its xenophobia and aloofness, Soroya is in decline. It has no mines to bolster it and it is in a very harsh area, with little resources to draw the League's interest. They rely on the sea for survival, as they always have. They often practice traditional raiding, albeit with more discretion than their ancestors needed. Unlike the Vesten Raider fleet, Soroyans will happily attack League ships, and when they attack, they kill everyone aboard to eliminate witnesses before ransacking the vassal and burning it. While this fleet is said to be lawless, they actually serve the Jarl of Soroya, and all stolen goods go directly to the city's treasury. So far, the League has not officially noticed anything, but they're probably aware and just deciding how to handle it. The Raiders do not like the Soroyan fleet, especially their murderous tendencies, and are entirely unaware that the Soroyans serve a jarl - so they have no one to target yet. It's only a matter of time before they learn of it, however, and decide to act.

Costa is southwest from Soroya, and it exists for two main reasons. First, it's sitting on top of a small but extremely deep bay that is a perfect harbor. Second, the small but healthy woodland nearby is excellent for making ships. And so, Costa is a city of shipwrights and explorers. Life there isn't that different from elsewhere on the western coast, but Costans are most likely to go on very long sailing trips away from home, rather than simple coastal fishing. Most of these are theoretically trade voyages, but Costa's actual imports and exports aren't numerous. Most of these crews are actually explorers and knowledge-seekers, who return with new tales and experiences. Exploration of the world is such a huge part of the Costan identity that most youths consider a sea voyage to a far-off land a vital rite of passage to adulthood. What they learn and bring back are considered to show what kind of person they will become, and Costans take on deed-based surnames based on their ocean voyages pretty often - Eagle-Eye for spotting an unknown island, Surfson for spending a long time out there, Twoship for surviving a vessel's sinking. Costa is one of the most cosmopolitan and places in Vesten, but in a very different way from, say, Vendel. They collect life experiences and worldly knowledge, not books and trade. Their jarl, Mara Eastman, is famous for her first sea journey, which took her to the Highland Marches, around the continent and all the way to the Crescent Empire. Travelers are treated as welcomed guests and pumped for information and stories of their homelands and travels, and many of the locals are foreigners that fell in love with a native and came home with them.

Thorshofn, literally Thor's Bay, is named for an ancient jarl of legend, and is the southernmost of the three cities. It, like the other western coast cities, relies heavily on the resources of the sea to survive, but it also is the most open to active trade with other nations. Compared to the rest of the western coast, its location means it's gotten far more foreign attention, though Avalonian and Eisen raiders typically underestimated the distance to get there and arrived wearied, often killed or captured by the townsfolk, their goods taken and integrated into Thorshofn's economy and culture. Eventually the foreigners came instead to trade, and Thorshofn is the biggest supplier of foreign goods for the entire Western Coast. Locals also export huge amounts of salt cod and sea-ready goods, and have traders coming in even from as far as Soroya to sell things that do better in foreign ports than at home. Thorshofn's jarl and carl work very closely together, working to profit off trade without becoming too big a target to steal from. While they remain traditionalist in fashion, most locals also own goods and clothes from foreign lands that took their fancy, and are most likely of the western coasters to be multilingual. They tend to find travelers who don't come to buy and sell things to be suspicious, but there are small communities of people from most Thean nations living there, so it's not nearly as bad as, say, Soroya. The people tend to be transient, often heading out on trade voyages in search of new deals.

Next time: Rune magic.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Words of Power

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Words of Power

Galdr is the sorcery of runes, and while it isn't quite lost, it's pretty dang rare. The mythical hero Ekerila is said to be the one who discovered, or perhaps rediscovered, the futhark, the ancient language of the gods. However, she made a terrible mistake - she shared her knowledge with the wrong people, and power fell into the hands of those who misused it. She tried for the rest of her life to right this wrong and ensure only the worthy held the power of Galdr...but she failed, because that's impossible to do. Once the power has escaped, you can't get it back in the bottle. Use of Galdr is rare in modern Vesten, but has seen some resurgence. Traditionalists see it as one of the Old Ways, a reminder of the times when the gods spoke in words of thunder. More modern Vesten see it as a very useful tool, when they can find someone to teach them the power.

Those who know the futhark and how to use its power are known as vala. Some modern Vesten say that anyone who claims to be vala is merely a charlatan hiding beind a word of power, and that's often correct. However, the real vala can call on true power, and no one can deny that when it is invoked. The Seekers of the Word of Ekerila do their best to police the vala, but that's not an easy job. The vala usually have no desire to deal with them at all, and the Seekers have somewhat lacking political influence. Besides, no vala wants to see their power regulated to much extent, having seen what happened to the strega of Vodacce.

Each purchase of Sorcery (Galdr) grants you two runes, of which there are a total of twelve. Each rune has two words that it can be used for - the Stort Merke ('great mark') and the Litet Merke ('small mark'). The magic is not, however, in the shape of the runes. Anyone can draw a rune. Vala learn to do so while working their will into the script, infusing the rune with magic. However, even a magical rune doesn't do anything while it's sitting there. The power is released when the rune is broken. Vala typically carry around small clay tablets bearing their runic inscriptions, which they snap or hurl to the ground and shatter to activate. However, they even learn to draw runes so quickly that they can use a stick or finger to scratch one in the dirt or write it with chalk, then wipe it out to release the magic.

It is said that there is a thirteenth rune, one that Ekerila hid away before she ever taught Galdr to others. Some say this lost rune has power over life and death, and that even speaking it is enough to invoke it. Most vala know this story, but they tend to interpret it differently. Some say that the thirteenth rune is a metaphor for the power of the runes and a warning against using them too often or frivolously, due to the severe punishment the runes levy for doing so. Others believe Ekerila was able to commune with the gods directly, or that the final rune has the power to kill or to give life, or to transfer life from one to another. Few actively seek out the thirteenth rune, if it even exists. Most agree that whatever it is, Ekerila hid it away for good reason, and even the most selfish or foolhardy vala does not use the runes lightly. Only the wisest would be able to handle that power, and few vala today consider themselves that wise.

Activation of a Galdr inscription always involves two runes - one Stort Merke, modified by one Litet Merke. They are woven together in such a way that they're nearly inseparable. There is a third rune that is needed, however, and without the magic is impossible. This rune is the vala's own name, written by them. Because of this, the runes and tablets made by a vala are useless to anyone but them. It is only by binding your own name into the magic that you are able to shape it to your will. Each time you activate Galdr, you spend a Hero Point and choose one of your known runes' Stort Merke, gaining its effect. Then you choose one of your known runes' Litet Merke effects and gain that. They can be from the same rune, but they don't have to be. During a Sequence, this also costs one Raise. Most Litet Merke add an effect to the target of the Stort Merke. If your Stort Merke does not require you to choose a specific target, the Litet Merke may target anyone in the same Scene. Otherwise, it must target the same person as the Stort Merke.

Galdr is all about balance, however. The futhark represent both a thing and its opposite. A rune used to prosper causes a loss eventually, for example, even if not of the same kind. There is always balance. Using Galdr on your foes will eventually bring them good luck, though few vala mention this. Most people in Vesten fear them, after all, and the power of their runes, and they see no reason to mess with that. Thus, few foes will attribute any future good fortune to a vala's magic, even if it's caused by that in the long run. What's more important and even less known to non-vala is the cost on the vala. If you use Galdr without the specific will to do it, in the sense of using it in a moment of passion or for petty reasons, the rune's balance will reflect back on you. Vala train for several years to learn how to make runes with the correct purpose of will and how to use it, and they can inherently sense when they are using Galdr 'correctly' or when they risk backlash. Essentially, whenever your character uses Galdr out of spite, passion or for thoughtless reasons, the GM may spend a Danger Point to apply any negative effects of the Stort Merke to you as well. You gain none of its positive effects.

Futhark
Beast is the rune of hunting skill, primal instinct, animals and monsters. It is used to name great heroes with a tie to wild places, and by commoners to protect against wildlife.
Stort Merke: Choose one character present in the scene, which can be you. The target becomes immune to the Qualities of any Monster that specifically targets them until the end of the round, but any Wounds caused to them by a Monster or wild animal are increased by 1.
Litet Merke: The target can speak to and understand Monsters and animals for the rest of the scene. This does not ensure that they'll have anything interesting to say or will obey in any way, just that they're understandable.
Blood is the rune of family, kinship and community. It is used to name heroes with great lineage, whose families do great deeds, and by commeners to ensure communal health and safety.
Stort Merke: Spend any number of Hero Points. You may transfer all Hero Points spent to any other character in the scene.
Litet Merke: The target may immediately spend a Hero Point to gain 2 Raises.
Courage is the rune of legitimacy, rulership and nobility. It names heroes who once ruled the land and those of noble heart, and it is used by commoners to ensure truth and honesty in business.
Stort Merke: Spend any number of Hero Points. The GM loses that many Danger Points.
Litet Merke: Choose another character in the same scene as you. They may immediately activate an Opportunity without spending a Raise.
Storm is the rune of unpredictability and change. It names heroes who fell to villainy or villains redeemed, and is used by commoners to ask for rain in dry seasons.
Stort Merke: All characters in the current scene gain 1 Raise immediately. Choose one character. They gain 2 Raises instead.
Litet Merke: The target can immediately change their Approach.
Iron is the rune of trial, will and perseverence. It names heroes who overcome great setbacks, and many call on it to ward off disease and bad luck.
Stort Merke: Choose a character in the same scene as you, which cannot be you. Apply Pressure to them. If they choose to overcome the Pressure by spending the extra Raise required, they gain 1 Hero Point. If they choose instead to do what you Pressure them to do, they heal Wounds equal to their highest Trait.
Litet Merke: The target may choose to gain 1 Raise and take Wounds equal to their highest Trait.
Light is the rune of revelation, truth and sight. It names just and true heroes, and is used by commoners to attract wealth.
Stort Merke: Choose one character in the scene with you. Until the end of the scene, they cannot lie, but always know when someone else lies.
Litet Merke: The target can immediately take an action without spending a Raise, but that action must use either Notice or Empathy. (No improvisation cost is required.)
Spirit is the rune of freedom, emotion and empathy. It names heroes who gave of themselves to help others and is used by commoners as a love charm.
Stort Merke: Choose one character in the scene with you that is under Pressure. The Pressure is immediately removed, but for the rest of the round, they must spend 2 Raises rather than 1 to overcome any further Pressure.
Litet Merke: Choose a second character in the scene with you. They get the effects of the Stort Merke you used, just as the first target. If your Stort Merke already affects multiple characters, this has no effect.
Star is the rune of mystery, hidden danger and deception. It names heroes of unknown origin and is used by most to ward off danger.
Stort Merke: Choose one character in the scene with you besides yourself. They gain the Shapeshifting Monster Quality. However, they take 1 Wound each time they take an action while shapeshifted, and if they take a Dramatic Wound, they return to normal and lose the Quality.
Litet Merke: The target can immediately take an action without spending a Raise, but that action must use either Hide or Theft. (No improvisation cost is required.)
Stone is the rune of endurance, perseverence and stubbornness. It names heroes who fought against all odds, and is used by commoners as a charm for healthy crops and herds.
Stort Merke: Choose one character in the scene with you. The next time they are dealt Wounds this round, halve those Wounds (rounding up). The next time they deal Wounds this round, halve those Wounds (rounding up). Even if not used, these effects go away at the end of the round.
Litet Merke: the target can spend a Hero Point to ignore/delay any penalties resulting from Consequences, such as Wounds or dice penalties, until the end of the round.
Thunder is the rune of boldness, fury and pride in adversity. It names heroes who brought peace, and is commonly used to tell someone they're being too proud and should stop.
Stort Merke: Choose one character in the scene with you. The next time they deal Wounds this round, they deal extra Wounds equal to your highest Trait. The next time they are dealt Wounds this round, they take extra Wounds equal to your highest Trait. Even if not used, these effects go away at the end of the round.
Litet Merke: The target is immune to Fear until the end of the round.
Time is the rune of prophecy, destiny and cycles. It names heroes with great destinies and is used by commoners to ward against idleness.
Stort Merke: Choose one character in the scene with you (which can't be you). They immediately lose all remaining Raises. Next round, they get bonus Raises equal to double the amount lost.
Litet Merke: The target must take an action immediately, which costs Raises as normal. If this is combined with the Time Stort Merke, they act before losing their Raises.
Winter is the rune of hardship, darkness and inevitability. It names heroes who sacrificed much but failed, and is used by commoners to ward against hardship and bad luck.
Stort Merke: Choose an Opportunity in the current Scene with you. That Opportunity is destroyed; no one can activate it.
Litet Merke: the next time the target is dealt Wounds this round, they take 1 extra Wound.

Next time: Dueling

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Masters of the Blade

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Masters of the Blade

Duelists occupy a very strange space in VEsten politics. The jarls protect the people and the carls provide the wealth. However, a Duelist needs no protection, and generally has sufficient income to stand apart form the carls as well. This makes the Dueling Houses a third pillar of power in Vesten. The carls and jarls often hire Duelists, but none except fools consider themselves to hold power over Duelists. The Houses work with, not for. It is generally not publically known, but no jarl would ever enforce justice on a criminal Duelist, because they police their own. No carl would ever break a deal with one, even if doing so made more money, because the repercussions would certainly come and they'd be very nasty.

The power the Dueling Houses of Vestenmennavenjar represent is not to rule, but the power of honor and oath. City officials often employ Duelists to oversee the settlement of disputes, keep the peace and even to be honor guards. Jarls and carls do not pay Duelists in this way, but are expected to donate handsomely to their Dueling Houses if they frequently call on Duelist aid. The Dueling Houses are well known for hiring out their Duelists. Anyone can submit a contract and pay the hefty hiring fee, and these contracts can be long-term or single-event. The House decides which Duelist, if any, to send to each contract, and requests for specific Duelists are always ignored. If a contract is declined, the petitioner gets a letter of rejection and a refund of half the hiring fee.

The Houses of Vesten do not consider themselves to be mercenaries. Rather, they offer a supply of trained Duelists to meet demand, and never accept any contract they consider beneath them. Once on assignment, the Duelist may interpret the contract as they see fit. The Dueling Houses, unique amongst Thean nations, do not require any tuition for fencing students. Their standards are extremely high, on par with the most elite and exclusive dueling academies, but they welcome anyone who can meet them to enroll. However, any Duelist traned in Vesten is contractually obligated to send a portion of their income back if they use any skills they gained at the academy. This accounts for a large portion of the income of Vesten each year, and is one reason that Vesten Duelists can afford to be outside the normal power structure. Since the Vendel League created them, these Duelists insist on payment in Guilders.

Vesten Duelists typically look down on mercenaries, and see themselves as above them even while on contract. Anyone can pick up a weapon and get paid to fight - a Duelist is an artist of combat. They dedicate their lives to understanding it, and to call them a mercenary is an insult, like calling a blacksmith a mere tinkerer. It is worth noting that outside Vesten, this view is not generally common. Other nations see the Vesten Duelists as mercenaries, though only idiots actually say so, learning the hard way that these Duelists take honor extremely seriously and, of course, are legally permitted to challenge people to duels.

Hallbjorn is a fencing style created by the legendary pirate Hallbjorn Ulfsen after his retirement to join a Dueling House. The style teaches how to use a shield, not only as defense but as a weapon. A master of this style can create openings for others and also simultaneously smash foes with their shield. Unlike the shields used by most other nations' armies, the Vesten round shield is wood not metal, though it is reinforced with a metal frame. It's not as durable as many other shields, but it is lighter and thus easier to use for strikes. These shields rarely last long when used actively, so many Hallbjorn Duelists also master the craft of making new shields. They typically refuse to use a shield made by anyone else, believing that in making the shield they give it some of their own ferocity. The style bonus is the Hallbjorn Slam. When you wield a heavy weapon, such as an axe, hammer or longsword, in one hand and a shield in the other, you can perform the Hallbjorn Slam Maneuver. When you do, you deal (Brawn) Wounds, and the next time your target takes Wounds this round, they take an additional (Brawn) Wounds. You can use this only once per round.

Now, myths! The people of Vesten hold to their old myths, and these are more than just stories. The spoken word is very important culturally, and the myths are passed down among families. Sometimes they are embellished but the core lesson remains the same. These lessons are not hyperbole, at least not just that, and serve as real warnings about or praises to people and creatures past. These myths are believed, because they are real. The land is essentially a memory palace, constructed to preserve these 'ghosts' of myth. A man who protected his village from a rabid bear may, centuries later, still serve as a ghostly guardian. These phantoms are called living legend by foreigners, but the Vesten generally call them Jotun - giants. This term is easily confused, and in more remote areas, the word Vaettir is prefrred - spirit. Some of these beings manifest unpredictably, others under certain conditions. Some are insubstantial, but the best-remembered can appear as flesh and blood, indistinguishable from the living except in how they act. Most Jotun are only locally famous, remembered in one town or region. A few, however, are nationally remembered, and those are the ones we're mostly going to talk about.

Sinterklaas can manifest anywhere, but most often in quiet, open spaces. Most say they've seen him in winter, but some claim he came to them on a cool summer night. Sinterklaas rarely visits people individually except on his special day. Each year on that day, a VEsten child will receive a toy in thir stocking, carved of pinewood. Always a toy - never anything but. This is the doing of Sinterklaas. It is said that he was a CAstillian missionary of the Vaticine who came with a pocket full of winter oranges. He was less focused on dogma than kindness, and while the Vaticine never really spread, he stayed in the land and made it his mission to bring joy to children. The day that the toys are given is known as Sinterklaas Day, or just Klaas Day. However, Sinterklaas is a finicky Jotun, and he gives his gifts only to good children. Naughty ones he swats with a switch. Sometimes other Jotun come with him, to tell him who has been bad, as they enjoy seeing him punish others.

Sinterklaas defines a child as anyone who has not yet married, so spinsters and bachelors also receive his gifts. He is one of the few Jotun that most people look forward to meeting each year, despite the threat of his switch. He manifests as an old man wit a heavy beard and the red robes of a Vaticine Cardinal. He speaks with a faint Castillian accent, and his gigantic, calloused hands always smell of pine. He carries a great red book. Some say it is a Vaticine Bible, others that it is an ever-growing list of every 'child' in Vesten. His pockets always bulge with winter oranges, and if you are cordial to him or he witnesses you perform an act of kindness, he will give you one. If you are rude to him or act poorly, he will hit you with the switch.

Next time: Living Legend

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - GHOST GIANTS IN THE SKY

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - GHOST GIANTS IN THE SKY

Angrboda is found in the caves under Mount Ragnhild, far in the north. Going there is notoriously dangerous, however, and many epics exist of heroes going north to seek out Angrboda's wisdom. Legend has it that when the first settlers came to the land, they wandered among the ice floes because they knew no better. A blizzard blotted out the sun, and they stopped, desperate for shelter, in a deep cave under the mountain. In the bowels of the river, they found a frozen river and a woman of indeterminate age trapped in a block of ice. They thawed her out, and she told them she was part of an older civilization, that she had undergone a self-mummification and was fine. However, she found the woven cloth they carried to be utterly beautiful, saying that her people had only ever worn hides. When the settlers gave her all of the cloth they wore, she sang to them a song of their destinies, including their journey to the south to found a great city.

Angrboda now appears as a woman of indeterminate age with ice on her arms and legs. She is a crotchety, cryptic sage who prefers solitude but will not turn you away if you make the long journey to her home. Her eyes are milky and clouded, but it is said she can see everything that ever was or will be. Those who viist her often do so to learn how, or tp revent something that sees inevitable. She sings her prophecies in the form of songs, and it is up for debate as to if she can see the future or if her songs shape it. Those who threaten and disrespect her, after all, all end up cursed with dire futures in her song. She refuses any gift except woven cloth, and she likes reverence and respect but not flattery. She rarely attacks those who come to her, but she does have a temper and may harm those who do not bring her a gift. If so, she is Strength 6, Monstrous and Powerful.

The White Witch can appear anywhere that has snow or cie on the ground, but rarely manifests in any place where more than one person at a time might see her. Humans of Vesten tell that she was an enchanter who was sad and lonely. If she found someone alone in the woods, she would trick them to following her to her ice palace, from which there can be no escape. Any who refused her or saw past her tricks she would turn into a puff of snow. Vesten thus always travel in pairs in snowy country, as the White Witch never appears to groups. Trolls, however, say that she is their cruel creator, who carved them from stone, then cursed them when they refused to obey her as slaves. When she meets a troll, she freezes it in place and shatters it, out of spite. Both races deeply wish they could forget her, but they cannot, and their fear keeps her alive.

The White Witch appears as a tall, beautiful woman with white hair and an outfit of white fur, who rides a sledge pulled by two white reindeer. She typically appears near lone humans, offering them gifts and candy if they will come with her on the sledge. If they accept, they are never seen again. If they refuse or try to flee, she will transform them into snow with waves of her hand. The only way to escape her relatively safely is to refuse her as politely as possible and offer her a gift in your stead. It is considered extremely foolish among the Vesten to head out into the snow alone without a pocket full of chestnuts or candies, just in case. The White Witch is Strength 8, Powerful, Regenerating and Shapeshifting.

Trolls come in two types, the Vesten will tell you. Rock and Green. Rock Trolls, they say, are stupid. They smell of brimstone, they're savage, and they'll tear you apart if you accidentally wander into what they consider to be their territory. If a Rock Troll grabs you, only abject flattery, groveling or tricks can save you from death, and not always even then. To try and fight a Rock Troll is suicide - it is common among the Vesten to describe them as strong enough to hold a boulder on both shoulders. Also, they're made of stone and therefore immune to most harm and the elements. Fortunately, their territories tend to be inhospitable peaks that rarely see travel.

Green Trolls, the Vesten will tell you, are smart. The first of them was enchanted and carved by the White Witch, but because it defied her, she cursed it to wander forever, with bad luck coming to all who welcomed it and its descendants if it ever tried to find a home. She still haunts the land as a Jotun, and many Troll rituals exist solely to lessen her curse, allowing one or even several trolls to stay in a village for days or weeks at a time. A few rituals also exist to suppress her ability to manifest in the area of Green Trolls, because story says that if a Green Troll meets her, it must obey her. Green Trolls travel alone or in small groups, sometimes with a set of Rock Trolls following them. The Rock Trolls obey them without question, though they never explain how they manage that. Green Trolls are secretive creatures, whose language sounds like stones grinding, and so cannot be learned by humans. They travel from town to town, carrying sacks or in caravan decorated with stone charms, working as crafters and peddlers, especially stonework, which they are very skilled at. They never settle down; rather, they are bargainers, who never lose on a deal or at gambling, and track down any who steal from them to take back twice what was stolen. If you threaten them, they will try to kill you. It is said that meeting one is better than a Rock Troll, which may be true, but they're not very comforting either way. They tend to look almost identical, with green skin, high cheekbones and extremely, grotesquely wide mouths, and they all wear heavy cloaks with hoods up, even on the hottest days. They have many rituals they perform on nights of the waning moon, and will not allow humans near when they perform them. Only the evidence after is left - boulders marked in black wax, stained with blood, never any bones. No one knows what they sacrifice. Few wish to ask.

What is true, though? All trolls are made from stone. Rock Trolls are granite. Green Trolls are marble - and it is worth noting that most marble mined in Vesten is green. Rock Trolls llook like stone; Green Trolls appear to be fleshy, if green, except when exposed to direct sunlight. This turns them to stone until sunset, when they return to flesh. Trolls do not die of natural causes, though they can be killed by injury or trauma. Green Trolls are as vulnerable to wounds as humans, while Rock and petrified Green Trolls are able to be crushed like stone is. Further, they can starve. To stay animate, atroll must consume a diet of gravel frequently, and those who do not slowly become immobile. Green Trolls are lapidary magicians, whose stone charms are quite powerful. They reproduce by carving more of themselves from mrable blocks. All look identical when created, though they can change their appearance by being petrified and then recarved, or by scarring their flesh. Scarification is not uncommon among those Green Trolls that want humans to be able to tell them apart.

Green Trolls are entirely genderless beings. They will answer to any pronoun but, if asked, prefer 'it' as the singular. They do not pair bond. They tend to be secretive and cautious, to avoid people learning their sunlight weakness or ties to the White Witch. They are proud, however, of their near-universal policy to take offense to nothing except violent threats, which they react to with extreme prejudice. Most Green Trolls wield spears of volcanic glass, or sometimes staves, kept hidden up a sleeve. They are almost all very good with these. Every Rock Troll is born from being caved out of granite by a Green Troll. Newborn ones are unconscious stone robots, with no capacity for independence, just obedience. It takes around a century for them to become sentient, and when they do, they almost always leave their masters, which the Green Trolls almost always allow.

Sapient Rock Trolls are taciturn, stubborn and territorial. They aren't quite stupid, however. Rather, they learn things and process them more slowly than either humans or Green Trolls. What they do learn, however, they cannot ever forget, and elder Rock Trolls can be quite wise. They do often claim territory in the mountains, and are very vicious about defending it. They get even angrier when roads get blasted through their peaks. Some merchants and warlords have managed to hire Rock Trolls to guard and maintain out-of-the-way bridges or roads, which becomes a problem when said employer dies and the troll keeps guarding the place indefinitely. Rock Trolls are also genderless and do not pair bond, though they sometimes form groups with larger shared territory. The 'Wandering Curse' laid on Green Trolls has no effect on Rock Trolls, and they don't fear the White Witch. They need nothing but gravel, so rarely own much. The closest any troll usually comes to religion is music, which many trolls feel compelled to create without knowing why. Green Trolls are typically around Strengthg 4 and Chitinous. Rock Troll groups are usually STrength 6 Monster Squads, Chitinous and Powerful.

Next time: The Huntsman, Jotun (not to be confused with Jotun) and Hulda

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - He's The Huntsmaaaan

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - He's The Huntsmaaaan

The Huntsman manifests only in low-visibility conditions between noon and midnight. He and his hounds are never seen, only heard, and he always rides to the west. No one has any idea what his story is, but everyone knows how he appears, racing across the land with hounds following, his hunting horn always blaring. He is unforogtten, yet no one knows his origins. The only thing anyone agrees on is that he hunts the sun. Why? Well, there's a lot of reasons people give. He hunts for his lost love, his family, his life, for money, he hunts those who'd harm others, or those in trouble, or those who do not respect the Jotun. Some say he is a wolf, others a man, others that she is a woman. No one is sure - every town has its own story.

The Huntsman is never visible - something always cloaks him. Shadows, fog, snow. The Hunt is a scent and a sound and a feeling, howling dogs and thunder hooves and choking dread. Those who hear it get a strong desire to flee, but the Vesten say you must never do this. If you run, you will never be seen again - only heard, screaming. If you can hear the hunt, then stand still, be silent, and let it ride past you. The Huntsman is a Villain and a Monster, Strength 5, Influence 6, Fearful, Shadowy and Swift. He commands several Strength 4 Monster Squads that are Relentless and Shadowy.

Giants are Jotun, in the Vesten language. This should not be confused with Jotun in the sense of living myths. Giants are humanoid, ten to twenty feet taller than a man and they eat people. They are said to be ancient children of the Allfather, who live in the peaks and feast on human flesh and bone. They must always remain in cold temperatures, however, or they will melt, for they are made of ice. They can go years without eating, but it makes them angry, violent and unpredictable. It's usually possible to trick a giant into eating other meats, and you can gain an audience with one to learn ancient rites, but that's risky at best. If you go through the mountains in winter, you must carry meat, and leave it outside your camp by night for the giants, or else you will vanish without a trace because you will be eaten.

The entire naming confusion thing comes from the tales told about the cannibal giants. The word 'Jotun' refers to anything larger than life, y'see. In the mountains, the locals call these myths Vaettir, and the giants are Jotun. The ancient origins of the Jotun as children of the Allfather is mere story. They are, in fact, a form of Vaettir, forged from the superstitions and fear of the Vesten. Traveling by winter is always dangerous, and sometimes people vanish. In the thaw, villagers often found half-eaten animal remains, assumed they were human and blamed the giants. Over time, the legend grew, and people invented a backstory for them, and the Jotun myth took form. The tallest people in the mountains of the north is Jotun Fjell, and it is home to the Jotun. They are not all-powerful, but they are violent creatures of fear. Any tales of their magic are exaggerated, however - they have none beyond what they are. They are Strength 7, Elemental (Ice) and Powerful.

Hulda appear to be beautiful women with tiny tails, who cast no shadow. They conceal beneath their clothes that their backs are hollow and their feet face backwards. In the full and waxing moons, they hold great celebrations by rivers and lakes, beckoning travelers to join them. If you dance and drink with them, you will wake up with a terrible hangover, but that's not the worst they can do. Kiss one and, if she loves you true, she will lose her tail and become your companion. Otherwise, she will drown you with river water that pours from her mouth, holding you in place until you die. Those drowned by the Hulda can be seen, carved into rock faces by falling water. Many Vesten refuse to take alcohol when traveling, for fear of attracting a Hulda.

Most of this common folklore is actually true. Hulda do throw grand bacchanals near fresh water, can turn water into wine and can drown with a kiss, unless they truly love the person they kiss. If they do, they instead lose all their magical powers and their tail. They cast a shadow and become mostly human, though their hollow back and backwards feet remain, and they are often discriminated against by humans. Those drowned by the Hulda don't actually become stone carvings, however. They remain dead for one thousand years, then rise as a new Hulda. Hulda cannot breed with humans, and they often cannot return home again if they marry a human. They are not all women. None can grow beards, and all have very feminized facial features, but that doesn't mean they can't be male. Hulda are Strength 5, Aquatic and Nocturnal.

Natural bridges are common in Vesten. It is said that these, callled Devil's Bridges, are formed from an ancient pact with a god, goddess or Jotun (no one is quite sure which) in exchange for marriage. IT is said that the girl who made the pact wnet back on her word once the bridges were built, so all the bridges were cursed with misfortune against those that use them. The bridges do appear quite convenient, but an unusual number of accidents and disappearances occur around them.

This is not due to a pact or curse. Sometimes people just get nervous and fall off, and some of the bridges shake, freeze or thaw with the seasons, growing steadily narrower and more unstable. More often, however, the accidents are caused by bandits who use the superstitions of the people. Detailed maps of the bridges and the land around them go for huge sums in the criminal underworld, and rural Vesten can make an excellent living as 'devil's cartographers', making such maps...though more often than not they are often bribed or blackmailed into making certain bridges, claimed by established gangs, topographically inaccurate. Some of these cartographers, based out of Vendel, call themselves the Illusionists Guild, and they gain the trust of the bridge outlaws, learn their tricks, then sell the tricks to other bridge gangs at very high prices. Not all bridge gangs are identical, but they can largely be represented as Guard and Thief Brute Squads.

Next time: MECHANICS

Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Finishing Up

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 1 - Finishing Up

New backgrounds!
The following background is for Glamour Islanders only.
Sidhe Squire: You worked as a diplomat between human and Sidhe. Earn a Hero Point when you go out of your way to bridge the gap between Sidhe and mortal, leading to understanding between the two peoples.
The following is for Avalonians only.
Royal Conservationist: You were paid to ensure the land of Avalon remains beautiful and pure in nature. Earn a Hero Point when you seek to preserve a natural wonder and doing so gets you into trouble.
The following is for Highland Marchers only.
Shannagary Runner: You were an amazing helmsman. Earn a Hero Point when you sacrifice safety for speed and doing so gets you into trouble.
The following is for Inish only.
Dornalai: You were a bare-knuckle boxer. Earn a Hero Point when you let bygones be bygones after a fight, win or lose, and form a bond with your opponent.
The following are for Castillians only.
Boticario: You were an alchemist-mystic. Earn a Hero Point when you doggedly pursue an alchemical secret, and your persistence gets you into trouble.
La Joven Promesa: You were a promising young fencer at el Baile. Earn a Hero Point when you complicate a problem to improve your skills with a sword or expand your reputation.
Sabueso Real: You were a royal detective. Earn a Hero Point when you refuse to act until you have more information, causing even more trouble for you.
Tercio: You were a soldier, likely a reformed criminal. Earn a HEro Point when you take up a cause in pursuit of redemption, a pardon for past crimes or a chance at earning a noble title.
The following backgrounds are for Montaignois only.
Balayeur: You were a gunner. Earn a Hero Point when you successfully maintain control of a chaotic situation while you are outnumbered.
Epee Sanglante: You were a fencer and sorcerer both. Earn a Hero Point when you use your opponent's fear of your ability to avoid a conflict, whether his assumptions about you are correct or not.
La Souris du Marche: You were a street rat. Earn a Hero Point when you choose to share your ill-gotten gains with someone else, because they need it more than you do.
La Voix des Sans-Voix: You spoke for those who could not. Earn a Hero Point when you decline a solution that benefits you personally, but is detrimental to those you represent.
Walkway Escapee: You were trapped in the Walkway for a time, and it changed you and warped your mind. Earn a Hero Point wen your past comes back to haunt you, and it causes you problems.
The following backgrounds are for Vestenmennavenjar only.
Hrungnir: You were an unarmed fighter and improvised weapons specialist. Earn a Hero Point when someone underestimates you due to your lack of a weapon, and you turn this misconception to your advantage.
Murskaaja: You were a linebreaker. Earn a Hero Point when you hurl yourself headlong into a dangerous situation in order to throw your opponents off guard.
Pankkiiri: You were a League agent. Earn a Hero Point when you use your position or money to bully another character into a course of action, and it gets you into trouble.
Vala: You were a rune sorcerer. Earn a Hero Point when you refuse to solve a problem using magic when it owuld be easy to do so; the problem is not important enough to wield such power against it.

New advantages!
1 Point
Anything Can Be A Weapon If You Hold It Right: You must have Bar Fighter. When you make a Brawling Risk to fight using an improvised weapon, and you spend a Raise to inflict Wounds, you may choose to break your weapon. If you do, the Wounds you cause cannot be prevented in any way. You can't use this again until you next scene unless you pay a Hero Point.
Fish In A Barrel: You must have Deadeye. When you make an Aim Risk using a pistol, blunderbuss or thrown weapon, you can spend a Raise to reduce a Brute Squad's Strength by (Finesse).
Haymaker: You must have Boxer. When you make a Brawl Risk to punch, kick, headbutt or otherwise injure another character with nothing but your own body, you may spend all of your Raises on your first action. If you do, you inflict that many Wounds and the target loses half their current Raises, rounding down.
Into The Fray: You must have Bruiser. When you make a Weaponry Risk using a claymore, zweihander, battle axe, halberd or similar two-handed weapon, you can choose to roll no dice at the start of the Round and gain no Raises to spend this round. If you do, you eliminate a single Brute Squad regardless of its Strength.
Trigger Control: You must have Sniper. When you make an Aim Risk using a long-barrel musket, longbow or crossbow, the first time you spend a Raise to cause a Wound, you may also spend a Hero Point to cause a Dramatic Wound. Your target must be unaware of your presence for you to use this, and it can be used only once per scene.
Whirlwind of Steel: You must have Fencer. When you make a Weaponry Risk using a rapier, dagger, cutlass or similar one-handed weapon, you may choose not to roll dice at the start of the Round and gain no Raises to spend this round. If you do, halve the Strength of all Brute Squads in the Scene, rounding down.
2 Point
Adaptive Duelist (Knack): You must know two Dueling Styles. You may activate this to switch your Style mid-round, as long as you meet all requirements for te new Style. You can use this only once per round.
This Is My Town (Knack): You may activate this when in a familiar area to automatically lose a tail, spot a stranger that doesn't belong, recognize if you're being followed or find a shortcut.
3 Point
Catch the Wind (Knack): You may activate this while piloting a ship to arrive at your destination in 3/4 the normal time it would take. If you do, your ship also takes one Critical Hit. If you are being pursued over water, you may instead activate this at the same costs to escape your pursuit in a burst of impossible nautical speed.
Scathing Indictment (Knack): You may acticate this when you make an Intimidate or Convince Risk to halve the Strength of any one Brute Squad in the Scene, rounding down.
Student of Combat: You gain the Slash and Parry Maneuvers, plus one other basic Duelist Maneuver of your choice, which can't be a Style Bonus. You can use these as if you were a Duelist. The Duelist Academy Advantage costs only 3 points for you.
i]Sweeten the Pot[/i]: You may spend 1 Wealth to successfully bribe a character during an Action or Dramatic Sequence without spending a Raise, once per Sequence.

The End!

So, our options now:
Heroes and Villains
Nations of Theah, Vol. 2
The New World
The Crescent Empire

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2



This book is on the eastern half of Theah, and I will note that while John Wick didn't write the book, he does note in his brief intro that Vodacce remains largely unchanged from 1e. The rest of the nations don't, not least because one of them didn't exist. Generally speaking, the eastern nations have all come through chaos and emerged on the other side, battered but stading. They typically have a more flexible class system, or on the brink of massive social changes. They tend to be somewhat hopeful about the future, even in Eisen. (Mostly.)

Eisen is struggling, yes, it's nearly collapsed, it's still recovering from the War of the Cross decades later, it's full of monsters. However, the people have a strong sense of national identity and unity. All Eisen are Eisen first, anything else second, and Eisen help each other. The Sarmatians have just become the first true democracy in Theah, with every citizen having a vote, regardless of wealth or nobility. However, they still suffer old grudges between the Rzeplitan and Curonian peoples, and their future is in turmoil as they must select their next king. Ussura is on the brink of greatness, but now there are two possible Czars, and the nation is split between them, as each works to prove their worthiness, and Matushka has refused to favor either one. Civil war may come, especially if neither potential Czar can solidify power, with the threat of a military coup hanging in the background. Vodacce is closest in thought to the west, but even it has no one ruler, just seven princes, three of whom hold enough power to aim for a takeover...and the rest of whom hold the power to stop them. It would take little to upset that balance, and the peasants and especially the women strive for freedom from the Princes.

First off, we had to Eisen. Nearly 20 years ago, the War of the Cross ravaged an entire generation, particularly in Eisen. The nation collapsed, its monarchy was ended, its industry torn to shreds. Now monsters roam the land, things most Theans can't even imagine. Eisen struggles now to unify and rebuild, and the youth that are now grown chafe under the reminders of a war they had nothing to do with. They look to the Eisenfursten to lead them forward - if only any could agree on what the way forward was.

While the Horrors are easily the biggest issue in rebuilding Eisen, the lack of a central ruler isn't helping, and neither is the massively decreased population or the emigration to other lands. At least they have money, though. Even the poorest Bauern has more wealth than the peasants of other lands, and the Adel have untold riches - but little to buy. Labor is hard to purchase, even at excellent wages, in modern Eisen. Many Eisenfursten do their best to entice anyone they can to live under them, often offering great rewards just to farm the soil. Others see potential in this, particularly the Vendel League, but only a few Eisenfursten have bothered to take their help, so it's had less impact than could be hoped.

While most of modern Eisen is Objectionist, with only a few pockets of Vaticine faith remaining, most Eisen are just too exhausted by religion to care, and many are atheists. What they are loyal to is the idea of Eisen and the goal of making it safe - at least, the parts they live in. Every Eisen is a warrior by necessity. Few die to the Horrors after the age of ten, because by then they have learned how to most efficiently drive off or kill the monsters, and that could be enough to beat them back if the people could be organized. Thus, several factions have sprung up, each proposing new Imperator to lead them to stability. Unfortunately, none of them agree on who it should, and not all the candidates even want the job. Besides, some Eisenfursten want no part in a new Imperator, as they prefer life without oversight or laws.

Before the War of the Cross, the Imperator's family had ruled for a long, long time. The death of Imperator Riefenstahl left a power vacuum that still hasn't been filled, though the former barons that split the land into seven konigreiche have certainly tried. Each Eisenfurst is a possible candidate for the throne, and their rule sets the tone for their entire konigreich. The locals are often fiercely loyal, even if they have private qualms.

Niklas Trage is the most enigmatic yet most popular Eisenfurst. He didn't begin life as a baron, but rather was a commoner that bought the title from the Imperator after discovering a cache of dracheneisen during the War. Everyone forgets to mention the part where he only found the old wepaons and armor after he lost his unit in battle and went wandering - that much power can cleanse any dishonor, it seems. Trage, however, has never forgiven himself for the loss. After the war ended, everyone expected him to take care of his konigreich. Instead, he spent over a decade hunting monsters to try and forget his mistakes. He only returned to his wreck of a realm when he ran out of funds. The result has been Freiburg, the Free City. There is no centralized law in Trage's territory, as he considers it a grand social experiment he watches from atop the Wachtturm, generally drunk. He is a solitary, haunted man who feels unworthy of power. He has no interest in political ambition, and instead works to maintain the city and keep other Eisenfursten out of it. He's aware that many see him as a good choice for chancellor or even Imperator, but pretty much nothing could get him to accept such a job. Freiburg is all the responsibility he wants, and he's heavily reliant on his second-in-command, Wilma Probst, to keep the place from burning itself down. Trage spends most of his time reading books, especially books of poetry, in his great library. His most proized possession is the gauntlet of the Imperator, a reminder of the tragically fallen leader of Eisen.

Roswitha von Wirsche was the young wife of Baron Reinhard when the war began, and he and their sons Edgard, Frederick and Siegrud went off to fight. She has Vesten heritage and was renowned as a beauty, but her world was destroyed when her husband and children died in battle. She went into seclusion, and many believed that Reinhard's brother would take over...but it was Roswitha who went to the first meeting of the Eisenfursten, and none have even heard from said brother since. When she went, she was different. Very different. Her beauty and strength were back, and she took up vigorous management of her lands. She has worked tirelessly to rebuild her land, and Wirsche is a success story for Eisen, protected by her fanatically loyal Iron Guard. This success helps everyone ignore the rumors of servants and travelers going missing at Roswitha's manor, probably because of her. The few bodies that do show up often seem to be short on blood, and many have noticed that the Countess hasn't aged a day in 20 years. Everyone is fairly certain she's a vampire. However, without evidence, accusing one of the most powerful women in Eisen would be pretty much impossible, so her evergrowing collection of foes stays silent, and she keeps Wirsche growing via incentives for hard work and punishments for failure to live up to her quotas. She is a ruthless, efficient ruler dedicated to growth, and she is a frontrunner to unite the nation. She is supported by Heinrich Dray, her lover and leader of her Iron Guard. Dray has even publically challenged Niklas Trage to hand over the Imperator's gauntlet to Roswitha, that she might wear it and rule. Certainly she has been working to slowly annex territory from the other konigreiche around Wirsche, and no one seems able to stop her.

Elsa Posen's territory survived the War largely unscathed, and it is a bastion of pre-War Eisen culture. That sense of peace there had not stopped her from marching south with her father's warriors to help the war effort, however. She distinguished herself as an amazing leader and warrior, and when her father died, she was the obvious pick for successor, which is when the problems began. Once the War ended, Horrors began emerging from Posen's swamps, and the warriors had to fight them immediately, while still weary from the war. Elsa worked to immediately bring them to order and set up patrols, and she used her brilliant tactics to organize her military forces into mercenary bands that protect traveling merchants coming in from Vesten. With the funds form that, she renovated Posen's ports to control the flow of goods into Eisen and solidify her power base. She is a proud, arrogant warrior, as much at home fighting monsters as arguing with other Eisenfursten. She is cannier than many can see below her arrogance, and has been secretly supporting Fischler and the Drachenblut, in the hopes that Commander Rosamund Roth is the hero that Eisen needs to unite itself.

Next time: Eisenfursten

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - In Which Everyone Has Bad Ideas

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - In Which Everyone Has Bad Ideas

Stefan Heilgrund is youngest of the Eisenfursten, born at the end of the War of the Cross. He believes that the nation must set aside the past and move on to the future. He's the only son of the old Baron Peter Heilgrund, and he seized control of Heilgrund from his uncles almost immediately after his father's death, leading with aggressive reform and youthful energy. He actively wants to rule the entirety of Eisen and has little worry for day-to-day problems. He's certain he's the perfect Imperator, and he's very happy to tell anyone that, even the other Eisenfursten. They tend to dislike and mock him, so he continually seeks new and greater displays of power to earn their respect. He splits his time between leading his Iron Guard on grand military expeditions to show leadership and studying occult lore from anywhere he can. He believes the key to winning over the nation is to find a magical solution to the Horrors, y'see, and to that end he often funds expeditions across the world to Syrneth ruins and in search of drachenbone. He believes combining drachenbone and Syrneth technology will grant untold power, if he can just figure out how to do it. He's also way, way less sinister in this edition.

Falk Fischler began life as the second son of a poor merchant and the husband to a poor Ussuran traveler named Olga. They had little money, but they were happy. When the War came, however, both Falk's father and his brother Dieter went to fight, while Falk stayed behind due to poor health. He never imagined that the bravery of his family would earn them a barony. Dieter died, but Falks' father was given a title and land taken out of Sieger and Hainzl territories. When Falk's father died shortly after, Falk inherited the title. He was overwhelmed by the duties involved, and mostly just moved to a better villa than his old hovel. Shortly after, the Horrors attacked, killing Olga, though Falk and their young daughter, Ketheryna, survived. (This is a major change - in 1e, Ketheryna was his sister.) Falk wanted to give his daughter all the opportunities he never had, and became obsessed with keeping her safe. To that end, he fostered her in Ussura's courts, where she grew up and caught the eye of the Czar. Falk was excited by the idea of her being a queen and accepted the Czar's proposal without actually asking his daughter's permission. The two have not spoken since. Falk, now apart from his beloved daughter, watches his land struggle. The fishing industry in the Sudsee grows worse by the day, and the nobles disrespect his rule and do as they wish. That Ketheryna is now in the contending to become the Czarina would overjoy Falk if she would say even one word to him, but she doesn't. Worse, even his Iron Guard seems to have turned against him, taking bribes to protect nobles over commoners. Only the Drachenblut, a newly founded organization to protect Eisen, seem intent to help him defend his land, and their call to Eisen pride and power is about all that is keeping him from eternal depression funk, inspiring him to heroism for the first time in his life.

Erich Sieger is a desperate man, and it has made him driven and ferocious. He's ruled Sieger since his youth during the War, and at that time he was an idealist, a passionate follower of the Imperator and a strong Objectionist. He believed that his service would be rewarded by his ruler. Instead, he watched as Riefenstahl took some of his land and gave it to the Fischlers. Sieger was originally quite large, and therefore prime territory for invasion from Montaigne and Castille. It was home to some of the worst battles of the War, ravaging its people and its land alike. Erich's hope was that peace would bring prosperity...but Riefenstahl again chopped off part of his land to give to Castille during the negotiations. Intent on keeping what little land he had left, Erich had his farmers salt their fields to stop the invaders. Between this and the Horrors, no one wanted anything to do with Sieger - even its own people. In the last two decades, many have fled across the continent to find new lives. Only Erich and the most dedicated remain. Sieger is now old, exhausted and paranoid. He often flies into rages, consumed with the idea that others will take all he has left. That Wirsche has made attempts to annex parts of his land has not been helping.

Georg Hainzl has chosen to reject the harshness of reality. He is a generous, friendly man who refuses to accept that Eisen has fallen, and instead calls it a land of grand beauty and adventure. Some find this charming, others delusional. His rule is backed by the mines of the Dracheneisen Mountains, historically the source of the legendary material. While the dracheneisen veins are long dry, the mountains are also full of silver, iron ore and gems, which keep Hainzl rich. He's used the money to beautify his land, which remained largely untouched in the War, and has been welcoming to refugees. Many believe his focus on beauty is due to the tragedies in his life. He lost his family in the war, including his lover, Kurt, a musician slain by Horrors while traveling. Isolated and alone, his advisors whisper, he could not handle seeing Eisen as it truly was. Instead, he buries himself in music and beauty, in tribute to fallen Kurt and his family. Only his Iron Guard and the Drachenblut, who are based out of his mountains, keep the monsters from consuming his konigreich. The other Eisenfursten, particularly Elsa Posen, caution him to be more wary, but he will not. He's far too busy spending money on grand parties, beautification efforts and concerts.

So what are the Drachenblut? Well, Eisen was once home to the drachen. No one is entirely sure where they went, but legends of drachenslayers resonate today. The drachen is an icon of the sleeping power of Eisen, a symbol to unite around when there is no leader. Thus, the Drachenblut. They are largely knights errant, former Iron Guards and ex-soldiers, and the organization was formed from the idea that, to heal Eisen, warriors must become as grand and potent as the drachen. Potential recruits travel through Eisen to the monster-infested passes of the mountains to reach Burg Wachesherz, their base, where they must train for three years to become a member. They ride under the banner of the golden drachen with outstretched wings, fighting to protect all the people of Eisen from danger of any kind. Many see them as the true saviors of the land, who will lead them to the future.

The organization's leader, a veteran named Rosamund Roth, is a powerful contendor to be Chancellor or even Imperator. She has never publically denied interest in leadership, but focuses her time and effort on the Drachenblut and the hunting of monsters. The group takes no political stances, instead serving all of the people. They aren't without foes, however. Many Iron Guards see them as a threat to their military and police powers, and there have been fights over jurisdiction in several konigreiche - and for good reason, as the Drachenblut do, in fact, claim jurisdiction over the entire dang nation. Others are scared by rumors of their initiations. Stories of recruits bathing in monster blood, eating animal hearts or even biting into living animals abound, and it is unclear how true they might be. Burg Wacheshurz is so isolated that few ever visit without express permission and survive. However, everyone at least agrees the Drachenblut's hearts are in the right place, and the group is always recruiting. Sometimes they work with die Kreuzritter, but their methods are unsavory and extreme to the secret society, who fear the Drachenblut are in danger of falling to evil, especially given their active recruitment of hexe. More recently, the Drachenblut have announced their search for dracheneisen weapons, which has the Eisenfursten and Iron Guard alternatively mocking them and enraged.

The Iron Guard are some of most feared fighting forces in the world. They have existed since the dawn of Eisen under Stefan the Great, serving the ruler and the people of Eisen ever since. Because the leadership of the nation is now in question, the Guard has been split into seven private armies for the Eisenfursten, but each unit swears the same oath: Geschmiedet aus Eisen, Gehartet in Blut. Forged from Iron, Tempered in Blood. The warriors come from across Eisen, common or noble, and they give up their entire old life to join the Guard. Recruits must already know how to track, fence and ride before entering training, and the training is some of the most rigorous on the planet. They must also have a letter of introduction from a person of note in their home konigreich before the heads of recruitment will even see them. Many never pass the training, but those that do are some of the best fighters in Eisen. The reason is that they are trained as a seamless unit. Iron Guard units are made of 20 soldiers, but they operate as one entity, trained to anticipate each other and move in concert without need for communication. They protect each other because otherwise, they leave themselves exposed. Historically, units have a low turnover rate, and any death in the unit is deeply mourned by the rest.

In older times, the Iron Guard all served one commander, who served the Imperator. Now, each of the seven Iron Guard forces have their own skilled leaders. Two of the best are Kurt Valrund, an old but powerful man in charge of the Swamp Dogs of Posen, and Selena von Hoff, a sneaky young woman who commands Trague's Wacchunde. The most famous, though, is Heinrich Dray of Wirsche, who gave up his noble rank and wealth to command the Roaring Drachen for Roswitha von Wirsche. The lack of centralized leadership has been a problem, but the Iron Guard by and large have fought and died to keep things in some semblance of order. They are supposedly apolitical, but they often find staying out of politics impossible. The seven divisions have begun to see each other as enemies, not compatriots, and they've often fought as enforcers for their Eisenfursten rather than guardians of the people. This has lead to a few defections, as Iron Guards become jaded with the organization and choose to uphold their oath to protect Eisen alone, often joining small independent fighting bands or even striking it out as a lone mercenary. Others have left to join the Drachenblut, seeing them as a throwback to what the Iron Guard once were and should have remained.

Now, other major figures! Perchta is a Sidhe spirit who walked the land and protected the people long before Eisen was a nation. She was expelled from Avalon in ancient days for reasons long forgotten, settling in the land that would be Eisen in a time when the drachen ruled the skies. She was revered as a goddess by the local tribes, and their stories of her as a benevolent yet capricious nurturer changed her. She remained a force for good until the coming of the Vaticine, whose anti-magic doctrine forced her into hiding and lost her many followers. Eventually, she settled into the Angnehme Wald, which she swore to turn into a haven for magic and a safe place for those in need. Still, all magic has a price, even for an immortal Sidhe. Cut off from the power of Bryn Bresail, she has had to find other ways. Those that wish to live in her forest must swear never to leave, tying their life force to her and feeding her magic. Perchta hates the arrangement, but has no idea what else to try. She'd love if Eisen could be proud again, accepting of all magic...and to that end, she's trying to find someone who might do so. She has chosen Rosamund Roth of the Drachenblut as her favored leader, and has appeared to her to prophesy her rise to greatness. Perchta knows many secrets, and often acts the role of the ancient witch, wise and potent. Her biggest secret is that despite being inhuman, she has pretended to care for Eisen for so long that even she isn't sure if it's genuine or not. She is, however, tired of hiding and being invisible. She wants to be free once more.

Kevistoph "Two Stripes Jack" Braun was born near Wirsche in the tail end of the War, and was quickly made an orphan. His parents were both soldiers, and while they survived the War, they didn't survive the Horrors. Braun grew up among the Waisen, but rather than be broken by the shock of it all, he learned to fight. His size and strength gave him an advantage over other kids, and he learned to use that to do...well, whatever he liked, which generally wasn't anything too bad. He was never fond of the sea, despite his youth in a port city, and spent much of his life serving as a mercenary and spending his coin on booze and women...until, one night, drunk as shit, he bargained his work for a pair of pants. He didn't realize the work would be aboard the schooner Shoal Seeker, and he was already brigged for insubordination on his first day, and got eight lashes the next. He was determined to prove he was tough enough to take it, and remained silent to the first lash. He stayed silent on the second, but passed out, earning himself the name Two Stripes Jack. Despite the rocky start, he thrived aboard the ship and made his way up to midshipman before the ship ran into trouble with Roswitha von Wirsche, who hired them to bring in goods to Gottkirchen. When they arrived, the locals had little to pay with, so the captain sold what he could and returned with the rest. The Countess, who expecting the ship to just leave the rest, was furious and tried to imprison the whole crew. Two Stripes, along with a few others, escaped - but not before the Iron Guard scuttled the Shoal Seeker. Now, he and his fellows are looking for a way to rescue the captain and crew. There are warrants out for their arrest, but to this day, none of them have any idea what crime they committed. Kevistoph is a kind-hearted fellow who likes a good drink and a good fight. At heart, he's a landlubber, and while he wants to rescue his crew, he plans to stay off the sea after this, once he founds out what Roswitha's up to and possibly stopping her.

Next time: Shockingly, a Verdugo-aligned Inquisitor who's mostly not a terrible person.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Oh Right Jews Exist Now

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Oh Right Jews Exist Now

Knight Inquisitor Friedrich is a devout Vaticine from Sieger, who fought in the War for three years before it ended. He's always hated Objectionists and he blames the encroaching Horrors on the Imperator abandoning the true faith. (He's not a terrible person, just a bad one. I never said he wouldn't be bad.) He didn't stay to fight them, however, instead going to Vaticine City to reaffirm his faith, joining the priesthood and learning all he could to find a way to fight Horrors. He reached the conclusion that he'd been wrong - Hexenwork was the real culprit, not Objectionism, and decided that Sorcery had to be extinguished. It was this that drew him to Verdugo's attention, and Friedrich is now one of Verdugo's most ardent supporters. Armed with his hatred of monsters and sorcery, Friedrich has returned to Eisen to fight the Horrors, rooting them out and destroying them anywhere he can. He lives in Posen and advises Elsa Posen on monsters, and has convinced her it'll be a great idea to catalogue all the hexen in Posen, perhaps all of Eisen. He is dedicated to cleansing Eisen of evil...but he doesn't especially care about collateral damage. He's a guy who does the wrong thing for the right reasons, and he's devoted so fiercely that if anyone really understood how single-minded he was, they'd be terrified.

Wilma Probst is what keeps Freiburg from collapsing into an inferno of chaos. She grew up during the War, learned to read early and, rather than be a soldier, became a page to a knight named Barhelm who served at court. She was fascinated by government, and studied both politics and bureaucracy while there, during her free time. Her job let her see and hear all kinds of stuff as she ran messages for the knights and eventually even the barons. She was there when Niklas Trage bought his barony, and she saw potential in him early - or, rather, saw that he had a lot of good ideas but absolutely no idea how to run a household or manage his position. She presented herself to him and laid out in certain terms how he needed her...and, to her surprise, he hired her immediately, leaving her to run his barony while he hunted monsters. When Freiburg was established, he stepped back and did nothing, and she knew she'd have to run things and enforce what few rules existed. She has been ever since. She knows everything that goes on in Freiburg, and she's been watching the rest of the nation rebuild. She is a member of Sophia's Daughters, and she thinks it's time for someone to step up and lead, using her considerable skill to maneuver people into the idae of a chancellorship with equal rights for all, similar to the Sarmatian Commonwealth. She is always calm, no matter what happens, and rarely raises her voice. Her anger is cold, clipped and icy, and she is unafraid to freeze people out of business if they cross her. She is a firm believer in women's rights and has made Freiburg a safe haven for Vodacce strega fleeing home, which has been a sticking point between her and Trague, who dislikes that much interference in anything. She and Elsa Posen are currently working together to support the rise of Rosamund Roth and get her to lead the nation.

Rosamund Roth was born in the small town of Grunfeld, at the edge of the Walder. Her father rescued the son of an Adel from being run over by a cart, and in return, he asked to be taken in to the noble's household. The Adel, Lord Hans Dieter, agreed, and the family moved to his estate. Roth's mother was a lady's maid in the house, and one night, the Imperator showed up in need of shelter from the weather. The storm lasted three days, and the Imperator spent a lot of time with Rosamund's mom. Nine months later, Rosamund was born. The circumstances, however, were kept a close secret, though from an early age she got special treatment. She showed skill as a warrior, so she was trained alongside Lord Dieter's warriors and became a squire by age 12. Despite her family's concerns, she and her two elder brothers went to fight in the War alongside Lord Dieter. Near the end of the war, Rosamund had earned a command and risen through the ranks under the watch of the Imperator. His death hit her hard, and the fracturing of the government infuriated her. Thus, she was driven to found the Drachenblut, to protect the people without political allegiance and without the squabbling of the Eisenfursten. 20 years later, with no end to the strife in sight, she has become restless. When the witch Perchta appeared to her and revealed her true father, she came to accept that she might need to be the one to lead. News spread of her as a good choice, and support for her has swelled in the veterans and youth populations. She's still unsure if she wants to rule, however, and would prefer to just fight to keep Eisen together. She leads from the front, and has tried her best to stay out of politics. She is a practical woman, but secretly a huge romantic, desperate for the legendary age of grand heroes. However, she has yet to accept that she can be such a hero, and secretly fears being branded illegitimate.

Chaim Ledovid is a Yachidi, a member of a religious and ethnic group derived from the Crescent Empire. His full name is Chaid ben Dovid ben Shimon of Tribe Binyomin, and he was born far from Eisen, but traveled there with his parents, alongside ten other families. They first settled in Castille, to work at the universities and share Crescent medical techniques. His parents were honored for saving a noble daughter's life, and changed their name to Ledovid to appear more Castillian. They were even given a land grant near San Cristobal, where Chaim's aged parents and five brothers still live. Chaim was only 10 when the War ended, and he felt its impact keenly. At 18, he organized a group of Yachidi families from across Theah to head to Eisen to help the people. He settled in the town of Heimstatt, starting a small Yachidi population there and bringing his vast knowledge of healing medicine to Heiligherz-Krankenhaus and Eisengeist-Universitat. He soon became the spokesman for the local Yachidi community, helping them navigate dealing with the mostly Vaticine and atheist population of Heimstatt. The town is now a major stopping point for Yachidi in Theah, an outpost of home away from the Crescent Empire. When the Eisenfursten need to reach out to the Yachidi, they go to Chaim. When he isn't working as a doctor or lecturer, he travels Eisen spreading his knowledge and that of other Yachidi scholars. He lives with his wife, Batsheva, and their six children. His son Mayron is his medical assistant. The two and their Dinist friend Amira are often seen running through the city, going from patient to patient. Chaim is a thoughtful, eloquent polyglot who despises fighting and weapons, preferring to settle things with words. While more militant Yachidi groups seek his support, he is staunch in defending all life, not just his own people. He also hates ignorance, and while he tolerates persecution of those who use magic on a grand scale, he does all he can to stop the organizations of those who hunt sorcerers, openly spreading the idea of acceptning magic and science together. He enjoys whiskey and philosophical debate, as well as spending time with his kids.

Heinrich Dray is a very powerful leader who captures the thoughts of the public easily. He is captain of the Roaring Drachen division of the Iron Guard, the second son of a large Adel family. They were poor after the War, often selling family heirlooms just to eat. Heinrich's eldest sister, Nadina, wanted to be the head of the household, which enraghed Heinrich, who thought it was a man's job, and he aimed to prove his leadership talents in the military. This opinion went over poorly with his family, and they soon had a falling out. Heinrich's father didn't like his son's prejudices but at least was glad to see him dedicating himself to a cause, negotiating a commission in the Iron Guard for him based on the family name. Heinrich never forgave him for what he saw as trying to push him out of the spotlight, and he didn't even come visit the man when he was dying. When Nadina and her husband Konrad took over the family lands, Heinrich swore never to return. He proved himself as a skilled knight and warrior, and he got assigned to Wirsche after an incursion of undead wiped out nearly half their unit. He arrived to see the Roaring Drachens failing and leaderless, seizing the chance to work up the ranks and leading the campaign to crush the undead horde successfully. He was invited to dine with the Countess, and he fell in love with her on sight, even daring to tell her so. She laughed at him and told him to prove his worth before she'd consider it. He took up the cause, spending a year slaying every monster he could find and getting the Roaring Drachens back into fighting form. He returned on the anniversary of their meeting with trophies and another declaration of love, and the two have been inseparable since. He is a charming but ruthless man who is utterly devoted to Roswitha von Wirsche, despite being fully aware of her connection to the deaths and drained blood in the area. He doesn't care, and pushes her as a new leader for Eisen, citing her success in rebuilding Wirsche. That he'll rule at her side is, clearly, a foregone conclusion, for he would die before he's parted with her. His sister does not trust him at all, and would very much like to know his and Roswitha's secrets, given how the two are being bandied about as possible Imperator candidates.

Secret societies! The Explorer's Society has been asked by the Eisenfursten to explore the mountains looking for new dracheneisen veins, and they're willing to pay handsomely for the work. There's plenty of other stuff to look into, too, like the Auswogene Ort Syrneth ruins in the swamps of Posen and possible relics under Freiburg. The Rilasciare are extremely excited over Eisen's potential, given it has no current monarchy and the Church's power there is broken. It's a great place to forge a new nation, and there are Rilasciare agents everywhere, hoping to establish and empower Eisen to a new form before the monarchy can be remade. Sophia's Daughters have many allies in Eisen, where the women are often quite powerful. With so many veterans in need of purpose, the Daughters often hire fighting women as bodyguards and leaders to help the Vodacce Fate Witches and to teach self-defense and literacy. Many of the best warriors in the Daughters are Eisen expatriates, working both as guards and as instructors and advisors. The Daughters use the disorganized situation of Eisen to more easily smuggle women on the run into safe communities, with one of their largest camps being in the village of Mieben, under Perchta's protection. They are the only large group permitted to come and go freely in Perchta's forest, under the condition that ten women remain there for the rest of their lives to maintain the camp's protection.

The Brotherhood of the Coast have decided to give Eisen an unofficial break from their activities, with there being a truce and cessation of raids on Eisen ports and coastal cities until the nation is back on its feet. The Brotherhood honor this, and their ships enforce the ban. However, many renegade pirates still break it, and the Brotherhood hunts them down and kills them when it can. They often take cargo from those raiders and redistribute it to coastal communities in Eisen, turning over any survivors to Eisen justice. They recruit heavily from Eisen sailors, as their military training is usually very helpful. Reporting a raiding vessel attacking Eisen ships is worth 3 Favor, and 2 Wealth if you help dispatch them. Getting safe passage from Eisen to Vesten or back costs 2 Favor. Los Vagabundos believe Eisen desperately needs a leader. No one has yet stepped up, but they're going to find someone. They've narrowed it down to three possibilities, all of whom have support from some members: Niklas Trage, Elsa Posen or Rosamund Roth. They'll support any worthy leader who ends up in charge, but they know any candidate must be tested and tested and tested for worthiness and ability to protect the people. Presenting definitive evidence for or against any given candidate is worth 3 Favor, especially if it's about their direct actions, and managing to substantially assist one of them in towards being in charge is worth 5 Favor.

The Kinder von Morgen are a breakaway sect of Rilasciare since the founding of the Sarmatian Commonwealth. The name means 'Children of Tomorrow' and they believe the Commonwealth is the appropriate blueprint for a new Eisen. Many are former Rilasciare from the Commonwealth, looking to teach and mentor young Eisen. They are extremely organized, with a functional hierarchy and common banner, and they stage rallies across Eisen, printing pamphlets and hiring town criers to inform the common people of their opportunities. They also execute more daring activities to prevent the rise of a new monarch, primarily targeting the Eisenfursten, especially those that mistreat their people. Many hold Niklas Trague in a sort of reverance and want to convince him to support their cause. They primarily recruit from the Waisen and the common folk, rejecting the nobles and military as the old leadership. They also are suspicious of the Vaticine and want to keep it out. Their symbol is the fist clenched around the drachen's throat, to represent the stranglehold of power the nobles hold.

The Kinder headquarters is a noble's household turned into a tavern in Freiburg, the Amber Eye. The place is run by jennys, all of whom are society members and experts at information gathering. They are primarily focused on convincing Eisen to be a democracy and watching out for any who'd claim to be the next Imperator. They don't like murder, but love public embarassment. Organizing a rally or demonstration is worth 3 Favor, particularly if it's well-attended or gets government notice. Destabilizing the rule of an Eisenfurst is worth 7 Favor, or 10 if it pushes a konigreich to a more democratic system. Publically humiliating an Eisenfurst or other candidate for Imperator is worth 5 Favor. Access to the Kinder von Morgen's libraries costs 2 Favor, and as the group is primarily scholars, academics and politicians, they have quite a few useful tomes. Getting aid from a Kinder agent costs only 3 Favor, and they have base Strength 6 and one of the Academy, Lyceum or University advantages, plus 4 points of extra Advantages of your choice per additional 2 Favor spent.

Die Kreuzritter are organizing for a massive campaign against the Horrors, including those that are more entrenched than your average zombie or ghoul. They just need support. Thus, they've made die Eisensanger, the Iron Singers, who cross the nation carrying messages on Horror attacks, monster hunts and political information, posting them on public boards marked 'the Song of Eisen.' They've helped a lot to bring Eisen together. The Knights of the Rose and Cross are much-needed, and their ranks have been massively lessened in Eisen due to all the disasters, though they help keep hope alive. Many of their recruits post-War have defected to the Drachenblut, however, after the Knights failed to provide sufficient financial support in outlying areas. Relations remain strained, as the Drachenblut see the Knights as ineffectual and the Knights see the Drachenblut as an upstart group that won't last. The Invisible College find monsters fascinating to study, and have come to do so in numbers. They want to know why so many seem attracted to the area, and solving that puzzle will bring much glory and acclaim. Some worry that the number of Horrors is actually on the rise despite all the hunting, though, and they often work with die Kreuzritter to help stop that. Mociutes Skara is hugely overworked in Eisen, trying to bring in medical supplies and food and weapons to fight monsters from Ussura and the Commonwealth. They have been reaching out to the Yachidi community recently to get more Crescent trade going, and it's doing well, as the Yachidi consider helping others to be a religious ideal. They are also hoping no one is dumb enough to start another war over rule of Eisen, and are willing to do a lot to stop that before it can start.

Next time: Places

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Welcome to Libertownpia

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Welcome to Libertownpia

Freiburg, the Free City was born as a social experiment in seeing how people do with few rules and an uninvolved government. His dream was to have a world where a person could live free of authority and control, and his idea is that he does that in Freiburg to see how it goes. Before the War of the Cross, it was Guldentor, home to one of the Imperator's palaces. During the war, it fell into disrepair due to the Baron's poor choices, and the Imperator stripped the man of his title. He died soon after, leaving the city unruled. Trage was later given a title that included the city, but he largely ignored it as veterans and refugees flooded in. It nearly collapsed, without anyone to lead it. By the time Trage returned to it, it was almost in ruin. With Wilma Probst's aid, he laid the groundwork for merchants, thinkers and organizers to remake the city, without any religious influence. He renamed it Freiburg, and many believed it'd collapse within a year. Instead, it's been going for four now, its conflicts resolved by a series of cobbled together rules that are approximately half arbitration and half street justice. These rules, known as the Freiburg Code or the Free Code, have survived as long as they have, most say, because Freiburg's people know that the city is all that's keeping them alive. Outside, there are monsters, and the city is a chance for something great.

The city is made of six quarters radiating from the Wachtturm, an ancient tower held up by Syrneth crystals, which was once home for the Imperator and is now the home of Niklas Trage. The quarters are separated by wheel-like road 'spokes'. The first quarter, known as the Griffon, centers on the Griffon Park. It is the most cosmopolitan district, with wares imported from across the continent and many inns and taverns for travelers. It is one of the most dangerous areas at night, as most of its population is transient. Second is the High Quarter, home to the powerful residents. Here you can find Vendel League houses and their guards, who keep out criminals and 'undesirables.' This is where you find your aristocrats and diplomats. Keep going west and you find Reinhagen, named for its large ampitheatre. This is where all kinds of performances and celebrations happen, and it can be rented out by basically anyone with the cash. Most recently and controversially it has been host to gladiatorial games run by a group called the Lonely Streets, open to any who wish to show their martial skill. The rest of the area is largely an artist's quarter, with its heart being the Sylvester Playhouse, run by philosopher-revolutionary Jean Lemaire of Montaigne.

Keep going and you find the Stein quarter. It is the oldest part of the city, built around an old fort. It was nearly decimated in the war, but was rebuilt and is now home to all troops in Freiburg, including Trage's Iron Guard. It is also home to several fighting academies and duelist houses, plus the Iron Arm, a street run by the Weaponsmith's Guild. Keep heading around and you reach the Institutional Quarter, home to the governmental buildings of Freiburg, such as the gaol, plus things like the Drachen Cathedral or the offices of the Freiburg Gazette. It's where all of the administrative offices are kept, under command of Wilma Probst. It's also home to Freiburg University, which has an excellent library and a quarterly pamphlet, the Wahrheitspapiere ('Truth Papers'), which welcomes new, controversial and heretical ideas, printed anonymously. Last is Goldviertel, the Gold Quarter - commerce hub for the city thanks to its large Marktplatz and trade yards. The Freiburg Marktplatz is a chaotic and uncontrolled place, and while the Iron Guard try to keep the peace, hired muscle controls many parts of it. Various criminal cartels make their home there, as do mercenaries operating from the Drachen's Toes Tavern. The ATC has recently started to bring slaves through the market, which has thrown the entire quarter into uproar and made it hard for even the Iron Guard to keep a lid on the outrage.

Freiburg is notable for the heights of idealism it contains and the depths of iniquity. It is a crossroads of thought, where all ideas are welcome, and it is home to much debate about Eisen's future. It is the place where everyone comes to make deals and do spying in Eisen, and the Rilasciare are currently the most powerful, having sworn to prevent Freiburg (and Eisen) from falling into the hands of any monarch, while their offshoot, the Kinder von Morgen, want Eisen to become like the Sarmatian Commonwealth. The fights over the future of the nation have already begun in the streets, and they're bloody. Others seek Freiburg's past, as one of the oldest cities in Eisen, and the Explorers have an immense chapterhouse in the city to explore the ruins under the place, which are Freiburg's worst kept secret.

No one is sure exactly how deep the ruins are or where they lie exactly, but every year, more people get lost sneaking into the catacombs under Nachtblut Cemetary to seek them out. Syrne relics and crystals can be found across the city, most notably a large, ancient crystal statue in the middle of the Conservatory Gardens, which actually is the power source that keeps the Wachtturm from falling over. The cemetary is also full of drachen bones, leading many to believe it was built on a drachen burial ground. Treasure seekers often dive in nearby Quarry Lake to hunt for relics or bones, only to be eaten by swimming Horrors. While a lot of Freiburg's dangers are crime-caused, the Horrors are also there making things more exciting. They lurk in the shadows throughout the city, because Eisen. It's one of the reasons the locals live every day as if it were their last.

The Dracheneisen Mountains are also called the spine of Eisen, and they run along the edges of Hainzl, Fischler and Wirsche, cutting off northwest Eisen from the rest of the world. Once, they were home to rich dracheneisen mines, and while those veins have run dry, many still seek the metal the mountains were named for. In ancient times, the mountains were drachen roosts, and their bones can still be found in ancient caves. Other treasures are also found, like the cache of dracheneisen weapons that bought Trage a title. Thanks to that story, many now go seeking wealth in the mountains. Most are never seen again, but some have ended up founding more permanent settlements in the high peaks, learning new ways to survive.

Of course, just like the rest of the nation, the mountains are full of Horrors. A form of winged ghoul is most notable, able to glide on leathery flaps under the arms in order to drop on people from above, while another form is able to tunnel from below. The locals have had to adapt quickly, often by turning to banditry to feed and arm themselves. They are fast, ruthless mountaineers, learning quickly to rappel down and rob a caravan in record time. Others became slavers, running mountain chain gangs of travelers to hunt for dracheneisen. So far, no one has found any, but the gems and minerals from the mines keep the popup mining towns running. More recently, they've been finding glowing Syrneth crystals, too. When asked about the slave towns in the mountains, the Eisenfursten all deny the existence of any in their own land. Fischler and Hainzl have both launched expeditions to investigate the allegations, but they never find anything. Roswitha von Wirsche merely scoffs at the idea, refusing to send her Iron Guard to even look into it. The fact that her summer manor, Klarhammel, sits not far from one of the supposed slave towns has many wondering how much she actually knows and allows.

And then you have places like the nightmare village Hohenlage. It used to be a major meeting area for local villagers in the mountains to trade and get caravans into Wirsche or beyond, even to Montaigne. It was a thriving town, before the War...but after the Horrors came, it was attacked constantly, its population shrinking. No one came to help them, and it seemed they'd all die...until one day, a nobleman showed up with a solution. He was Viktor Franzeller, a scientist and hexe, who swore he'd teach them to survive peacefully with the Horrors, as long as they obeyed him unquestioningly. A generation later, the town has been utterly transformed, as Viktor experiments on the villagers, grafting pieces of Horrors onto them to empower them. He created the Leibewerk Horrors, undead monsters made of various limbs grafted together, and has even learned how to keep people alive after a graft. He's adjusted nearly all the villagers in some way. The Changed, as they call themselves, vastly outnumber those few that refused to take part. Viktor is obsessed with finding the perfect blend, but has had little success in his experiments. The townsfolk are now mostly invisible to the Horrors, though it's not totally clear why. Most of them are fanatically devoted to their new lord, and those that aren't keep that a secret, except to warn outsiders to keep their heads down and their mouths shut while passing through. Rumors of the Changed and their existence have now reached die Kreuzritter, who want to end Viktor's work extremely terminally. However, even for them, getting through the mountains to fight him won't be easy.

The Walder, meanwhile, is spread between Freiburg, Fischler and Sieger. It covers nearly a third of southern Eisen, and crossing the nation east to west pretty much requires going through the massive forest. There are several roads, but most are poorly guarded if at all, as neither Sieger nor Fischler have the resource to patrol them, and Freiburg has mostly ignored them. Merchants and caravans hire their own guards, and it is not that unusual for an entire party to just vanish in the woods, blamed on losses to blood drinkers, shapeshifting beasts or the Schattenmann himself. The Walder's full of monster, after all. Undead, blighted animals of enormous size, blood-draining mists, witches, ghouls and more. Then you have the units of ghost soldiers reenacting old battles on anyone they meet, the sobbing ghosts at night that try to possess people and drain them of life unless their unfinished business is resolved or an exorcist is near enough to drive them out, and other types of less solid undead. Most of the human inhabitants are little better, hardy and desperate bandits that live there because nowhere else will take them. Only the strongest survive the Horrors.

Some of these become what local villages around the forest call the Wilde Kinder, roving bands that attack anyone they find. Apparently they believe they are culling 'herds' of humans that enter the woods. Others say the Wilde Kinder are shapeshifters, taking on the form of hybrid animal-human creatures to track their prey. But either way, between the Horrors and the bandits, the Walder is dangerous to traverse unprepared. Many merchants refuse to camp there at night, preferring to travel for hours to avoid doing so, while others band together to make temporary villages in the woods, in the hopes that numbers will keep them safe. It doesn't stop the Horrors, but it makes the fights easier. If you wander off the beaten path in the northwestern woods, you might also wander into Waldemar Estate, a crumbling old manor house that is home to the blood-drinking Waldemar family. They seem quite hospitable...until they eat you.

Perhaps the most terrifying inhabitant of the Walder, however, is the Schattenmann, the Shade Man. He walks the forest with a giant pair of shears and has long, stick-like arms, ready to carve up anyone he meets. Some believe him a simple Horror, but survivors of his attacks speak of a horrific intelligence hiding behind his black, pit-like eyes. He is said to protect the Imperator's Grove, named for the first Imperator, Stefan. It is a grove of bone-white trees around a fountain that is believed to cure any illness or injury. Stories say Stefan negotiated use of the woods from the powerful spirit-guardian of Eisen, in return for her being left out of his disputes. However, it is said she removed her protection from the Walder, leaving the fountain trapped behind legions of monsters.

There are a few villages around its edges, at least, that are relatively safe. They are home to woodcutters, miners, hunters and so on. The largest of them is southwestern Kummerholt, run by Alwin Rainer, a seventh generation local boy. It's the closest to a safe haven for travelers in the entire forest. The locals treat outsiders with a sort of weary humor, as they believe anyone traveling the Walder is obviously a fool and arrogant to boot. However, anyone that survives a trip can expect a free drink at Rosswind Inn, a standing offer put in place by the innkeeper, Rolf Barkhaus, and his wife Romilde.

Next time: Pechta's Forest

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Magic Forests

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Magic Forests

Angenehme Wald is a haven from the normally horror-filled forests of Eisen. It covers much of northeastern Eisen, and a lot of it is so thick that you can't even get through it all the time. If not for the three main roads through it to Ussura, you might never go there...but it is beautiful. The name means 'pleasant,' and it is a place of wonder. It's practically a fairytale forest, with flowers and animals and huge trees. The birds sing all the time, the firs are strong and you can see all kinds of critters. The roads stay in nearly perfect condition all year, though they get no maintenance. Those who live near it have a saying: Der Wald dauert fort, the forest will go on. Those who stay outside watch it with a mix of suspicion and wonder, and those who live inside never leave, though many travelers go through it and get to Ussura. The magical protection of the forest has existed for as long as any can recall, and stories of hiding from evil there are very old, always ending happily, with the heroes settling in the forest ever after. Many deserters from the War tried to get there and got caught and killed, but a few made it, finding small hamlet communities where they were welcomed, as did refugees from the Horrors. All are told the same thing: Perchta, witch of the woods, protects the Angenehme, and anyone that upsets the peace must answer to her. Oh, and once you decide to live there, you cannot leave.

Neither Posen nor Freiburg claims the forest, though it falls in both. Rather, it is the domain of Perchta, who lives in a small cottage in the forest heart alongside a number of happy women and children. She appears alternatively as an aged crone or a beautiful young woman, and makes no effort to hide her inhuman nature or her power. She's been the protector of the wood since its existence began and she hates anyone that speaks out against magic. She claims to have been there before Eisen was, though now she must concentrate her power in just one forest, keeping it in a forever spring and protecting it. Many are attracted to the forest paradise, and there are only two rules. One, anything taken must be repaid. Every deal made there must be completed, all firewood must somehow return to the forest. Second, no one leaves without her express approval. Anyone breaking the rules faces deadly consequences at the hands of the forest itself, their bones left on the side of the road as a warning.

Perchta herself is a great negotiator, and she demands a favor of anyone that wishes to do more in the woods than just travel to Ussura. If you want to stay temporarily, you trade her favors. The better the deal is for her, the longer you can stay. She is more potent as an ally than nearly anyone else in Eisen, given her knowledge of the past, though she is limited in what she can do outside the forest. Anyone who lives there that wants to leave must negotiate for freedom, and the price is often very steep indeed. The forest is home to plants and animals unseen in such numbers elsewhere, thriving. Rare plants and ingredients for hexenwork abound, and rumors of caches of Syrneth relics happen, particularly in a set of caves to the north said to hold an underground labyrinth with a river that leads to magical lands. All kinds of strange, magical beings are drawn to the woods, called by Perchta's power. It is unclear if they are real or just projections of her power. She is also currently covertly backing Rosamund Roth to take over the country, as she thinks Roth is the best choice for magic.

Because anyone using the roads of the forest must pay a toll or tribute, a small town has grown up at the crossroads just on the western border. It is Kreuzweg, where travelers can resupply and prepare for the trip. The inn called the Skipping Stone is at the town's heart, offering a warm and pleasant rest for travelers, often Ussuran merchants or people heading between Posen and Freiburg, or explorers looking for Syrneth relics and ruins. The town also keeps records of folks who, finding the magic of the forest disturbing, do some stupid shit. During the War of the Cross, Vaticine armies attacked the forest, for example, and got torn to shreds by the trees themselves. One of the survivors, a former captain named Jakob Berlitz, refused to lead the charge on penalty of death, and before he could be hanged, escaped into the woods with the few other soldiers that refused the order. He remains the mayor of Kreuzweg to this day. He and the other locals have remained quiet when dealing with the Eisenfursten, sending their emissaries on to Perchta. Whatever those emissaries saw, it intrigued Niklas Trague enough for him to visit personally, and rumor has it the roads are currently so totally safe because of an understanding they reached.

Burg Wachesherz, the Castle of the Vigilant Heart, sits at the foot of Tiefstrabe Mountain, deep in the Dracheneisens. It has long fallen into disrepair, and its history is mostly forgotten. Legend claims it was made by ancient sorcerers to study the drachen, but that may just be a story. By the time the place was rediscovered in the tail end of the War, it was half collapsed, with only the outer walls still standing properly. Rosamund Roth led her unit there to seek refuge from a storm, discovering it overrun by Horrors. The Horrors killed many soldiers before Roth could seal the lower levels that they came from, and the survivors fled the castle when the weather cleared...but not until Rosamund swore to come back and clean it out. Her work in the lower levels had changed her, as if she had seen something terrible yet wonderful. It took years for her to return, but when she did, it was at the head of the newly formed Drachenblut. They had decided to rebuild the castle as their headquarters, and their first major battle was clearing out the monsters beneath. When they were done, they raised their flag on the ramparts and set about rebuilding.

Now, the Burg is a true fortress, accessible only by a narrow pass watched over by its massive walls and guarded on two sides by immense mountain cliffs. The forces within are small but well trained and equipped, served by civilians who have trekked out to help them. They used to be more secretive about what happened within, but after the recent accusations of blood rituals, Rosamund has opened the castle to the public in exchange for small donations of time or money, to show they have nothing to hide. Trustworthy visitors may even get to see their strategy academy, where their young recruits are trained in tactics and history as well as martial skill. Their greatest treasure is probably the growing library they maintain, helped by a defrocked former priest named Diego Monsancino. They have books on everything from history to magic, dating back to the start of Eisen. Any who wish to join must first go out with the Drachenblut and prove themselves. Survivors are named Blutgeschwister, blood-siblings, and may stay at the castle, where the Drachenblut live in communal halls. Roth eats and sleeps with the rest, under the grand banner of the golden drachen. That said, reaching the castle is itself a challenge, given the Horrors in the mountains and the ambushes by enemies of the Drachenblut.

There are various rumors and stories about what lies in the Iron Caves below the castle and their role in Drachenblut initiation ritual. Stories speak of hooded rites involving a goblet full of drachen blood to drink. Most do not believe they have any real drachen blood, of course, as there have been no drachen in a thousand years...but many wonder if some dark secret lies under the castle. If there is, indeed, a drachen down there, no one is admitting to it. The castle is supported by the village Wachesherz, which sits just outside the walls. It is mostly home to artisans and craftsmen that work to support the Drachenblut, making deals with those uninterested in actually joining the group and living in the castle. Their most lucrative trade is parts for Hexenwork, and rumor has it you can get stuff there that's found nowhere else. The nominal mayor and chief civilian is Kiva Hollitz, who sympathizes with hexe and many other sorcerers, actively working to protect and hide them from those who hunt them. The castle also often has noble guests, whom the Drachenblut court for donations to pay for the renovations. Recently, an inn called the Drachen's Jewel has opened to service them, run by a Vesten couple named Gertrude and Sigrun Jarlsmann, who are associates of the Vendel League. An anonymous donor recently gave the Drachenblut a large supply of dracheneisen arms, and many blame Niklas Trague, but he denies it vigorously.

Starkbrunn sits on the border with Castille, and it has actually been revitalized following the War. It was overrun early on, suffering Castillian occupation for much of the War until it was retaken in the Imperator's final push, which cost nearly a thousand lives. Thus, the city's fields are known as the Crown's Graveyard, where many soldiers died, or die Heulenden Ebenen, the Howling Ground, for all the blood spilled there. It was here that the ceasefire was negotiated, and Castille returned the city as a gesture of goodwill. The veterans tried to rebuild it, but it fell into disrepair quickly. The land around it is blighted and full of some of the worst Horrors in Eisen. They brazenly attack travelers from the crags, and the last few miles to the city involve a mad dash for its safe walls and garrisons. Deaths used to be common, but the rise of a new generation has reduced them.

When the old commander of the garrison, Bruno Elkhardt, died fighting ghouls to save a caravan, his daughter and second in command, Elmina, put out a call across Eisen for warriors to face off against monsters. Soon, a group of young Eisen arrived, too young to have fought in the War but experienced fighting Horrors. These scrappers took up the task of protecting Starkbrunn, turning it into the best military base in the nation. These people and their commander Elmina are known now as the Junges Blut, the Young Bloods, a breed of monster hunters ready to fight and die to protect their families. There are tensions between them and the old guard, but overall they work well together and are a major power in the region, with many families sending their children to serve as Junges Blut to learn what it means to be Eisen. It surprised everyone when the city declared itself part of Fischler rather than Hainzl, as Falk Fischler had been the only Eisenfurst to actually send troops and supplies to help them out, against the advice of his advisors. When Elmina sent her thanks, he actually came to meet her personally. While he isn't generally known for it, he charmed her and the Junges Blut with his support and paying tribute to the fallen, and the city is now fanatically devoted to him. It has been rebuilt and is now fairly modern, with new fortifications built over the old. They don't tend to like Castillians much, though.

A new class of monster hunter has recently come forth in Starkbrunn, which is now a haven for warriors looking for a cause. They are the ungetumjager, specialists in killing Horrors, and they work out of Jagerviertel, the Hunter's Quarter. Anyone with a specialized Horror problem can go to the taverns there, as the innkeepers keep rosters of the hunters in the city that want work. The local Himmel Licht Hospital is also world-renowned for its ability to treat the odd afflictions that often come from monster attacks. Its head research, Doctor Yedidya Neiman, specializes in magical diseases, continuing the research of his Yachidi parents. He works closely with his husband, Samir al-Rabbah, to network with other Yachidi scholars and expand knowledge of monstrous anatomy and beneficial use of Hexe.

Starkbrunn is one of the lead centers for trade in Hexenwork components. Most warriors there are more than happy to accept the magic, because it works, and many shopkeepers sell components in secret, while local guards pretend not to notice. Unlike the shops in Wachesharz, whose components are as often fake as not, Starkbrunn's are fresh and reasonably priced. If they don't have what you need, they know where a monster can be found that you can harvest for it. The town also serves as a major stopping point on routes that smuggle sorcerers out of persecution. Many hexe, seeking to avoid getting onto Elsa Posen's list, live in the city. No one has an exact count, but they're not hard to find when you need them. It's also pretty much an open secret that the best local seamstress, Donatella Rossi, is a Fate Witch that works with the Junges Blut. It's said she knows where all the hidden sorcerers of the city live, but since she's survived three assassination attempts so far and has never talked, well, it's unlikely she'd reveal it. Each time, her attackers were found mysteriously outside the city after dark, where they were killed by Horrors.

Next time: Swamps.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Vampire Island Vacation Homes

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Vampire Island Vacation Homes

The Ausgeglichene Platz ruins are very old, but until recently, no one knew they existed. They are deep in the horrible Salzsumpf swamps, thick with mud and Horrors and sirens. Before the War, people avoided it for the sirens and swampland, and recently, there's been a geological shift. Strange noises have come from the ground under the mud, there have been earthquakes, and the land has shifted. A complex set of ruins have emerged, scattered across several miles. Explorers were shocked when they realized this was only the top of some tall buildings, too, with great towers under the mud still buried. Via the openings, though, the towers have been able to be explored. They are immense, full of beautiful (if waterlogged) mosaics and carvings, plus various Syrneth relics and crystals. The name means 'the Balanced Place' because the structures are buried at a weird angle and in strange configurations, making it easy to get lost, though that's never stopped the Explorers or fortune-seeking relic hunters. Elsa Posen has started levying a small treasure tax on them, there's so many. Of course, the ruins are full of undead monsters, like much of Eisen.

We now head to Wirsche and to Rucken Island, once a depot for Vesten ships and a resupply point for the League. The infrastructure was all destroyed in the War of the Cross, and the Vesten abandoned it. Pirates took the island, then Castille drove them away, then Roswitha von Wirsche drove them away with her best Iron Guard. After the war, she planned to use it as a home for the landless peoples of Eisen. The Rucken Endeavor, as it was called, offered free land to anyone that settled the Horror-free island. Five hundred families and nearly two hundred orphans, most of them Vaticine, traveled to the island...and found it barren, wind-blasted, barely arable and open to attack from all directions. They wanted to leave. Unfortunately, the boats had already abandoned them, and so they sought shelter in the abandoned Vesten town Gottkirchen, and they might have all died, had it not been for the pact they made with the only remaining inhabitants of the islands - the blood drinkers.

The Rucken Endeavor was proposed because Roswitha just wanted to get rid of the refugees and displaced people. She, plus the Eisenfursten of Sieger, Posen and Hainzl, promised support and Iron Guard troops to help the settlers. Most had no idea of the vulnerabilities of the island. When they learned how bad it was, all of them swore to help rebuild Gottkirchen. However, it broke down almost immediately. Hainzl and Sieger withdrew most of their funding and supplies, and Wirsche's Iron Guard left after barely three months, leaving no weapons for the locals. Once they pulled out, coastal raids began from the north, and Wirsche sent no aid. And yet, families kept coming, unaware of what had become of the Endeavor. They tried to grow crops, but they grew poorly. And then, drawn by the people, Horrors began appearing. Gottkirchen became the only safe place, and even the most stubborn farmers had to go behind the ruined walls.

If not for Magistrate Salomon Zeller, Rucken's people would have died within the year. Zeller had been chosen by Wirsche to manage the island and quickly became the de facto mayor, commander and chief administrator. One day, he returned from a Horror hunt, the only survivor and covered in blood. He promised the people they had no more need to fear the Horrors, thanks to new protectors. Many were suspicious...but the attacks did, in fact, stop. Gottkirchen re-emerged as a fishing and trading village, a refuge from Horrors. No attacks happened in the city, and even criminal activity was nearly nonexistent after a few nights of criminals being slaughtered in the night. People were unsure who these overzealous protectors were, but Zeller would not say.

One year later, a carriage arrived from a small manor house on the far side of the island. Zeller went to it, escorting his brother, who was sick and near death. His brother went into the carriage and was not seen again alive. His body was delivered back three days later. Zeller then explained the deal he'd made and, after long debate, the town accepted the blood pact. It has been fifteen years since then, and Gottkirchen is still protected by the blood drinkers. They kill any other Horrors that show up on the island of Rucken, and hunt criminals by night. No one is sure how many live in the manor, and no one has gone to challenge them ever returns. Only Zeller speaks to them, and he tells no one about them. The villagers warn merchants about the brutal law enforcement and low crime rates, and most traders know not to visit on the summer solstice, when the yearly sacrifice occurs. During the funeral for the sacrifice, the next year's victim volunteers. So far, there's always been a volunteer, who spends a year as an honored hero whose every whim is catered to until they enter the carriage. Their family is then cared for as long as they live. This makes volunteering to die an attractive option for the poor, sick and lost. Everyone knows they've made a deal with Horrors...but, well, what's the alternative?

Not that everyone agrees. The leaders of those who oppose the blood pact are led by Father Alonzo Gonzalez, a Castillian priest who settled to reopen Saint Eugenia's Church on the island. He believes they must fight the Horrors themselves and root out the blood drinkers, but he knows the town's only alive thanks to the willing sacrifice of the villagers. He maintains a stone memorial obelisk, which contains on it only the names of each sacrificial victim. Perhaps because of his sermons, fewer and fewer have been volunteering for the 'honor' of death by vampire, and there has been grumbling about overthrowing Zeller and driving the monsters out. The Resistance, as they call themselves, have recently started looking for help on the mainland. Of course, without the vampiric defense, raiders would again have easy access to the island, as the town has no real walls or militia. What it has is people in shitty houses, and lots of them. Even the church is a half-collapsed relic, and the marketplace is ramshackle and lashed together from ruined wood. There's no money for infrastructure, no warriors and no help. The Resistance needs to find allies before they can even think about breaking the pact.

Heimstatt, east of Freiburg, sits near the Ussuran border. It was once a farming village, but has been growing in wild leaps and bounds after the road to Ussura was expanded and headed past it. Traders and travelers have been passing through in droves, and it has become a shockingly cosmopolitan stopover on the trade route to Ussura and Vesten. In the War, it was a medical refuge, with an army hospital made out of several outskirt farms. The locals at first resented the land seizure, but soon began to pitch in on caring for veterans, helping to save thousands of soldiers. The Imperator officially named the town 'home of heroes' and promised a budget to expand the hospital into a permanent facility. When he died, the promise would have been forgotten if not for Niklas Trage. He, Posen and Fischler worked to fund Heimstatt, growing it into a full city with an excellent training hospital and the small Eisengeist-Universitat. The town is now bustling and productive, with few Horror attacks. Some say it is the proximity to Ussura that provides this safety. Whatever the case, it means that some of Eisen's best medical and scientific minds flock to the growing city, and its lands are still lush and full of growth. This vision of what Eisen could be, without the Horrors, provides a lot of hope for the people.

Despite its massive increase in size over the past 50 years, Heimstatt retains a charming small-town appeal as it grows around the university and hospital. The hospital, Heiligherz-Krankenhaus, is not only capable of handling mass trauma, but also trains the world's best field medics. Their surgical wing is unsurpassed, and they've gotten aid and grants from medical institutes across the continent for their library. The Vaticine has helped fund them, bringing in doctors from Vodacce and Castille to help out on the teaching staff. There is also a large Yachidi community, who arrived around a decade ago for trade and study. Since their arrival, their population has exploded massively, and the neighborhood of Lodz is almost entirely Yachidi now. The locals weren't sure at first what to think of them, but have grown to embrace the Yachidi dedication to bettering the community. The Chavra, a Yachidi organization, was instrumental in bringing Crescent medical supplies to fight a plague a few years ago, and the Yachidi have helped bolster the reputation of both Heiligherz-Krankenhaus and Eisengeist-Universitat as areas where magic and science are studied together. Their radical approach of joint magical and scientific study has not made the Inquisition happy, however, and the Inquisitors have recently released public statements condemning Heimstatt. The locals expelled certain priests for nearly getting into fistfights with the faculty, and tensions have been high for a while. It's only a matter of time before things come to a head.

Next time: Hexenwerk. Apparently it's been spelled with an e this entire time and I have somehow not noticed.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Hexen

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Hexen

Eisen folklore's great heroes were people in magic armor. Sadly, that doesn't actually exist. Reality is, instead, a place of loss and heartbreak and monsters. No one can say exactly where Hexenwerk came from - each legend of its beginnings is just a story, a rumor, and they are united only in that they begin in heartbreak and sadness, and end in blight. One tale is about a hexe who used Unguents to enchant weapons and armor, only for them to reanimate any dead body that touched them. The hexe then repurposed the Unguents to fight the new threat, creating modern Hexenwerk. Another is of a witch whose land was stolen by an invading army that came through her woods, and to punish them, she called down dark spirits, which then stuck around to ravage the land after. Another says that during the War of the Cross, Eisen forces needed food and reinforcements, and the generals discovered a sorcerous means to revive dead troops, but it left these undead monsters uncontrollable and rampaging.

Hexenwerk is grotesque, designed to wield the undead against themselves. Eating undead hearts or mashing up eyes is gross. Many who use it do so for good, to help Eisen. However, it is absolutely a magic born of desperation. The War drained Eisen, and they use what they have left to fight. Most cannot stomach the disgusting things a hexe must do to themselves, and other Eisen often fear and respect them, though it often alienates them from their friends and loved ones. Hexe often accept this as the price for saving Eisen. Almost all hexe learn from a mentor - self-teaching just doesn't work very well for this sorcery. It is often shunned and sometimes illegal, though, which means finding such a mentor can be hard. Most teachers insist that their students also learn the skills needed to fight undead, which is one reason novices without a mentor usually fare poorly. The training is often difficult and dangerous, and if your stomach is not readied and trained, an Unguent can kill you.

To prepare for that, hexe train by eating meat that is days old, eventually moving up to weeks old, then months, until they can eat meat that's been rotten for years without too much trouble. That's just to eat the Unguents - getting their measures right takes months of practice, too. Every hexe has their own variant on a blend that is personal to them and has to be learned by experimentation, as their bodies each react differently to the components. This is part of why the stomach training is so vital. Mentors tend to also look for national pride in their students, and ambition. You need ambition to be willing to stomach the repugnant tasks of the hexe, and pride to use the power for Eisen. A common training task is to find an animal corpse and properly dispose of it without any tools, which means removing all organs, destroying them, then burning the rest. Completeing destroying a corpse is vital to hexe, and doing it without tools teaches the student to handle grossness and bad smells.

Recently, Elsa Posen has founded a group within her Iron Guard called the Hexenjager, the Witch Hunters. She has them in order to find and register hexe, so they can be tracked and used properly for the military. Any of her Iron Guard with an ounce of magical talent is trained to be a Hexenjager, then given a sword and a registry book. Its 26 pages must each be filled with information on a hexe, then returned to Elsa, who then either returns them to normal duty or gives them another book. If a hexe will not register, the hexenjager must banish or kill them, as they say that only an enemy of Eisen would not register. Many hexe deeply distrust Elsa's list (which is fair, given the idea was given to her by an Inquisitor) and fear that she has something terrible planned. (She doesn't, but said inquisitor probably does.) They may even flee Eisen to avoid getting on it. A hexenjager that finds a hiding hexe will brand them with the symbol of a circle with an X inside, marking them as Apostat. Any Apostat discovered using sorcery in Eisen is hunted and killed by the hexenjagers.

Hexe outside Eisen often struggle to find a way to use their sorcery, which is focused on fighting the undead. These exist outside Eisen, but in far smaller numbers. Thus, while safe, their skills languish unless they can modify them to deal with living monsters. The techniques of the Apostat are similar to normal hexe, but instead of undead human flesh, they use the flesh of monstrous beasts. It's dangerous, though - monsters can be poison sometimes, and it's also a lot easier to self-justify than eating human bits, making it easy to become complacent. Monsters typically taste better, but can cause illness or madness. To be able to contact each other for training and discussion, the Apostaten have found a way to communicate: the X-in-circle symbol. They use it creatively to mark territory, offer or ask for aid or just let people know they exist. Some carve it in trees or get it tattooed. This can help find a mentor. However, it can also be dangerous, and the symbol's been used before to lure people into traps, either by witch hunters, Inquisitors or even intelligent monsters.

The Hexenwerk of an Apostat is identical to that of a normal hexe in most ways. Each Sorcery purchase still gives one Major and two Minor Unguents, chosen either from the normal or Apostat lists, and all prep time and costs are identical. The main thing is the ingredients differ. Some of the Unguents in the core can be used as normal, just requiring a change in ingredients to deal with non-undead - monster blood, say, rather than corpse blood. The GM and player work out what changes might be needed there. However, the game also provides a handful of new Major Unguents that are specific to Apostat monster hunting.

Major Unguents
Anosmia Oil: Take a clump of monster fur and a drop of monster urine, boil them in herbs, essential oils and acid, then reduce the mix to an oily paste. Rub this on the body, and you become impossible for any monsters to track by scent for one Scene. For them to find you, they must spend an extra Raise.
Ferocious Mobility: Take a monster's tooth, a dried frog and a crow's feather, grind them to powder, and mix them with milk. Swallow it, and you can run and jump like a wild animal, allowing you to perform a single normally impossible athletic task, such as jumping a 20-foot crevasse, that the monster whose tooth you use would have been able to do. (I am fairly certain you do so automatically, at that, with no Risk involved.)
Fugue Powder: Take a demon's horn, mushrooms and bone meal, cook them dry, grind them to a powder and mix them with tea. When drunk, this causes someone to forget everything that happened in the past day. You need a decently large amount of tea for this to work, of course, and demon horns aren't exactly common.
Wild Sight: Take a sharpened blackwood branch, burn it, then roll it in berries, mud and a piece of the monster you want to hunt, such as fur or blood. If you use the branch to scratch someone, they take 1 Dramatic Wound and go into a trance, sharing the monster's vision. The connection is lost if the monster sleeps or takes a Wound, or if the person having the vision takes a Wound. It lasts for one Scene otherwise. While in the trance state, you can spend a Hero Point to make a Notice Risk to get additional information about the monster.

Next time: Fencing.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Three Swords

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Three Swords

Eisen Duelists are renowned for their skill, because they must have it to survive. Three of the four major military academies (Steil, Unabwendbar and Gelingen) have Guildhouses on the grounds, and the Guild's only grown in power since the end of the War. More Soldner means more Duelists, generally speaking. While Eisen Duelists have no special legal standing or authority, they are often turned to as mediators and arbitrators in personal disputes. The Eisenfursten keep the law, but for personal affairs, a Duelist is always fair - the people believe that because they defend their beliefs with such strength, they will bring an inherent sense of rightness to disputes, and they're often called on to settle debates, insults and even legal matters, especially by the younger Eisen who distrust their elders to solve problems.

The sheer number of Duelists in Eisen caused the Council of Swords to set up a headquarters in Freiburg. It was originally made of three Guild founders and their closest students, and was not meant to govern Duelists, but serve as an administrative body. It keeps records on all Duelists, living or dead, collects dues for the Guild and, in rare cases, handles disagreements that can't be settled via dueling. This tends to be things like contractual business matters, or diplomatic issues in which a duel would be an act of war. The Council's presence and a cultural tendency to obey rules means that illegal duels in Eisen are practically unheard of, and even the poorest Bauern would rather pay a Duelist than face the fines of an illegal duel.

Eisen has three broad classes of Duelist, but all wear their Guild pins openly and visibly, with great pride. The idea of concealing your pin in Eisen is actually seen as offensive. Adel Duelists are often kept on retainer by other nobles, but most Adel see it as weakness to need to rely on them to fight rather than just challenge. The more cautious or cowardly nobles still do, however. Duelists from among the Adel are typically quiet people that prefer to remain on the fringe of the court, and they typically favor the Eisenfaust school. Their duels tend to be somber and public, with respectful salutes and then fighting in total silence but for the grunt of effort and the clash of blades. They almost never fight to the death - too few Eisen remain for that to be common.

Soldner Duelists are the most numerous, and are often officers, largely due to their skills. When in Iron Guard units, Duelists will often be asked by their fellows to represent the unit in inter-unit disputes. Unlike Adel duels, Soldner fights are raucous, with their fellow warriors forming a circle and cheering on the fight. They often use the Drexel school, making their fights a dance of point and counterpoint. Losers are usually alive, but rarely conscious. Waisen are the third class of Duelist, and their pride is great, unlike most Waisen. They might sell their blade or armor for food, but never their pin. Waisen don't duel particularly often, being too busy struggling to survive, and as a result many use the Kummerholt style, which can be done with little more than a sharp edge and a determination to use your whole self to fight.

Kummerholt is believed to have been developed to fight against impossible odds, such as when facing monsters with nothing but a kitchen knife. The tale of the legendary Adel Dietz ends with him beaten and bloody, but defeating the Blutiger Furst by stabbing him through the heart with a hunting knife, and there are tales of hunters slaying drachen after a long fight, armed only with a broken sword as the body of the beast crushed them. It's not totally clear when Kummerholt was first codified, but all can agree that it is effective. It's not really about methods of fighting as much as mindset and thought. The Kummerholt Duelist fights without regard for their own safety, rushing a stronger foe and committing to desperate, vicious attacks. When all seems lost, they go for a final blow, ending the fight in one desperate thrust. The style bonus is this Death Knell. When you wield a small blade in one hand, such as a dagger, jagged shard of glass or broken sword, you may perform the Death Knell Maneuver. To do so, you spend all your Raises, then deal (Weaponry+Raises Spent+opponent's Strength or highest Trait) Wounds, which cannot be avoided or prevented in any way. This Maneuver can be used only once per Scene.

Now, legenden! Eisen's always had horror stories and dark legends, and the War of the Cross has only brought more dark creatures to the fore, along with the power of the hexe. Zombies, for example. They're...zombies. Slow, stumbling ones, drawn to the scent of living flesh. They do not need vision, and they typically travel in packs. During the War, various hexe intended to use them as mass hordes to fight the foes of Eisen, after all, but lost control of their creations. Individually, they're weak, but they're never alone. Depending on the size, their Monster Squad can vary in Strength, but 4 is around average, and they're Unliving.

Revenants are your basic fast zombie, much faster, stronger and tougher than the shamblers. They are still unliving, unbreathing monsters raised by Hexenwerk, but typically still have skin and muscle that works. The easies way to identify one is the sunken, shriveled eyes and the skin sloughed off the fingertips. This is because they kill and eat so viciously that their palms and fingers are stripped down to sinew while the rest of their body is maintained. They are dangerously strong, and it's not totally clear why they happen sometimes instead of normal zombies. They seem to lack human intellect, but are smarter than the average zombie and can focus on specific targets. They aren't mindless, but targeted. They are Strength 5, Relentless and Swift.

Leibewerke Horrors are your worst kind of Hexenwerk-raised undead minion. They typically have four impossibly strong arms, six spindly legs, two heads and some extra torso space, as this was the original design, but they can come in just about any shape. They were invented during the War of the Cross, made from the best parts of various corpses sewn together into an unstoppable beast by a hexe trying to push the limits of darkness. They tend to be larger and more versatile than other undead creations, and a particularly skilled hexe can even tailor them to specific jobs. They range in Strength from 5 to 7, depending on their make, and are Fearsome and Powerful.

Some hexe seem to enjoy making the Liebewerke, seeing it as an art. They've gone underground since the War, though, and the most infamous of them is Viktor Franzeller of Hohenlage. Some of die Kreuzritter have dedicated themselves to hunting these mad necromancers and their creations, but every time they take out one of Viktor's works, he makes something even worse. More than a few of his creations have escaped and now wander the land, uncontrolled.

The worst that hexe can produce, however, are the creatures known as blood drinkers. A sect of them live on Rucken, yes, helping to protect them in exchange for a yearly sacrifice. It is commonly assumed that these monsters drink the blood of their victims, but they are generally not caught in the act of doing so. The creatures know themselves as Vampir, and it should be noted that one victim a year is not nearly enough to sustain even one of them. A Vampir appears to be entirely mortal and human in all ways, except two: they do not breathe, and their heart does not beat. The first Vampir was born when a hexe found the secret of immortality, long ago. The trick to it? Don't be alive. Extremely potent Hexenwerk can eternally preserve the body and soul by sacrificing one's own life. To sustain it, the Vampir requires ten gallons of blood every month, which can be consumed, bathed in, caked on like paint - all kinds of ways have been found. The blood is merely the reagent that empowers their Hexenwork to keep them 'alive.' Vampir do not typically make more of themselves, as they dislike teaching the necromantic secrets of their lifestyle, but often dwell in small pockets in the land. Several are actually quiet upset about the Rucken brood, and are plotting to perhaps move against their too-known brethren in order to keep themselves hidden. All Vampir are Villains, whose Influence is typically used to command various undead monsters. They are always Nocturnal, and always have Hexenwerk Sorcery.

Next time: worwelf

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - wyfwulf

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - wyfwulf

There is one other way, in Eisen, to die and come back to life. It sucks! See, there are tons of stories about people who turn into massive, furry, vicious beasts under the full moon. These tales have been around for centuries. Some say that the Werwolf's human side can take back control when close to their loved ones, but no one's ever seen it happen. Everyone knows someone who's seen a Werwolf, though, and their appearances make travel limited under the full moon unless you bring a really good hunter along. Werwolfs spread by killing. Their bite isn't always lethal, but anyone slain by a Werwolf returns to life...as a Werwolf. The only means by which the curse is spread is by death and rebirth. Period. Many hexe believe the curse is actually an ancient, primitive form of Hexenwerk that required death to trigger it. However, the Werwolf is not an undead monster - it breathes, it eats, it talks when in human form. Only under the full moon does the transformation take over, and the human half has no memory of any of the wolf's actions.

Werwolfe are vicious beasts, easily able to kill lone warriors. They are, in their monstrous form, twice the size of a man, though usually hunched over for easier use of both sets of limbs. Their hands and feet are immense, with long claws, and they are stronger than any known animal in Theah as well as capable of rapid regeneration. Regular weapons injure them only briefly before they heal, and unlike most monsters, dracheneisen is barely any more effective. They do, however, have weaknesses. First, silver. They cannot heal from silver-caused injury, and silver appears to act as a blood poison to them. Further, in Werwolf form, their intellect is merely animal, driven only by bloodlust. In their human form, they have normal intelligence, but no knowledge of their alternate self at all. Under the full moon, they are Strength 6, Nocturnal, Powerful and Regenerating, but cannot regenerate against silver.

Grundylows have been appearing in far greater numbers since the War. It's not clear why. Some say they've always been around like this, but people just believe in them more now that other Horrors are there, too. Their tale is an old one, and they are monsters of the swamp and bog, long believed an old wives' tale to warn kids away from standing water. Now, though, no one can deny their reality. Legend claims they feast on any living flesh, but adore above all else that of children and young animals. No one knows why. They are found most often around the Salzsumpf and its ruins. A recent expedition into the Ausgeglichene Platz tried to catalogue the local monsters, and three died before they pulled back with a single captive Grundylow. They are roughly human-shaped, but stretched a foot taller than most, with arms the same length as their legs, and little fat or muscle. Their hands are seven-fingered and have elongated palms and extra joints, to allow easier gripping, and their teeth are in two jagged double rows, to rend flesh. Their hair is kelpy, and begins to dry and break away within an hour of leaving the water. They are Strength 5 and Aquatic.

Not all Eisen legends are monstrous horrors, however. Many ancient tales predating the War were thought mere fiction for a long time, but are now being taken more as fact, as the monsters continue to emerge. This is most commonly seen in the House Wights. Wights are a form of Eisen spirit that are called on to aid the populace. A House Wight is invoked by performing certain acts to beckon one, which then does things to help you. They are gaining power, as belief makes them stronger, and more believe now than ever. To gain and keep their aid, you must leave out small gifts for them, such as food, handwritten stories or handmade scarves. As long as it's from the heart, they'll take it. After that, they give various household blessings - they keep knives sharp, prevent the roof from falling in during winter, ensure the sickly kid doesn't get flu, keep rats away, that kind of thing.

There are other forms of Wight, too, for every kind of lifestyle. Farm Wights, Garden Wights, that kind of thing. You pay them the gift, they do their work. Once a Wight is in your life, however, it's never going to leave until you move out. Wights aren't especially reasonable, either. If you stop gifting them, they decide they dislike a new resident or you turn your back on them, their blessings become household curses. Rats eat the grain, fires start too easily, food spoils, the soil goes dry. Thus, inviting a Wight in is something you can't take too lightly.

In the northwestern Dracheneisens, there is a small house. It is unassuming, humble and plain, but it is the home of great wisdom, for it is where the Weise Frauen have always lived, for as long as tales have been told. they are three ancient women who never seem to die, and they record the history of the land and give guidance to those that seek them out. They are said to be the wisest in all the land, and while reaching their home is hard, it is always worthy. You must survive the mountain weather and bandits to get there, and are allowed to stay in the house only three days. Never more, never less. The first day is typically one of recovery, the second is spent learning how to ask the proper questions, and the third is when you get your answers. None have ever said their journey was in vain.

The Weise Frauen are believed to be deeply magical, a reputation they have cultivated over a thousand years. In truth, they have none. They are the faces of the Order of Wisdom, a secret society of hundreds of women dedicated to keeping knowledge alive. The small house is their public access point, but their great, ancient temple is built inside the mountain itself. Dozens of women live in it, maintaining its histories and its library, its indoor farm and its training center for the next generation of Weise Frauen. Not every member becomes a Weise Frau, but all are dedicated to trying. They study for all their life, until their hair goes white and their skin wrinkles, and only the best are elevated to live in the House. Then, as each Weise Frauen finally dies of old age, the next takes her place, silently replacing her, in a cycle that has gone on for a thousand years.

Next time: The Sarmatian Commonwealth, and, uh, a content warning.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Serious Time: CW for Emotional and Physical Abuse of the Disabled

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Serious Time: CW for Emotional and Physical Abuse of the Disabled

So, before we get into Sarmatia proper further in this post, I want to be clear. I believe that 7th Sea handles the issues surrounding the Sarmatian royalty as well as it possibly can. The abuse it documents is presented in a wholly negative light, and while the abuser self-justifies, this justification is not presented as valid in any way. The abused characters are now free of her and have quite a lot of agency in the present. However, their backstory very heavily involves the physical and emotional abuse of a blind, depressed man and his young son. While not graphically depicted, the details of the abuse are made clear. If you are not comfortable reading about this, this is not going to be a fun post for you. I believe that in using these details the characters involved are made stronger and we get good representation of heroes who do not allow their former abuse to define them. You may disagree.

I am making this note here, so you are ready when this happens as we discuss King Stanislaw, his wife and his son.

The Sarmatian Commonwealth was, until just recently, like other nations in some ways, though their royal leader was elected by a council of nobles as part of the negotiations that brought together the crowns of Rzeczpospolita and Curonia. They had the power to veto just about anything the king wanted to do...and things all changed with the Golden Liberty, the desperate final act of a king without power, which granted noble title to every citizen, and thus made the Commonwealth a true democracy. Before the Golden Liberty, the Sejm was run by three Vaticine priests nad 13 Ksiaze and Ksiezna - that is, Dukes and Duchesses - who each ruled a Ksiestwo, or Duchy. Now, they form the Senat, the upper house of the Sejm, also known as the old nobility, and the lower house is the Izba Poselska, where everyone else votes. The old nobles do still hold some power, though. They retain administrative control of their lands, where they can pass laws unilaterally, only overruled by laws passed in the Sejm - which means both houses must pass the law. We also get a sidebar on Rzeczpospolitan pronunciations. (Not Curonian, which is different, but were are also told it's only spoken in rural parts of Curonia these days. For the record: Stanislaw sounds like 'Staniswav' and Ksiaze sounds like 'Kshonjheh'.)

The King Consort or Queen Consort - that is, the spouse of the current ruler - has none of their powers, may not make laws and cannot preside over the Sejm without being appointed the ruler's proxy, which the Sejm must approve. However, they also lack any of the restrictions on the ruler, so they can hold land and landed title, or be part of the Sejm. The current king, Stanislaw I, is married to a woman named Malgorzata Domagla, Ksiezna Drajewicz. They live separately at this point, with the king in Budorigum and Malgorzata in her Ksieztwo's capital, Szablewo. Their son, Aleksy, helped his father declare the Golden Liberty, and Malgorzata was its loudest foe. The nation has factionalized around the two now, into two proto-parties: the Bialy, or Whites, and the Czerwony, or Reds.

Czerwony stereotypically are favorable towards the Golden Liberty, fighting to maintain an open franchise. They are populist, Vaticine, somewhat pacifist and generally suspicious towards Sanderis. They support King Stanislaw and Prince Aleksy, and tend to refer to the prince as Stanislaw II. To show loyalty, they wear the color scarlet, which is the capital's color, and often the King's coat of arms. Bialy wear white, for the marble of Szablewo, and the twelve-pointed star of Drajewicz. They are more conservative in dress, using pre-Liberty styles, unlike most Czerwony. The factionalism extends beyond politics; it is said that the elite colleges of Szablewo force many Czerwony to retire or transfer, while in the bars of Budorigum, red-clad toughs look to beat up any wearing white coats. The class issues of new vs old nobility only make things more complex. Stanislaw and Aleksy are supported by the majority of the Izba Poselska and have a few Senat loyalists, while Malgorzata commands the majority of the Senat and a handful of middle-class landowners, professionals and academics in the lower house. These supporters tend to be conservatives who like having franchise but are often unsure everyone else should have it, too. Everyone is aware that when Stanislaw I dies, his son and his wife will be the two candidates for the throne.

Most peasants have viewed the Golden Liberty as freedom, and some have even left their old farms to take on better lives, though others have not. Democracy has, however, brought new problems. When everyone has a voice, everyone has an opinion, and while the Senat works on some semblance of order, the Izba Poselska doesn't. The old nobles are now forced to work to pass bills rather than just blocking each other...but that means they have to go to the other house, too. The new nobles agree on basically one thing: the old nobles' time is over. They often refuse to pass laws just to spite them, even if they don't understand the purpose of the law. The Izba Poselska often has trouble coming up with laws of its own, as they must be called into session by the king, who is in poor health, and they barely agree on anything else at all, leaving many new laws in tatters. Many voters are illiterate, so proposals must spread by word of mouth, which can make complex laws muddled, especially if multiple versions of a proposed law exist. It can take weeks for a single law to get passed up to the Senat. In that time, the Senat proposes three times as many, and many of the lower house just get tired of it all. However, things do continue happening, as some have taken it on themselves to direct the lower house and try and get meaningful work done. Some of the laws they make even get through the Senat, typically on the backs of promises to pass some Senat law or other.

King Stanislaw I was a scholar as a young man, before he started going blind. First his night vision went, then peripheral, and on the day of his mother's death, his vision started to tunnel. He hired a member of Mociutes Skara, Rugile Savicke, to read to him, and soon his blindness became the rumor of the day. When he was made king, it was because the nobles thought he'd be easy to control. And for a time he was. He had not wanted to be king, but he did it. And when the Sejm told him to marry Malgorzata Domagala of House Drajewicz, he accepted that, too. Being away from home and his ever-worsening vision took a toll, and he made her his proxy to the Sejm as he fell into a deep depression. After the birth of their son, Malgorzata began implying to him that his blindness made him useless, and in his depression, he believed her entirely. She isolated him socially from everyone but their son and Rugile, and when she began to strike him with her heavy signet ring, embossed with its twelve-pointed star, he simply took it at as what he deserved. Rugile and Aleksy were all that could bring him even brief joy, and nothing could break his despair. That is, until his wife went too far.

It began when Rugile became so angry she struck the queen a blow - which was treason, so Malgorzata had her imprisoned. Three days later, the king touched his son's face and felt the scabbed-over mark of blood in the shape of a twelve-pointed star. Within the week, Malgorzata was banished from the palace on pain of imprisonment. Within the month, Rugile was pardoned and recalled from prison, bringing with her the works of Uppman. Suddenly, Stanislaw was no more a weakling doing whatever was thrust upon him - he was a king in truth, a lion in winter who could administer the city and preside over the Sejm even while blind. He still doesn't like being king, as he's said to Rugile, but now he knows it is not a burden, but a responsibility. He is exceptionally popular among the common folk, though not the old nobles. Recently, he has been suffering from bouts of mysterious illness that leaves him too pained to move. During these times, his son serves as his proxy. In public, he is quiet, precise and dignified man, though often weary and rarely happy. In private he is more at ease, and his scholarly side comes out. He can remember and quote verbatim anything that has been read to him, and he is very proud of his son. Rugile is nearly always at his side. He is a patient man and the only one currently able to bring the lower house to order, which he does as often as he can. He's a smart man, and while he cannot see, it doesn't keep him from reading people. Many of his family believe that his illness is caused by poison, and even his personal guards are split between Bialy and Czerwony.

Aleksy Gracjan Nowak, called Stanislaw II by some, still feels shame about the first twelve years of his life. When he was young, he saw his mother beat his father, and he did nothing, as he felt helpless. The first time she tried to hurt him, however, his father's fury was awakened and she was banished. He feels that he failed to protect his father by not acting sooner. Rugile and Stanislaw both assure him this is not so, but that's not helped his feelings. After his mother left, he blossomed, becoming a charming, intelligent boy who quickly learned dance and fencing. He was a voracious reader, though when Rugile introduced him to Uppman's works, he found himself in conflict. He had enough of his mother's ambition to want to be king next, but enough intellectual fire and personal experience with helplessness to seriously consider the idea that hierarchy and monarchy were inherently regressive. At the age of sixteen, he discovered Sophia's Daughters, and as their work seemed to be an unfettered good, he threw himself into helping them smuggle women out of Vodacce, using the code name 'flaki' - tripe soup, as he had spent a lot of time as a kid hiding in the kitchens. It would've been awkward, after all, for him to commit espionage openly.

Eventually, he met a woman named Domenica Vespucci via the organization, having helped to smuggle her out to the Commonwealth. Her commentary on Uppman helped inspire the Golden Liberty, though the fact that the works of the Rilasciare are its inspiration is certainly not public knowledge. Aleksy took the surname Nowak to show his total support of the new nobility of commoners, and he's been exceptionally popular ever since. He and his mother face off often in the Sejm, thanks to Stanislaw I's sickness. He has been seriously contemplating the idea of not running against her as king, however - for what is the king but a figurehead, now? He wouldn't mind that, mind you, except that he's started to go blind, too. He is losing his vision, much as his father did before him, and he remembers how it was used as a weakness against his father. If he runs, he might have to bluff being able to see. While he physically resembles her, he is much more expressive, and always seems to be full of joy and health. He is a thoughtful, careful man, if given to impulsiveness when he can get away with it, and years of avoiding his mother's wrath have taught him patience and the ability to hide his true feelings. In private he's much more open on various topics, such as what meat pie is best or if revolution is a good idea. He has a deep interest in seeing the new democracy prosper, though he knows the old nobles need to be appeased. He believes his blindness is inherited, but his wife is certain it is caused by a magical curse.

Next time: sadly, this tale is not yet over, because we still have to discuss Rugile and Malgorzata.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Serious Time: Continued CW for Domestic Abuse, But Less So - The Details Are Mostly Done

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Serious Time: Continued CW for Domestic Abuse, But Less So - The Details Are Mostly Done

Domenica Vespucci is a Fate Witch, twin sister to Ennio Vespucci. Her father Carlo planned for Ennio to inherit his shipping company, with Domenica supporting and aiding him with her magic so he could marry someone besides a witch. There was just one problem: Domenica had the ambitions, and Ennio did not, and from an early age they cared way more about each other's wants than their father's. Domenica joined Sophia's Daughters young, and Ennio helped her by teaching her to read in secret. She studied the Rilasciare philosophy while her brother practiced dueling and bought her books so she'd help him cheat at other lessons. She worked under the code name 'cielo gallo' - yellow sky - and helped run the Vodacce side of a smuggling operation into the Commonwealth. Her opposite was an agent code named 'tripe soup,' and they often wrote to discuss logistics and, in time, other things - philosophy, personal anecdotes with the serial numbers filed off, that kind of thing. For three years, she had no idea she was dealing with Prince Aleksy, until he came to Vodacce looking for a wife. At that point, his writings began to imply he was at least a servant of the Prince with intimate knowledge of his courtships, a trusted confidant that looked to Domenica for advice on suitors.

At that point, Domenica had a hunch of who he was and went for broke - she wrote back one sentence: 'You should marry me.' Her father was a mere second-tier shipping magnate, no fit political match, but Vespucci knew the man she'd been writing to, knew his impulses towards contrarianism, and knew she was at least somewhat in love with him. She had a hunch he was, too, towards her. It paid off - Aleksy took her offer of engagement and sailed with her (and Ennio) back to the Commonwealth. Their first face-to-face meeting, merely days before the Golden Liberty was inspired by her writings on Uppman, would have been perfect if not for the attempted coup by Marcen Sabat, Ksiaze Kazimierz. In the aftermath of the attempt, though, Domenica was warmly welcomed thanks to saving the lives of both Aleksy and Stanislaw. She is a plain woman, neither beautiful nor ugly, and easy to ignore in a crowd. She stands back and allows Aleksy to work the room, stepping in to use her fierce intellect at key moments. She enjoys having people underestimate her, and publicly plays up being a dim foreign girl who struggles with the language; privately, she has no accent at all and has a bitingly keen wit. She is deeply cunning and adores the Commonwealth far more than she ever liked Vodacce. She wields her magic on behalf of Aleksy, but not much beyond that. She wants to be the epitome of Uppman's philosophy and only uses her power when it is absolutely necessary.

Landon Cross grew up in Baelig, a town in the midst of Avalon's Siochain Forest. It is said there that his mothers, both trappers, made a trade with the Sidhe - a child in exchange for protection of Sidhe animals. These rumors remain unverified, but Cross does have a very Sidhe-like appearance. In truth, he was just adopted from a Carleon orphanage as an infant, with the only signs of his heritage being a small gold pendant, silver hair and pale skin. He learned hunting from his moms, and had a knack for dealing with all kinds of animals, even magic ones. However, he was always bothered by not knowing where he came from, despite his happy youth. When the Sidhe returned, he went to speak with them, and they told him they didn't know his parentage, though he probably had Sidhe ancestry somewhere. Unsatisfied with this vague answer, Cross pressed further. Instead of answers, they gave him a job. Daniele told him that it'd be hard work to learn his ancestry, and he'd have to do something outside Avalon for them to do it. Within a week, he had a ship and a writ from Elaine, going first to Montaigne, where he brought what appeared a blank paper to a forest hermit, who signed it and thanked him. Then he was sent to Ussura, to track down the Leshy Vir'ava. While doing so, he and his crew of privateers helped some local Ushkuiniks soothe a violent vodyanoi, and they offered him aid in crossing the Maw. Now, he's been sent to the Commonwealth to find a specific dievas in the Sanderas Forest. He's not sure why, but he's certain there's a reason. Alternatively, Daniele just enjoys sending him to weird, dangerous places. Landon's appearance is clearly abnormal - his skin is practically translucent, so he wears many layers of reflective clothes to prevent people from noticing, and a broad hat to hide his silver hair. When he grins, his elongated canines poke over his lip. He's a clever, somewhat mischevious man who rarely approaches things in the way people expect. He's a skilled hunter and a decent swordsman, though better with a bow and gun.

Rugile Savicke was the caretaker for Stanislaw before he was the king, several times. First, in a field hospital run by Mociutes Skara, primarily used to house refugees blinded by quicklime. She met Stanislaw Gracjan there after he was wounded in battle, noticing his habit of quoting texts during his fever dreams. Before the war, she'd been a bookseller, a Yachidi Curonian and autodidact who read every single text she ever carried. This fellow bibliophile fascinated her, and they became fast friends. She noticed he was going blind and, due to her experience both with books and the quicklime-blinded, he asked her to come back with him to be his reader and book collector, because the written word was what kept him sane. She agreed. The two fell in love, though Rugile and Malgorzata ended up warily orbiting each other for years. Rugile also tutored the royal son, Aleksy, and taught him to hide in the kitchen to avoid his mother. When she finally struck the queen, it was a long time coming, but also treason. In prison, the queen forbade her access to any books, but a fellow prisoner slipped her the Rilasciare texts - Uppman's notebooks. She read them, as she read everything.

Rugile didn't find Uppman's philosophies or call to end royal rule strange. After all, had she not just learned that even when the best possible man was a king, the world would still be unfair? She felt betrayed by the man she loved, because of the unfair and arbitrary rules of royalty. Maybe killing royals was too harsh, but nobility definitely had to go away as an idea. When Stanislaw had her released, she read the journals to him, daring him to tell her not to, to have the journals seized and burned. He never stopped her, and when she asked if she could show them to Aleksy, he merely told her that he trusted her. She showed the journals to the boy, and the pair spoke no more of it. When Golden Liberty was conceived, and Stanislaw signed it into law, Rugile had to stop herself from asking if he'd been inspired by the notes. She looks much younger than she is, due to her wide eyes and round face, and she's only just starting to gray, despite being at least as old as Stanislaw himself. She is always by his side, book in hand. At diplomatic functions she is deferent, if perhaps overprotective, and in private she is an energetic teacher that is eager to share what she's learned lately. She still loves Stanislaw, but a decade of having to deal with Malgorzata and her time in prison have left her emotionally scarred. Domenica and Aleksy want to engineer a reconciliation between the pair, but it's not going to be easy, especially given Rugile's common origins and being a Yachidi, ant the fact that Stanislaw is still legally married to Malgorzata. As a side note, Rugile is now a member of the Rilasciare, and works tirelessly to fight Malgorzata's attempt to gain the throne and control of the Sejm.

Malgorzata Domagala is Queen Consort and Ksiezna Drajewicz. She is the eldest daughter of House Drajewicz, and she took her title at the young age of sixteen. She grew up immersed in Sejm politicking, and she's always worked for what's best for the nation. (Mostly, anyway.) Her marriage was one of convenience, putting her in a position to do the most good, for herself and for the Commonwealth. And that's what makes her so angry. She was a good queen. The country prospered under her, she kept the wealth flowing, she set up a network to move Castillian refugees safely away from the Inquisition. It worked. So why, she asks, should her being a domestic abuser matter? The country never suffered, only her family. And if they hadn't wanted to suffer, well. Stanislaw, clearly, could have been her partner and worked with her, instead of hiding in depression and letting her run things alone. Clearly. This certainly isn't an obvious and hollow self-justification of monstrosity. Even before the Golden Liberty, though, Malgorzata knew the Sejm was a mistake. She wants more centralized control, similar to Elaine in Avalon, and she considers the Golden Liberty a disaster, a mob rule by the uneducated and illiterate. It may, she says, work in times of peace, but it can't handle stress.

Because of this belief, she has come up with a plan. She knows that the Ussuran General Winter plans to invade the Commonwealth, and she has allied with him. He has promised her the throne in exchange for control of a warm-water port and access to the River Sejm. What he does not know is that Malgorzata intends to betray him. She will be no puppet queen for Ussura, nor let her nation be a vassal state. Thus, once Winter's invasion impresses the citizenry with the need for her strong leadership, she intends step forward and take the throne by virtue of defeating the Ussurans. Her pride is brittle but immense, and she refuses to admit to wrongdoing in any capacity. She is a dramatic beauty, moreso now than when she was younger, thanks to the severe, austere lines on her face. She is haughty yet impassive, refusing to show emotion, and her resting expression is dismissive. Her skin and hair are practically translucent, and while her fingers tremble slightly, it's practically imperceptible. She is an extremely competent administrator, and demands the same from her allies. If an enemy proves competent, she attempts to talk them around to her side. She genuinely fears mob rule, and will even swallow her pride to win. Her tremendous, cruel temper is shown only in private, and her verbal and physical abuses are reserved solely for those who are under her power. She genuinely does oppose the Inquisition and their goals, finding the idea of a nation purging its intelligentsia to be utterly horrific. This is probably her only positive quality.

Ugne Urbone, Ksiezna Janusz, is purestrain Curonian, one of the few on the Sejm. She is generally exasperated with their petty concerns, very sarcastic, and prone to peppering her speech with Curonian provincial idioms. She is extremely pragmatic in her voting, and has no patience for semantics - or for petty etiquette. Curonians in general admire her irreverence and tendency to puncture Rzeplitan pretension, and she is a national hero for her defense of Curonian interests, to the point that she's argued the capital should be moved to Curonia. She is also a dedicated, active member of the Ratas, who has assisted in the capture of more rogue losejai than any other person alive. She is neither Bialy nor Czerwony, being both largely unconcerned with the Golden Liberty, a huge defender of Sanderis, and a believer in a strong military to defend against Ussuran threats. Her name has become synonymous with skepticism of both factions, and to her chagrin, she become an icon for those who feel the same, particularly Curonians, who will do pretty much anything she asks of them. This means that she could easily be the deciding factor in any royal election...or could throw her own hat in the ring. She is neither as popular as Malgorzata nor Aleksy, as Curonia is only half the size of Rzeczpospolita, but the vote will be a hotbed of politics. The Senat is currently the only group that legally vote in the election, but many are pushing to expand that right to the lower house, which could tip the vote - especially if Ugne runs, as many Bialy and Czerwony would rather see her rule than their enemy faction. For her own part, though, Ugne is most concerned about the potential for war with Ussura, which she believes is inevitable, and preventing the internal political strife from escalating. That said, if she somehow did become queen, she'd be a pretty good one. She is a larger-than-life woman in attitude, if not necessarily, size, and in the Senat, she actively puts on a show of being a burping, swearing Curonian that plays up her accent and idioms. In the Ratas or her Kziestwo, she shows more of the substance beneath that. She stays up late, working with a terrifying intensity. In her own home, she is extremely welcoming, a strong proponent of old Curonian hospitality, and maker of famously excellent cepelinai. She feigns boredom and anger if asked to deal with anything outside her sphere of influence. Her husband took his own life three years ago, and she has bound herself to the dievas that convinced him to do so, as part of a longterm plan to destroy it. However, she has yet to find a good way, as the dievai of the Sanderas fear her dievas and refuse to tell her anything while it shares her senses.

Azucena Esquival is a Castillian who fled the Inquisition in a ship chartered by Malgorzata. By the time she arrived, though, intending to offer the queen her services, she discovered the king had banished her. In hopes of learning why, she became a guard at the Palace. She asked questions, which brought her to young Aleksy's attention. He asked her a lot of stuff, then convinced her to teach him how to fence. She was sure he'd be an excellent king - he takes his responsibilities seriously and wanted to make things better, after all. She hated the Sejm and their obstructionism of the king, but she doesn't like the Golden Liberty. She feels it will devolve into mob rule, after all, and that the king and his son - both excellent rulers - have made themselves powerless. They have far more faith in human nature than she does, as she grew up around Inquisitors. As a member of Los Vagabundos, she helped protect Aleksy during Marcen Sabat's coup, and supported the reformation of the royal guard, the slachta, becoming their leader. Even in this job, however, she is conflicted enough to think about going to work for Malgorzata. It is not entirely clear how much Azucena actually knows about the queen's private monstrosity - she has some idea, but I prefer to read this as not having a clear view and absolutely no personal experience with that kind of thing, because otherwise Azucena comes off as a monster herself and that's pretty clearly not intended. Basically, she believes that while Malgorzata isn't a great person, she was a good ruler, and that'll be needed because the Golden Liberty is clearly going to fuck itself. She prefers to remain quiet and in the background. When she speaks on topics she cares about, she becomes loud and passionate, but finds this very embarrassing and prefers to avoid doing it and not discussing her own views, for fear of conflict.

Next time: Lawyers, Thieves and Secret Societies

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - SERIOUS TIME IS OVER, NOW IS THE TIME OF LAWYERS

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - SERIOUS TIME IS OVER, NOW IS THE TIME OF LAWYERS

Jan Noreyko and Gintare Zilinske are lawyers. Back when the Sejm was just 16 people, knowing the law was for idiots - the law was what they said it was. If an ancient decree was inconvenient, it was ignored or overturned. Jan Noreyko, a young nephew of House Tokarz, found the law fascinating, but his obsession over it made him a pariah among the nobility. No one cared about his ability to cite obscure codes and laws, especially given what mattered was connections. Golden Liberty changed all that. Suddenly, the law mattered again, and knowing exactly what it said and where the loopholes lay, that gave you power. Noreyko became very popular, as every old noble who wanted some privilege consulted him on obscure laws. By the sixth month of Liberty, House Tokarz had bought him an expensive townhouse two blocks from the Sejm so he could be consulted at any time, and he was the first official Sarmatian lawyer. The peasants heard this and decided they needed one, too. It seemed prudent, even if they weren't all sure what a lawyer did. They found Gintare Zilinske, the only person in the city who could match Jan's knowledge and fervor. She was also his former archivist, assistant and lover. Her townhouse is now opposite his, and her library an exact mirror. Where Noreyko fights for the status quo, she fights for the new nobility.

When the peasants recruited her, Noreyko offered to pay for her townhouse himself. She refused, saying she could afford it, and then he started to not discuss cases with her. She didn't want to be rivals, but he seemed intent on it. She asked him to come help her make a better Commonwealth by helping the new nobility, but he refused - the Senat had set him up, their money paid for his home, and he'd be betraying his family. He accused her of betraying him, in fact, and was Golden Liberty even such a good idea? Zilinske's response was to hurl a mug of sipping chocolate at him and storm out. He went home and began finding precedents on repressive curfew laws for his uncle to cite, determined to show his ex she was fighting a lost cause. She felt bad about what she'd done at first...until she heard the arguments made by Jan's uncle to support his regressive policies, and saw it as a declaration of war. Now, both are dug in, rationalizing their anger with shows of self-righteousness. Neither speaks to the other directly, but both snipe at each other's clients and spy on each others' work, and are busier than ever before.

In public, Gintare carries herself with a fierce sort of scrapper's dignity. She is a mousy, agitated woman who's fought for all she has. In her office, however, when she thinks she's alone, she speaks to an imaginary Jan and imagines what he'd do in situations, predicting the arguments his clients might make. She practices her scowl in case she's asked about losejai, but if confronted on it unexpectedly she's just as likely to get flustered. This is because she's recently started consulting with losejai looking to make airtight deals with their dievai. She keeps it secret because her more superstitious clients would abandon her if it got out. Jan, meanwhile, is your typical absent-minded sort with ink on his hands and in his hair, and he's been having a lot of trouble keeping his books straight without Gintare around. If asked about her, he starts arguing with her as if she was present, then shakes his head if asked about that. If he is asked about losejai, he has a planned spiel on harm reduction and the dangers of bad contracts, but it's stiff - he's a bad actor. He's been consulting with losejai on making airtight contracts as well, but he keeps it secret so Gintare can't steal his clients.

Jedrzej Jerzy Maciejowksi was born to an old noble family which spent the last century losing favor with the Sejm. First they converted to Objectionism in a largely Vaticine nation, then argued against the War of the Cross in a nation of hawks. They eventually moved to Curonia to avoid blowback, not that long after Jedrzej's birth. His father's ideals of peace stuck with the man, and he still hates violence, seeing most warriors as bullies. He joined Mociutes Skara quite early in life, and traveled across the world to help those touched by war. This is where he met Lina, a losejas and fellow agent. He'd always been something of a womanizer, but she was different. She liked him, but he idealized her in a way that made her rather uncomfortable. She attempted to use her power to enchant him to see the bad parts of people along with the good, but her dievas twisted the magic into a curse to make him always find fault in those he might love. At that point, he started living alone to avoid heartbreak. He's grown to hate politics, believing that power corrupts and leads to violence. He works under the name Andrzej Kisiel, to disassociate himself from the Senat's politics, though ostensibly he holds a seat on it since the death of his father. He is torn about this prospect. On the one hand, he wants nothing to do with politics and their corrupting power, but on the other, having a Senat member on the side of the people could help things a lot. Jedrzej (or Andrzej) looks pretty much like the average Sarmatian - dark hair, blue eyes, easygoing until things get serious and he turns icy. He is a passionate man, given to laughter and helping those in need, but when angered he goes into a blind, cold rage. He is, fortunately, slow to anger and is one of the most trusted agents of the Shawl.

Estera Sabat, Ksiezna Kazimierz, is the daughter of Marcen Sabat, a Rzeplitan lord over a Curonian duchy who preferred the big city life and looked down on Curonians. She was raised on Budorigum rather than her home area, She took to wearing all black, stealing from the other noble kids she was fostered with, and climbing buildings, earning her the nickname Czarna Kotka - the Black Cat. It was always the goal to marry her to the prince, but even before he began seeking suitors, the two became friends, with Estera admiring Aleksy's charisma and he admiring her daring. The friendship was tasted when Marcen Sabat attempted to counter the Golden Liberty by murdering Aleksy and his father, and Estera betrayed her father in order to help stop the coup, which failed and left her father stripped of his titles, passing them on to Estera. While she now rules the city of Sperus and its surroundings, she's in some trouble - a growing movement wants to vote her out of power. The locals see her as a Rzeplitan, raised away from them, with a reputation for treachery and theft, the daughter of a traitor, and someone prone to climbing on rooftops. Which really isn't all that wrong, honestly. The only thing keeping her in power is that Aleksy likes her and endorses her wholeheartedly, and she is very much not happy about that situation. She still dresses all in black, carrying herself with the confidence of a cat - a confidence she doesn't truly feel. Her pose of relaxation is a lie, a desperate one, as she has no idea how to fix her problems. She's kept her cool by faking at confidence for years, hoping to become the mask. She has been a thieving villain for a long time, under her father's influence, and her change of heart during the coup has made her conflicted and deeply unsure of what course she should take in the future. It doesn't help that her first instincts are generally to do something underhanded.

Societies! There's not all that many ports in the Commonwealth, so the strongest Brotherhood presence is the Ushkuiniks, a group of Ussura-based river pirates who know the secret of hostile water monsters. They are the only people who can reliably sail through the Sanderas Forest unharmed to deliver food, and their prices are ruinously high. The rest of the Brotherhood operate out of Stroz Bay, kept off Sarmatian ships by hired privateers. The Sejm aren't very happy about that, but no better solution has yet been found. Many of those privateers are themselves Brotherhood, wielding their writs against Vodacce and Crescent ships. Die Kreuzritter have only a single known member in the entire country, a swamp hermit in Saules Musis, who appears from nowhere with a dracheneisen spear. Her name is Jadvyga Jasaitye, and she's probably nuts, but she's helping. She teaches the locals spear fighting if they ask, no matter who they are. Los Vagabundos and the slachta have a lot in common, such as both being commanded by Azucena Esquival, though the Vagabundos are typically sneakier and more quiet...though honestly, at this point, they're basically the shadow hand of the slachta, doing what the more public-facing guards cannot be seen to do.

The Explorer's Society has two branches in the nation, neither aware the other even exists. One operates out of Szablewo, spending most of its time in the caves under the city. Every Septimus, they are lent a room by the Collegium Maius to display the wonders of the caverns, and while the University attempts to ban student exploration of the caves with threats of expulsion, successful spelunkers are generally recruited by the Explorers after graduation, sought after for guest lecturing and allowed to use the Library as if they were full staff. Currently, they're trying to get together an expedition to the New World. The Curonian branch, on the other hand, is operated entirely by vagrants in the Saules Musis, trying to map it out and record the unnatural events there. They are destitute, operating on gifts of brushes, paper and ink from Odiseo, and have produced stunning results, if generally with very poor and untutored handwriting. They want supplies, but haven't gotten much so far. Mapping the caves is worth 3 Favor, or 4 if your map is particularly accurate or has a never-before-seen chamber on it. Bringing supplies to the Curonian Explorers is worth 4 Favor.

The Invisible College have been assisted for some time by Queen Malgorzata, and while she no longer runs the nation, her smuggling lanes remain. They consider themselves endebted to her, especially because she often pays to have them placed in the Szablewo universities if they impress her. She has saved the lives of, among others, Alvara Arciniega (inventor of the reflecting telescope), Iratze Eneko (discoverer of the placebo effect) and Annunciacion Valla, (a philologist attempting to disprove the provenance of certain writings attributed to the Third Prophet). Moving a persecuted academic from Castille to the Commonwealth is worth 5 Favor. Gaining an audience with Malgorzata costs 4 Favor. They may call on the Order of the Post to deliver off-route for 1-3 Favor, depending on distance and danger, or get access to Postal maps for 4 Favor. Mociutes Skara are, officially, based on the Sarmatian-Ussuran border. Even the great warlords of the War of the Cross loved them for cleanign up, tending the wounded and caring for people. Everyone adored (and infantilized) the 'Grandmothers,' which suited their needs - they're fine with being underestimated. Unofficially, their base is not actually on the border, though they keep offices there, but in Memel, where they work closely with the radical pacifist Anashid sect of heretical Dinists. This connection would damage their reputation for harmlessness if known, so they keep it very secret, and are right now working to hunt down the truth behind the rumors of General Winter's invasion plans. They suspect a noble is supporting him, but are unsure who.

There has always been a tradition of knights in the Commonwealth, and a few noble benefactors. When Golden Liberty made all noble, people clamored to join the Knights of the Rose and Cross, to prove their elevation was more than just convenience. At first, the Order tried to vet them rigorously and pair them with experienced Knights, but they ran out of veterans and had to begin turning away those who lacked money or extensive training, which means many skilled new nobility. They have more Knights than they have work to do, and few benefactors that actually help them. Their main goal is finding benefactors among the old nobles. They work closely with the Order of the Post, and can gain 4 Favor by delivering a parcel or package of letters, or 1-3 Favor for assisting a postman, depending on how significant the help was. The Rilasciare and Sophia's Daughters are united as one group in the Commonwealth, not least because the Golden Liberty was inspired by Domenica Vespucci's commentaries on Uppman. It'd be a scandal if that became public, of course, and the Bialy would love to be able to connect Domenica, Aleksy, the Liberty and the Rilasciare directly. However, the Rilasciare have declared both to be Uppman's Friend, not least for their work as part of the Daughters, and the Rilasciare were instrumental in the prevention of Sabat's coup.

The Most Noble and Ancient Order of the Post are an offshoot of the Knights of the Rose and Cross, and they're not old. At all. See, when the new nobles came to offer aid, they had little money to give the Rose and Cross. They had horses, though. The most popular horse breeds in the Commonwealth have abnormally long legs and are trained to handle difficult terrain, particularly marshes and swamps, earning them the nickname 'swimmers.' All of this particular group of would-be knights had swimmers, and after being turned away from the Order, they met up in Budorigum and decided that they should deliver messages. Under the right circumstances, after all, doing so was heroic, with all the frozen marshes and mountain passes, but only the rich could afford riders to deliver letters, and that was unfair. Thus, the Most Noble and Ancient Order of the Psot was founded. The name began as a joke, since none of them had been noble for more than a month, but the service was serious. They brought medicine to outlying towns, seed corn to snowed-out areas, heirlooms to distant relations, legal documents people would kill for. They became cartographers by necessity, for many of their routes began unmapped. They now have the best maps of the Commonwealth in the world, a technology worth killing over. They used to print massive amounts via woodcut on the cheap, but after one copy allowed a bandit gang to terrorize the Sarmatzyn River for a month, they've been keeping their new maps secret.

The Post also coordinate and organize other Knightly Orders, facilitating communication between them and helping villages do things like catch brigands, repair bridges, build roads and so on. It's seemed like most every village has had to have its own Order now, especially in rural Rzeczpospolita, where the Sarmatism craze really hit. The Curonians call them militia instead, not Knightly Orders, but they serve the same purpose. The Order of the Post exist to revive Sarmatian chivalry. Some do it by performing their duty as letter carriers with total respect for privacy and discretion, while others call out to the people to perform knightly service to the nation. Either way, their goal is prove that honor is alive and well. Delivering an important message in a timely manner is worth 3 Favor, especially if no one besides the sender and recipient learn the delivery happened. Helping a new Knightly Order or group of militia is worth 4 Favor, which might be helping them organize, formalize a code, secure a meeting hall or anything else that furthers their goals. Getting the aid of a Knight costs 3 Favor, and they're typically Strength 5 and have the Dueling Academy Advantage in any school you choose, plus one more for an additional 2 Favor. Getting access to a normally private message or letter costs 2 Favor; while normally the honor code is strict, sometimes the information is vital and honor demands acting on it. However, you may have to end up delivering the letter to preserve the honor of the original Postal carrier.

Next time: Places (in Rzeczpospolita)

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Joy of Z

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Joy of Z

That neither Rzeczpospolita nor Curonia has never actually violently rebelled against their united nature is somewhat remarkable, given that they still speak different languages (although a century ago, the Sejm mandated that all nobles must learn both, even if few ever use much Curonian). It is not entirely clear how that order will play out now that everyone's noble, either. However, conventional wisdom has it that the Curonians are more likely than the Rzeczpospolitans to want to break the union, for several valid reasons. First, the king who united the two, Dominykas Dega, very famously favored the Rzeplitans over the Curonians, and was extremely tactless about it. He forced Curonia into Rzeplitan-style Ksieztwa, and gave them names in Rzeplitan rather than Curonian. He mandates that Rzeplitan be the official language of government, education and the Sejm. Dega knew that Curonia lacked money, and believed it'd pacify them. The pragmatic Curonian nobles, rather than take offense, merely took their place in the Sejm and passed a bunch of bills appropriating Rzeplitan funds to build up Curonian infrastructure that it had, prior to then, been unable to afford. Dega ended his reign with no funds, having had them all poured into Curonia.

However, powerful patriotism has arisen following the Golden Liberty, and that may keep the tensions between Curonia and Rzeczpospolita from getting too ugly. While Budorigum itself remains stubborn, many Rzeplitans outside the capital have spoken in favor of moving or at least rotating the location of the Sejm, and followers of Sarmatism have thrown their weight behind the proposal. What began as a trend has led to serious talk about national unity, and some of the Izba Poselska even speak of conducting all votes by mail, trusting the Order of the Post or the Rose & Cross to be hired to carry it. Rzeczpospolita still holds the nation's capital, has trade borders with Ussura and Vodacce, the biggest universities in the nation and the largest stretches of fertile, arable land. However, it also feels the first impacts of war, and its Ksiestwa have larger debts as a result.

Szablewo, of the Ksiestwo Drajewicz, is sometimes called the First City. It is said that it was built in the time of the Numanari Empire, lasting beyond its fall, and the Commonwealth rose up around it. Others name it the Endless City or the Crystal City for the maze of underground caves below it, white limestone and crystal full of geodes and hollows. Most, however, know it as the University City. It contains no less than forty-three colleges, and all Senat members are alumni of at least one of these. The Senat and their family are admitted before all others, and after them, the children of the wealthy. Occasional scholarships do exist, but they don't go out of their way to seek out brilliant students; the Domagala family have always said that they create brilliance. The city is under the control of Queen-Consort Malgorzata Domagala, the Ksiezna Drajewicz, and most of its citizens are loyal to her. As Stanislaw's proxy, she pushed through the University Tithe law. Ten percent of all royal revenue is earmarked for spending on higher education. Before the Tithe, the University struggled under debts, but now all 43 colleges are in the black, and thanks to the Queen's work with the Invisible College, Castillian scholars have been immigrating to the city en masse.

The collective colleges are known colloquially as the University. They are built in bright white limestone, in a mix of Numanari and Gothic styles, and inside, they're even more impressive. Between them there are no less than six observatories, plus a full to-scale orrery depicting the six known planets and their positions around the sun, and the largest library in eastern Theah. Because of their dependence on the University Tithe, the colleges have the most to lose under the Golden Liberty. The Sejm is already in talks about eliminating or repurposing the Tithe, often to the Church or the Order of the Post. Many who dislike Malgorzata say, and not entirely wrongly, that she forced the bill through the Sejm with no regard even for the democracy of the pre-Liberty days. Further, many of the louder voices of the lower house have made it clear that they see the University as a place of privilege, and want to tear it apart. This has pushed most of Szablewo's citizenry away from the Czerwony as a whole, and it has become popular opinion in the city that University attendance should be restricted to non-criminals who are already literate, to keep these loudmouths out.

The group most upset about the growing hostility to the University are the immigrant Castillians, who have seen this anti-intellectualism before under Verdugo, whose agents excel at presenting their work as populism, raising mobs and turning people against the privileged elite. All that's needed to make things even worse is the idea that intellectualism is somehow ungodly and anti-Vaticine - and there's plenty of fuel for that in the rivalry between the University and the Three Sisters schools of Budorigum, plus the rumor that the queen is a losejas. Szablewo has never been much of a fortress, and many of the citizenry are afraid that's going to have to change.

Under the city are the Crystal Caves. No one has ever fully mapped them, because they change far too quickly in frequent underground earthquakes that never seem to hit the surface, leaving behind only ruins and new corridors. The caves are largely reflective white limestone, which are often full of ethereal illumination from light bouncing between corridors via the entrance shafts. The larger caverns have soda lakes, bitter to the taste and containing only strange silver fish that are seen in no other location. The caves hold the remnants of hidden churches, dating back to the days of Numanari persecution, pre-Vaticine shrines and mystery cult altars, and the occasional skin-eating sarcophagus trapping a bejeweled skeleton within. Amethysts line the caves like thistles, climbing the walls and descending from the stalactites. The colleges forbid student exploration, as the caves are very dangerous, but they spelunk anyway, hoping to find things no one has seen before. They've even started leaving evidence they were there, in the hopes that other spelunkers will find it. Most stable areas are full of small graffiti markings declaring a student's name or symbol, and every so often a newly unearthed room contains such marks, as the chamber is lost and then resurfaces again. The Explorers provide a rough map of known sites, frequently updated but never finished, and advises spelunkers not to steal semi-precious stones or jewels from skeletons. New sites are to be reported ASAP, as anyone who discovers one receives official credit as discoverer and gets amnesty from the University.

Once, the University was not the sole industry, though. The Cloth Hall was home to tailors, spinners and weavers of all sorts, everything in the cloth trade but dyers. Szablewo's always preferred to bleach clothes with lime. They sold what they made at high prices, and in the nearby Guild Houses, workers trained and packed the cloth for export, stamping them in white wax with the twelve-pointed star to show excellence. That is, until disaster struck. First, the linen-makers started experimenting with fungally assisted retting. It seemed a good idea - it meant they didn't have to stink up the river - but it made linen that, after wear, was shown to be of poor quality. They decided to sell it anyway, believing that their reputation could take the hit briefly. In any other year, it might have. However, that year was the year counterfeiters forged the Szablewo stamp and added it to their own low-quality cloth, flooding the market and destroying the Szablewo reputation. The textile industry has still not recovered, and the Guild Houses are but a shadow of their former selves. Few apprentices come to get Szablewo certification any more, and most of the clothiers have left for other cities. The Cloth Hall itself is being considered for sale to one of the colleges. The remaining clothiers resent the University now, and particularly the University Tithe, seeing no benefits to anyone else in the city from it. The tendency of the colleges to tell them they brought it on themselves is definitely not helpful, either.

Next time: Budorigum

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - What If Lithuania, But Demons

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - What If Lithuania, But Demons

Curonia continues, even now, to be the poorer part of the Commonwealth, made mostly of marsh farms and small villages rather than large cities with excellent universities. It also has about half the population of Rzeczpospolita, but that was less important until the Golden Liberty, since a Curonian noble on the Sejm has just as much liberum veto as a Rzeplitan. Now, that's not true - the majority rules, and the majority is almost always Rzeplitan, which makes many Curonians rather upset. Ugne Urbone has proposed moving the capital to Curonia, which would at least mean Curonian voters not have to make such a long journey for each vote and Rzeplitans would have to pay a higher cost to vote, in effect. Unsurprisingly, most voters in Budorigum oppose the idea...and that means most active voters oppose it.

While Curonia may be poorer and more legally marginalized, its people tend to feel more united than Rzeplitans, largely due to their struggle to maintain their own cultural identity. Their language fell into disuse, their religion was overrun by the Vaticine and their culture was disfavored for Rzeplitan culture. This affected them, btu they have also resisted. In their own land, Curonians still speak their own tongue, burn offerings to their own gods and follow their own traditions, as do their neighbors, in an effort to preserve their ways against the Rzeplitan majority. Sarmatism has not penetrated strongly into Curonia as a style, but most still strongly feel a need for national unity, even if that means haggling with privileged, absurd Rzeplitans. Most pragmatically, this is required because General Winter is sitting on the border and many Curonians fear him and see quibbling over other issues as somewhat pointless.

From another perspective, they look at the Bialy/Czerwony fight dominating public discourse. Curonian Bialy and Czerwony exist, but the large majority of Curonians do not like either side much. Aleksy is an idealist and a pacifist, too oblivious to the threat of invasion and too busy being suspicious of Sanderis. Malgorzata is a domineering intellectual snob who wants to limit their franchise and only cares about her own people and power. Many Curonians have decided that they must be the responsible, calm people to keep the passionate Rzeplitans from doing anything stupid. Thus, they have formed the Jasny, 'clear' faction - a group of mainly Curonians who have made it their unofficial duty to force the Bialy and Czerwony to make compromised and de-escalate conflict. It is an open secret that many Curonians hope the political split allows election of a Curonian dark horse, probably Ugne Urbone, and even some Rzeplitans agree that if she wins, the conflict may fizzle out. However, many in Curonia and Rzeczpospolita also fear that if such a loudly pro-Curonian woman is elected, the tension between Curonian and Rzeplitan may become far more dangerous.

Saules Musis, in Ksestwo Czyz, is the oldest city in Curonia, and a testament both to the power of the dievai and the idiocy of trying to fight them directly. It was the Curonian capital until 1262, in the reign of Petras V. He made a series of Deals with a dievas whom he adored, now known as Saule after the city. She was very potent, as all dievai are, and so his rule was unquestioned. However, while Petras started as a wise king, Saule's influence made him more and more deluded until the summer equinox one year, when he declared that he would make the Seventh Deal with her, bring her into the world and marry her. On noon that day, Saule had vanished, and the entire city burned to the ground. No one has any idea what truly happened, but neither Petras nor Saule has been seen since. The days that followed are remembered as the time of the Fallen Inquisition. The Curonian Vaticine vowed to end all Sanderis Sorcery, to prevent such a disaster ever occurring again. In response, the county's losejai came together to form the Ratas, a network of alliances to ensure that the losejai were safe from those that would end them, and the world was safe from the losejai.

Today, the stone of Saules Musis remains, though all flammable material that once made it up is long gone. It is a skeleton of a city, overgrown with trees that grow a strange, unseasonal fruit. It is this fruit that terrifies the modern people. All trees, bushes, shoots and vines in the city bloom and bear fruit all year, even when frozen over. Anyone that eats of them will be forever sated...but the fruit is, indeed, unnatural. It was nicknamed faerie fruit by the Avalonian scholar Ambros DAvidson, and the name has stuck. People say the dievai plant it, and it surely is the best fruit that anyone has ever eaten. However, any that consume it become addicted, always craving more of it. And so, most who come to Saules Musis to avoid starvation stay there for the rest of their lives. This effect is well known, so most cautious (and privileged) people avoid the city, but it is a magnet for the starving, destitute, vagrant and otherwise poor. Others may sneer, but the people of Saules Musis answer with a question: Would you have fed us?

They may be playthings of a dievas, but at least they do not starve. There's even a sort of patriotism to them. They call themselves apple-eaters, and some write pamphlets advertising the wonders of the old city, only somewhat satirically. They've even formed their own branch of the Explorers to map the ruins, and have been officially recognized. They take pride in their city as a sanctuary. Criminals that get there and eat the fruit are rarely chased by law enforcement. Why bother? They're certainly not going to leave, so they're no danger to anyone outside the city, and the locals can take care of their own. Strange things happen in the city, however, more now than in past times. Sometimes people vanish, or new ones appear, or old ones return changed, with no memory of their alteration. They may have claws or be unable to feel cold, but they cannot recall why. When the fog rolls in, sometimes people hear screams, always just too far for the cause or source to be visible.

Housing is a problem - the old wood is all gone and no one wants to cut down the fruit trees. The city of Sperus has started shipping old pallets, broken or partially rotted, to Saules Musis in exchange for whatever valuables the locals can send down the river for them. It's been a godsend for building homes. Before the pallets, most of the locals survived the winter in the Great Stone Cathedral, the only large building in the city that had entirely been made of stone. Even with the pallets, the locals known as Traditionalists still do. They claim it lets them catch up with each other and build community, and that while the lack of privacy can be irritating, that's what summer is for. The pallet housers prefer privacy, and also tend to find the Cathedral frightening, due to its history. Originally, the place was Vaticine, but under Petras V's reign, it was reconsecrated to worship Saule, his dievas. Considering she burned the place down, it makes some people wary, as do the bloodstained altars. Those who stay in the Cathedral, however, seem to be far less likely to vanish during the winter than those in the pallet houses, though. All those who vanish do so alone or in pairs.

The Sanderas Forest is where you find wild dievai to make bargains with, according to legend. They are notorious for playing hard to get, however - they hide in bone houses and like to set impossible tasks, like gathering up all the poppy seeds in the soil nearby before sunrise. However, even today, this is still the best place to go to find a dievas that'll bargain. There is only one settlement anywhere near the Sanderas - Voruta, a city on the lightning-struck plain that is at the heart of the forest. The Ksiezna of Vortua is and has always been a member of the Ratas, and the organization runs the city and thus who can enter the Sanderas easily. Those that would use the woods must first pass the Ratas, who know that not everyone deserves to make deals with demons. However, the Sanderas is not just for people who want to meet a dievas. Non-losejai also enter for various reasons, as do those who have already made a deal. The only thing dievai enjoy more than tormenting humans, after all, is tormenting other dievai, and those in the woods are often happy to help sabotage one already latched onto someone. More than one losejas has learned a new Deal or a piece of a Name by pleasing the wild dievai of the Sanderas. The Ratas refers to such a journey into the Sandaras as Katabasis, and dedicated members attempt to perform it at least once every seven years, to learn more about their dievas.

Only two roads lead into the forest - one from Zlotogora, one from Sperus. These, built in the 13th century by the Ratas using magical rituals since lost, are the only parts of the forest that have been mapped. Paths show up at random and end at random, with bone houses changing places and compasses going haywire. The only beacons of any worth are the Fires of Gabija, eternal flames that appear irregularly yet frequently in the woods. The dievai say they were made by Gabija the Red, a potent dievas who slew her losejas after making the Seventh Deal. Ratas policy is to murder on sight any dievas who has manifested bodily, so they insist Gabija is not a dievas and that the dievai are lying. However, those that distrust the Ratas are certain this is itself a lie - they say the Ratas left Gabija alive out of pragmatism, for her pyres make the forest at all traversable, and she never appears outside the Sanderas. She always takes the form of a woman in a red dress, and she is scrupulously fair and generous with her pyres, as long as you obey her rules.

Anyone who enters the Sanderas with the blessing of the Ratas memorize the protocols for the pyres before they can enter. Any fire should be banked only with its own ashes, and must be extinguished only with clean stream water. There are many horror stories about losejai that tried to put them out by stamping on them. Salt thrown into the flames pleases Gabija, and nother angers her more than bloodshed in the light of a fire. Those that fight near the fires often get immolated. The flame's protection, she has decreed, is for all. Enemy losejai often end up having to share the same flame by nightfall - and you should use one, as wild animals and dievai avoid the flames. It is not uncommon for entire groups of losejai to gather around the pyres at sunset, exchanging stories from across Curonia.

Next time: Voruta proper

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The City In Demon Forest

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The City In Demon Forest

Voruta sits at the center of Sanderas Forest, in a place where no trees grow. It is a plain that is often peppered by lightning, and the land has a surface vein of bituminous marble, mixed with red and white coral. The city was constructed by the Ratas to assist in Katabasis. It is a safe haven, and significantly larger than it needs to be at present. this is because until 1266, it was the capital of Curonia due to a Grand Ksiaze that wanted to encourage people to destroy dievai. Today, much of the city is empty, its basilicas and ballrooms unused yet standing. The daylight never quite appears right. It is bluish-white and cold, with the only warmth coming from the night lamps when they are lit, despite the bright sunlight in the forest proper.

At any given time, about a seventh of its population are either losejai or potential losejai gathering the nerve to enter the Sanderas. The rest of the city works as an industry to serve them and boost their morale. Thus, despite the unnerving cold light of the sun, the city is beautiful, with many businesses and monuments encouraging serenity, sometimes in odd ways. Most famously, loseija will visit the black marble dome, which is set with lanterns so as to rsemble stars. Within, sound is muffled and people lie on mats, listening to music and watching the false stars move along the dome in a warm, predictable night that never ends. Then you have the poetry brothels, which honestly have far less sex happening than you might guess. Rather, many losejai pay to be given warm milk and tucked into bed, or to have their favorite poetry read aloud, or even just to be massaged and given wine. They pay to clam their nerves, for you never want to enter the Sanderas while agitated. Others prefer the museum in which the heads of slain dievai are kept, recalling the triumphs of the Ratas against dievai who have appeared bodily in the world.

And then there's the Scholomance, the world's finest school of Sanderis. And its only one. It is built deep into a black marble quarry, and in its basement is a massive labyrinth full of handbound books, and a card catalog of various descriptors. This is where you can look up what is known about your dievas. A losejas at the Scholomance often look for sketches or matching descriptions of their dievas in the files of ages past, detailing the Katabasis and Deals of others who have had the same demon. The Ratas cross-collates these descriptions and have managed to succesfully name, manifest and destroy nearly a hundred dievai, though it is unknown how many remain. Besides the library, the school is also a functioning university, though Szablewo certainly doesn't respect it. It focuses on practical knowledge rather than theoretical - its rhetoric classes, for instance, are taught via a series of debates, allowing dirty tactics and bad discourse. The Scholomance's assumption is that any student intends to be a losejas, and therefore should not be coddled or allowed to keep their hands clean, and when the pious declare it a school of dark magic, this is often what they mean.

Katabasis is a pilgrimage in the belief that, deep in the Sanderas, there are secrets that can assist you against your dievas. Many believe that the forest contains a way to destroy your demon without either killing yourself or making the Seventh Deal. The Ratas does not condone that particular idea, but it never stops the Katabasis. The story goes that once every seven years, a dievas bound to a human is weakened. Somehow, their bond to the mortal world leaves them vulnerable. And if, in that time, a losejas can find the dievas' origin in the forest, they can kill it. Few know where the legend comes from, and no one knows anyone that's succeeded at it, but the story persists. Losejai often come to seek it via Katabasis, though few gather the nerve. Those who do always return changed somehow. Many see the act itself as a form of self-discovery and affirmation, and those who perform Katabasis tend to take up the pilgrimage again once every seven years, believing the legend must be so.

Those who return from Katabasis always do so at sunrise. No one knows why. Every dawn, people gather atop Voruta's walls, for it isn't just losejai who come - their family and friends often do as well, waiting for them to return. They mount their vigil before sunrise, waiting until past noon. Typically, a person will wait on the wall for seven days. In those seven days, 90% of losejai return. The other 10% are usually just...gone, though not always. Stories tell of losejai returning from the woods years later, sometimes even with their sanity intact. Sometimes, when a losejas is gone for over a week, family, friends or lovers may enter the woods to fetch them. It even works sometimes, though rarely enough that the Ratas tries to discourage it.

The permanent residents of Voruta call themselves the Remainders. In some ways, it's self-deprecating. They run on a service economy, making their money wokring to help losejai, and when the questers and heroes leave, they are those that are left. However, the other meaning to it is the importance of their staying. They live in the center of the most dangerous place in the entire commonwealth. When the questers leave, they stay. Many are poor, but they stay. Voruta is actually quite a popular destination for those in poverty looking to avoid rent, what with all the empty palaces and galleries. Ugne Urbone has begun experimentinting with giving longterm squatters deeds to the properties on the condition that they repair and beautify them. Of all the things the Remainders fear, none is stronger than hunger. Nothing grows on the plain outside the city, so all food must be shipped in from outside. When an ice storm briefly prevented the import of beets from Zlotogora, food prices went up so fast that the city went into a panic. The current voivode governor focuses on ensuring this never happens again. She's been spending from the city's coffers on nonperishable food, like rice, dried peas, salt, booze and vinegar. The Remainders, meanwhile, have been starting up rooftop gardens, fisheries in flood quarries, chicken coops, cellar mushrooms and even beekeeping, as it seems that the Sanderas has no ill effects on the bees or their honey.

On the Ussuran border, you can find Zlotogora, in Ksiestwo Szczupak. It is often called Little Ussura, as it is full of immigrants, many of whom have not chosen to assimilate entirely. It is a city built on nostalgia, with onion domes and bathhouses and matryoshka dolls, often more elaborate and with spicier chay than Ussura ever actually has, which makes it a favorite spot for tourists or for scholars looking to study Ussuran crafting traditions. Still, some thing sget weird. The baths, for example. In Ussura, bathhouses are not modest but they also are rarely sexual. In the Commonwealth, however, nudity brings sexuality with it to most locals, surprising some Ussuran immigrants, and a subgenre of erotic bathhouses have appeared, dimly lit and appropriate for sex, hosting jennys and discreet herbalists. Normal, non-erotic bathhouses also exist. They tend to be less of a tourist draw. The normal bathhouses are painted turquoise, while the erotic ones are red. Outdoor hot springs are considered to default to turquoise, and locals usually sneer at tourists that make too many jokes about sex baths, though it isn't that rare for a local to try out a red bathhouse on occasion.

The plaza at the center of town is paved in mirrored mosaic tiles, due to an eccentric Ksiezna who loved to see her own face. Torches light the square at night, creating a perpetual twilight of reflected light, in which the mosaic looks very similar to water. Many of the Ussuran immigrants miss the easy and constant hospitality of thier homeland, in which houses are open at night and food is not often paid for. Thus, in Zlotogora, that is not how things are done. A trencher table is always set up in the Mirrored Plaza, with fruit, meat and cheese that anyone may eat at any time. Residents are expected to donate to the table, and each year a 'chef' is chosne to ensure the table stays fresh. The plaza is also home to Bartok, a bear that is the unofficial mascot of the city. He was brought in by an immigrant a century ago, but he never seems to age or die. He eats from the trencher table, sleeps in the square and sometimes takes a liking or disliking to a tourist, who will then receive either respect or derision, respectively. The locals believe he's probably a Leshy and think he's good luck. In winter, the plaza and the roads that lead to it have often frozen over, so the locals have decided that, rather than fight it, they'll just ice skate along the roads, and this marks a big difference between them and the tourists. A devastating ice storm two years sparked debate on whether the roads should be preemptively sanded. Last year, the roads were left unsanded until Primus, when bucket-wielding vigilantes began to sand roads at midnight, much to the chagrin of local skaters.

That terrible ice storm slew many, including Ksiezna Szczupak and her daughter - her only child. Her nearest heir is her distant niece, and no one has any idea where that girl is. Instead, the city's been run by an informal council of rich locals. Consensus is that it should not be permanent, but no one can agree on what should replace them. The Ksiezna's niece was last seen in Eisen. Should she be sought? Should another noble be chosen? Should they try to elect someone? It certainly doesn't help that General Winter of Ussura has been eyeing the border and gathering there since the storm. The Ussurans say he can control the weather, and many local conspiracy theorists claim he caused the storm.

Next time: Memel, the City of Radical Pacifism

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Your Demon And You

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Your Demon And You

A lot about Sanderis is kept secret. The Ratas go out of their way to hide information on their magic from the wider world. However, Curonians are in general quite familiar with the concept of the dievai and their stories. Mothers tell them to scare children. The truth, though, is much darker. The dievai are both very real and very potent, able to perform feats of immense destruction. They are always honest, but they twist words, turning simple requests into something darker. This has led to many disasters in Sarmatian history, but the stories of such events, like the fall of Saules Musis, get twisted, probably due to the dievas influence. Many believe these creatures are just wild, needing only a firm hand to commanbd them. This leads them to do dangerous, often evil things in the effort of taming them.

Unlike other sorcerers, who typically must either earn their power or be bonr with it, anyone in the Commonwealth can become losejas. Anyone can be approached by a dievas, and simply accepting their offered deal grants terrible power, placing you under the constant eyes of the creature. Among losejai, the only unifier is that first Deal, and the terms are all unique. There has never been and never will be a way to learn Sanderis without a contract. These contracts form either by the dievas convincing someone to take them, or a potential losejas seeking out a dievas to gain its power. No matter how it is formed, the first Deal is always about what you want more than anything else, and the cost is always high - often the death of a loved one or someone under your protection. Not always, of ocurse. The dievai play a long game, and sometimes the cost of that first Deal seems comically small. In two years, a man named Piotr will come to you and ask a question. Tell him yes. Seems innocent, until Piotr appears in two years and demands your daughter's hand in marriage.

Most losejai are tempted into that first Deal by the dievas. Who is chosen and why is a mystery - only the dievai are certain of their motives. Sarmatians who would never consider seeking out a Deal get targeted, those who yearn for the power are often ignored. Most often, the target doesn't even realize they're being tempted until it's too late. The dievas hides their nature as they grow close, for they can take on a human appearance if they desire. They cannot physically interact with anything in the world, but can speak to their targets. The perceptive may noptice that their new friend never touches them, picks things up, talks to anyone else, or seems to come and go like magic. Many don't notice such things, especially because some dievai are potent enough to make the illusion of touch, or even go so far as to convince a losejas that they are lovers. The pursuit of a dievas often takes days, sometimes weeks or months. In this time, they gain the target's trust and learn their desires. They seem the perfect new friend, lover or ally. It's all a game, a way to make the Deal more likely to be accepted. Once they feel their target is enthralled, they reveal their true form and offer the Deal. Many so strongly want what is offered that only those with the verystrongest of wills can reject the offer.

It is considerably rarer for a Sarmatian to seek out a dievas rather than be sought, though it's possible. There are many folk tales about ways to summon a dievas, and while many are just stories, some do have inklings of truth. One legend goes that if you gather certain items and bury them at the crossroads, a dievas must appear to offer you a Deal. It is wrong - it's not always going to happen. However, it does work sometimes. Only the dievai know why they choose some calls to answer and not others. The Ratas wonder why so many losejai are approached rather than doing the approaching, and their best theory is currently that, for the dievas, the act of enticing an unknowing target is more worthwhile, that they consider that aspect to be fun, and so those that approach them are less interesting. There is one exception: the zynys, or Curonian priesthood, are much more likely to make contact with the dievai. They serve as spiritual guides for the Curonians and make it a point to understand and study the pomp and ritual of the dievai. This seems to attract dievai, and no one is sure why. Some think the dievai mistake it for worship and like the attention.

The Ratas are the larger organization of losejai, and they are unique among sorcerers for claiming dominion over all of their kind. New losejai are often approached within days of making their Deal, and are informed of their new allegiance. You aren't allowed to say no. Ratas members make that clear - you must join or die. Answer immediately. If you do not agree, they will attack without remorse and do anything they can to destroy you. On joining, each member takes on a new name to be called by other losejai, a tradition that dates back to the ealy days of the Ratas. Even then, they knew that the DEal was empowered by knowing the true Name of the dievai, and so they believed that all names had power, and didn't trust each other with their names. This has since been proven not to actually matter, but the tradition still stands. There is no formal rule for how the name should be chosen. Often it is an animal name - Sokol, the Falcon, say - or a title from before the Deal, like Kowal, the Blacksmith. A losejas can take any name they want, but should keep ind mind that it will be used exclusively when dealing with other Ratas members in any context. Using the birth name of a losejas is considered an extreme taboo among the Ratas.

Experience or age are unimportant. On joining, you are a full member, a Czlonek, with all rights granted by that. There is no shame in maintaining this rank forever, and most do. Some choose to dedicate more of their time to the Ratas, however, and with time and effort, you can join the Rada, the Inner Council, who make decisions for the group, or jopin the Valytuvas, who enforce their will. The leader of the group, called the Mistrz, sits above it all. Currently, the Mistrz is a woman named Wiedzma, the Witch, who has commanded the Ratas for as long as any can recall. Even the eldest remember her being quite entrenched in the job when they first joined, and she has always been young and beautiful. Many believe this is due to the nature of her Deal, but no one is clear on the specifics. There are a number of factions within the Ratas, each in theory loyal to the organization but rivals with each other. The Listeners gather secrets, while the Circle of Storms is a militant group that wants to have the Ratas gain more temporal power. Infighting between factions is common and keeps any from taking over the group. Other major factions include the Red Eyes, who wish to reduce oversight on the use of Deals, the Order of the Question, who wish to utterly remove the dievai from the world entirely, and the Puppet Masters, who wish to take control of the dievai and command them rather than bargaining.

The Valytuvas serve as enforcers for the Ratas, who very closely watch their membership, for every losejas is capable of terrible destruction through their Deal. Howeve,r their ethical code is...somewhat abstract. Evil, even horrific murder, is beyond their remit, if done by normal means. As long as you don't use Sanderis to perform evil, they aren't going to do a damn thing to you. They also are happy to overlook small uses of your power, whose repercussions are typically not that big a deal. Larger acts, however, are fully investigated. If they find you have invoked a Deal for more than a minor act, they will send the Valytuvas to investigate why, and depending on what is learned, the Valytuvas may just take a statement or they may require you to stand trial before the Mistrz. In the most extreme cases, such as using Sanderis to kill without cause, the penalty is death. They may give other punishments for lesser crimes, but the final verdict belongs to the Mistrz. As for how they determine when you use your powers improperly, that is a mystery to most losejai. Sometimes it may seem obvious - there's only so many people who can plunge a city in darkness on a whim - but other uses of Sanderis are subtle. The fact that these are still often discovered by the Ratas leads many to believe that they use Deals to discover the information.

When a losejas is found to have given into the dievas' evil nature, the Valytuvas are dispatched again - this time, to embody their title: Purifier. They seek out the rogue and kill them before they can cause too much damage. They give these targets only one chance to repent. If they are rejected, they strike with full force. A losejas with no conscience can and will use the full power of their Deal, so the Valytuvas are given the special right to use Sanderis freely without fear of special permission. This opens the concern that they may abuse their power during missions and use their magic for petty gain. There are, the Ratas say, safeguards that prevent this. They refuse to say what those are.

Joining the Valytuvas is a more complex process than simple promotion. First, you must find a member of the group to be your mentor, demonstrating your worth to them by solving some task they set for you. The mentor is the sole determiner of what you must do, and so if you have a good relationship it may be little more than a formality, while if you don't, it may be a dangerous quest. Once the task is done to the Valytuvas' satisfaction, you are taken on as an apprentice. You follow them, learning combat, stealth, tracking, research, investigation and practical ways to use Sanderis to help with any and all of those. These skills are important, of course, but the training also allows them to tlel if you are worth giving the freedom to use Sanderis at will, with no repercussions. Abuse of that power reflects on your mentor, too. Once it's been decided you should join, they are sent to one final test under the Mistrz, which takes place in the Wymagnine, a hall in the Ratas HQ that only the Mistrz may use, and only to test new Valytuvas. You must enter the room, empty of all but the Mistrz and an archway, which you must walk under.

It is said that walking through the archway forces you to face your greatest fear in your mind. those who can face it walk through successfully and become Valytuvas. Those who cannot back out of the arch and are dismissed as apprentices. They are not punished, but they may never become Valytuvas. Ever. You only get one shot. No one knows if the arch actually does what it's said to do, though even if it doesn't, the thought of having to face your fears makes many back out without ever really trying. Those who do go through refuse to speak of what they experienced.

Next time: Making the Seventh Deal.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - You Probably Don't Want To Do This Until The End Of The Game

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - You Probably Don't Want To Do This Until The End Of The Game

So, what actually happens when you make the Seventh Deal? Well, first, the dievas is able to fully leave its own world and enter Terra. It becomes fully physically embodied, and can actually physically interact with things. Prior to this, the dievas must act indirectly - it can ask you to do stuff as the cost of a Deal, but it cannot physically interact with anything in the actual world. The Seventh Deal changes that entirely. You make that final contract, and once the dievas gives you whatever it was you asked for it, it permanently manifests. All previous Deals are forfeit, and the losejas loses their Sanderis powers. Further, the cost of making the Seventh Deal is always a sacrifice - andn ot a physical thing. They won't take your hand. They're going to take part of your soul.

To perform the Seventh Deal, you might be asked to give up your joy or your dreams. These are not metaphors. If you give up your joy, you are now no longer capable of feeling joy. Ever. That part of you is just...gone. The dievas uses it to fuel their corporeality. However, this isn't all bad for you. The dievas is certainly empowered by being able to enter the world, but they also receive a new and extremely significant weakness: they can die. A death while corporeal is permanent for a dievas. Any action that'd be taken against it within its own world does nothing helpful, but in the physical world? It can be cut.

Now, yes, you've given up all your Sorcery. The Seventh Deal isn't for everyone, and the book makes a point of saying that yes, if you pursue this, you explicitly are going to lose all your Sorcery powers and pay a huge narrative cost. You can in fact just sit on having six Deals and be perfectly happy. The Seventh Deal is something you should probably save for the end of a campaign. Once you take it, however, you do gain some powers. They don't make up for what you lost. But you get them. Firstly, you can spend a Hero Point to learn the current location of your dievas in the form of its distance from you and in what direction. You may spend a Hero Point to turn off one of your dievas' Monster Qualities for the rest of the round, once per round. When you are directly interacting with your dievas, you get (Resolve) bonus dice to all rolls. You do not have to spend Hero Points to take actions against your dievas while Helpless. They can still try to murder you while you're Helpless, but you can keep fighting until the very bitter end.

The death of a dievas in our world cannot be cheated. As long as whoever deals it the final Dramatic Wound does so with the conscious decision to kill it, it dies. Period. Regardless of any circumstances surrounding that death, you never gain Corruption for killing a dievas. Even an utterly helpless dievas can be slain in good conscience, for they are completely evil. You can still gain Corruption from other acts taken during the process if they're sufficiently fucked up, but not the act of killing the dievas. However, when it dies, you do not regain the part of yourself that you sacrificed to grant it form. That's gone. Forever. Nothing you can do about it.

You know what's happier than that? Dueling! The declaration of Golden Liberty has given everyone the power to make chivalric orders of knighthood. While they'd always gathered to talk politics, generally speaking their voices went unheard before this, regardless of what was discussed in the basement of the church or at the tables of the beerhall. Disagreements would arise, and these would generally be taken to the local nobles to solve. Now, they are often solved with duels. In order to maintain civility, the works of 12th century philosopher Lech Kosciuszko have been revived, which centered on chivalry and civil discourse. These ideas have become extremely popular, with many pamphlets made explaining them in such a way that even the new nobles have begun to quote them from memory. The chivalric orders have begun to spread, groups of idealists that serve as examples of chivalric virtue, religious ideas or whatever they decide to swear on. It's also given them a good place to practice fencing without problems,

The core tenets of chivalry, as set forth in Unanimity in Throes of Discord by Kosciuszko, are:
1. Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them.
2. Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born.
3. Thou shalt never recoil before thine enemy.
4. Thou shalt make war against the wicked without cessation and without mercy.
5. Thou shalt perform scrupulosuly thy duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of Theus.
6. Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word.
7. Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone.
8. Thou shalt be the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

The tenets of chivalry have come to be deeply associated with dueling as a means of settling issues, and duels are seen as tests of skill and intellect. A chivalrus Sarmatian offers mercy, and accepts the mercy of a superior foe. Duels are rarely to the death, and instead promote a sense of solidarity. Sarmatian Duelists tend to be very formal when proposing or accepting duels, as chivalry demands respect. Showing disrespect typically means getting beaten up worse before mercy is offered. Aspiring Duelists often head to Budorigum, to serve as champions for the Senat or the new nobles in order to earn fame and notoriety. Chivalric Orders rise and fall constantly, with powerful citizens giving out badges of honor, knighthoods and various trade titles as a kind of currency of fame.

One notable dueling order is the Rightful Order of the Cherry Blossom, built out of a small farming community called Kwiat Wisni. Three local men founded it in honor of the local Cherry Blossom Festival. Tomas Petrikonis, Jan Kamionka and Luigi Paglianite all came together, vowing to protect the community. Luigi, while ethnically Vodacce, is a born and raised Sarmatian, whose family breeds dogs - a small toy breed called the Pom-pon, popular with the social elite in the Commonwealth and Montaigne. Jan is a barkeep, short but charismatic, brave and sharp-witted, able to get past anyone's stoic guard. Tomasz is a Curonian and a good leader, with a generally even temper. Luigi's kennels have fueled the construction of the Order's meeting hall, and the group defends Kwiat Wisni, both locally and in the Sejm. All members are skilled Duelists, with Tomasz and Luigi practicing Sabat style, and Jan using Valroux, which he learned while studying wine in Montaigne as a young man.

The greatest warriors of Sarmatia are the winged hussars, horseback fighters who wield terrifying lances in great charges and whose armor strikes fear in the foe. The bond between hussar and steed is unbreakable. However, a hussar named Kyra Mikita realized that not all situations allowed for the horse to actually be used in combat, and so she developed Szybowanie, a fighting style that relies not on what you wield but on your ability to establish advantage in the battlefield. Specifically, it focuses on fighting from above, which can be used while on a horse easily, but any height advantage will work, allowing the fencer to perform the powerful Eagle's Dive as long as they can position themselves advantageously. Whenever you fight from an advantageous height, you can spend a Hero Point to perform the Eagle's Dive Maneuver, leaping down onto your foe. You deal (Weaponry+Ride) Wounds, and can use this only once per round.

Next time: Legends of the Commonwealth

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - mo monsters mo problems

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - mo monsters mo problems

The Commonwealth's Ussuran and Eisen visitors often seem relieved that, beyond the dievai, there are few monsters in the nation. Which is true - most of the apex predators of the area are entirely natural creatures, though a Curonian will cynically remark that wolves and bears still kill when they're hungry and that a man will kill you for no reason whatsoever. The dievai are a big deal, though. The Scholomance works to identify and define them, with 812 classified so far, out of some unknown number that exist. They are classified by known name, basic appearance (though this often changes), motif, known Deals and MO. Of those 812, three have been deemed by the Scholomance to be so dangerous that they officially recommend summary execution of anyone that bargains with them, simply because no one has ever dealt with them and not descended into villainy and madness.

Suale, the Burning Sun has not been seen in centuries, not since the days of King Petras, but she is still considered the single most dangerous dievas ever to exist. All of her known losejai ended up being villains unrestrained in their passions, who began intemperate and became ever moreso via her influence. She has ended up causing wars, starting love affairs that ended kingdoms, burned cities. In terms of raw, straightforward destructive power, she is the most powerful dievas ever known. However, since Saules Musis burned, there are no records of her making any Deals whatsoever. She might have changedh er guise, but study at the Scholomance indicates that it's very difficult for a dievas to entirely change its motifs. There are many theories about what happened. The most popular, albeit the one most angrily denied by the Ratas, is that she made the Seventh DEal with Petras before burning the city, and now she walks the world in physical form. Many who believe this believe she is also the pyre-maker of the Sanderas, Gabija the Red, despite Ratas claims that Gabija is not a dievas. When asked, some dievai agree that Saule is Gabija, and further claim that the pyres are made to atone for her suns. Even those losejai that distrust the Ratas consider this unlikely - remorseful is not a word generally associated with dievai.

Other theories claim that Saule never left the burning city, and at least one scholar has posited that the strange fruit of Saules Musis is her work, as Growth was one of her known Deals. If so, she is both terror and benefactor to the city, as she would presumably also be responsible for the screaming disappearances. Saule is known to prefer appearing as a beautiful woman surrounded by a corona of blazing light. She tends to seek out impulsive people for deals, then wearing down their resistance with temptation. The villains that result are destructive and self-indulgent, and she is known for taking them as lovers. She is the only dievas that the SCholomance suspects may have survived the Seventh Deal.

Laima, the Child Catcher is a dievas for clever children, who realize that growing older is terrible, that becoming an adult means you can never do all the fun things, and therefore, you wish to never grow old. Those she claims never do. They never age, nor change. They remain always as foolish and amoral as a child, in the body of a child, no matter what they do. It is said that she lives in the Sanderas, in a house of gingerbread, and that she will help any losejas she meets, if they tell her something about a child. Most refuse to do so.

Those who make Deals with Laima are a controversy in themselves. They are legitimately dangerous, having the morale naivete of a child and a total lack of self-restraint, along with Laima's unpredictable magic. Children are poorly equipped to undergo Katabasis, and once the Deal is made, they are likely to grow ever madder and more dangerous. However, many are also unwilling to simply kill these children. The last young girl who lived with Laima died in the Sanderas four years ago. Since then, Curonian parents have been terrified that she will come for theirs next. Laima usually appears as a very old woman with mossy teeth and hair. The only Deal that the Scholomance is certain she has is the 'Deal of Time', which so far seems unique to her. Laima's children can manipulate time, the most notable effect being that they do not age. Laima always appears to children who insist they won't grow up, though it's unknown how she finds them. Under her influence, maturity is typically lost quickly, and the child becomes amoral and self-indulgent, often quite vicious in a childlike way. They stop aging, but tend to die fast, as they are typically poorly equipped for self-preservation.

Perkunas, the Righteous Storm, is said to have first been called on by a losejas who mourned the fall of Saules Musis and was horrified by Sanderis, attempting to use its power to destroy all losejai, starting with the forming Ratas and ending with himself. For ten years, it is said, he led the Fallen Inquisition, and nearly wiped out the losejai before his sister, an experienced losejas, killed him and summoned Perkunas herself. As he had been devoted to rid the land of losejai, she wanted to rid it of Vaticine oppression...and so she began her own 20 year crusade, wiping out entire towns for 'collaborating' with the Vaticine until, two decades later, there was no Church in Curonia. Only when she turned on her own subordinates, for lack of other foes, and accused them of pro-Vaticine sympathies was she defeated. Those that call Perkunas always want to purge the world of evil, and Perkunas appears to agree. Often, he and his losejas succeed at defeating their declared evil. Most famously, a losejas once used Perkunas to commit genocide agianst the Khodynts, an ethnic group that once lived in northern Curonia.

Less famous are the ideas wiped out by Perkunas. One losejas claimed that Perkunas had eliminated the very concept of his family, removing them from his life because they were a distraction. The scholar that recorded this claim found an entire book on Perkunas, but swore they'd never seen it before. No one has any idea where that book is now. Perkunas is known to most often apear as a bearded man with a shadowed face, wearing black and white and riding a fiery steed. While most dievai carry no weapon, he always wears the Sarmatian cavalry saber. He does not approach people for Deals - you must summon him in the Sanderas. Unfortunately, there's always some idiot that thinks the evil they fight is worse than all that have come before, and therefore justify extreme tactics. Perkunas never asks his sorcerers to do anything that'd break their moral code. Rather, the terrible acts he calls for are always directly against only those that, somehow, embody the evil the losejas wants to fight. If it's not clear how, Perkunas will happily explain. This further radicalizes his sorcerers, in almost all cases.

Beyond the Dievai, there are tails of the Silver Knights, who appear when all seems hopeless. They always wear old-fashioned armor, usually described as 12th century, and they are always impeccably chivalrous no matter when they show up. They save children, fight villains and always wear full plate. They never speak, nor do they raise their helms to reveal their faces. Many claim they are the genius loci of the Commonwealth. They wander the nation and always act alone, though the zynys say that if the land was ever truly threatened, they would gather and fight as one force, and on that day, they will speak again.

The truth of the knights is that, when die Kreuzritter came from Eisen to find demons in the east, they joined a detachment of Rzeplitan and Curonian knights, the Silver Knights, who sought the origin of the dievai. In the trip through the Crescent Empire, the leader of the Silver Knights, who was called Anna, had dreams that led her to believe that origin place was 'in a garden, in a mountain' in the west. She and her knights split from the main force, heading into Ashur and plundering the First Garden. In doing so, they became immortal yet lost their voices. It was only after that that they met the Garden's Guardian. Anna kept the Knights from attacking, instead kneeling and writing out a plea in the dust for mercy, explaining that they were foreigners who had come seeking the birthplace of demons and had clearly done wrong here. The Guardian acknowledge their wrongdoing, but he agreed to let them go, if they would go home and never again leave their native soil. When they reached the border where the Empire, Rzeczpospolita and Curonia all met, they swore (silently) to become eternal protectors.

Legend claims that losejas will only ever raise toasts with alcohol. Toasting with water is forbidden, they say, as it gives the dievas a foothold into their mind, learning all their dark secrets and thus being better able to corrupt them. Of course, most Sarmatians prefer alcohol to water anyway. In rural areas, though, liquor is harder to find. Rumor has it that if you force a toast with water, you can spot losejai by who refuses to drink or even raise their glass. Those who don't want to anger the powerful often have alcohol on hand to offer instead of water when a toast is called.

In truth, the legend is entirely false. It dates back to a Curonian zynys named Motina, who made a fortune in her village trading in medicine, and was accused b y a rival of being a dangerous losejas. She was not, but was also not above lying to win back trust. Thus, she invented the rumor, then raised a toast to the accusing zynys with water on his birthday. That man did not believe the water was safe (and was in fact a losejas, but that's mostly coincidental), and so he filled his cup with wine before drinking, inadvertantly confirming the rumor. It's been a few centuries since, and the tale has gained a life of its own. Many losejai do in fact believe they tempt fate if they toast with water, because the dievai find the idea really funny and so will never correct it. Some losejai even travel with drops of mead hidden in hollow rings or containers in their sleeves. When these are found, which happens oftne, the rumor grows. To make things worse, many rural areas do have unsafe water, and travelers from those areas are viewed with suspicion when they refuse to drink water elsewhere. And, of course, Rzecsposplita has many protocols about when and when not to raise a glass to a toast, and a Rzeplitan aiming for honor may be suspected when they, for example, refuse to toast a stance they disagree with.

Next time: Rusalka and the suicide trees.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Suicide

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Suicide

The tale of the Hanging Tree is this. Once, a young man saw all his fellows killed in war. When he came home, he couldn't handle the weight of being the only survivor, and in a moment of utter despair, he decided to kill himself. He wrapped his belt around the nearest oak and began to hang himself. As he dangled, however, his life came into clarity. His comrades were dead, ye,s but he was still alive. In the span of seconds, though it felt like minutes to him, each of the dead soldiers came to him, telling him a final wish that they needed him to do before he could die. Each time, they put a little cut in the belt. Once the last finished, and the man had realized that he had no true desire for death, the belt broke under his weight and he fell back to the ground, breaking his legs but surviving. As he lay dying, decades later, he asked his family to bury him under the tree. After, it was said that if someone wanted to die, they should first wrap their belt around one of the branches of the three and leave it there for a week. By week's end, the suicidal urge would be gone. And so, it became known as the Hanging Tree, and every year, hundreds wrap their belts around it and beg the ghost of that long-dead man to free them from the urge to die.

There are several Hanging Trees in the nation, each claimed to be the original. All are covered in belts and hose, and all have people, often formerly suicidal ones, who swear up and down to their benefits. Various explanations have been suggested. Some say the soldier's ghost haunts them all, some that each was the site of a suicide, unsuccessful or otherwise, and more recently the Castillian research Iratze Eneko has suggested that the trees and story act as a placebo to the suicidal. Because the placebo effect has only just been discovered and is not widely understood, this final theory is very controversial, and many send Eneko hate mail about her attempts to 'ruin' the trees. Regardless, all of the trees are greatly respected, and anyone seen tying a belt or visiting such a tree is likely to get a lot of sympathetic attention. Some people tend to the trees, bringing water and fertilizer as needed, and keep an eye out for would-be suicides to offer comfort and advice. Some say that just having others around to listen to and comfort them is enough to stop the suicidal ideation.

It is said that in the final days of the Numanari Empire, a dark mystery cult ruled Zablewo. EVery year, seven weeks after the spring solstice, they ritually drowned seven boys and seven girls over seven days, to call a thunderstorm to cleanse the city on the eighth. They seized the children of their political foes and potential rebels for this. However, seven years into their rule, they made the mistake of drowning the sister of a powerful necromancer. She tried to revive her beloved sister, but the cultists stopped her before she could finish, leaving the girl as an undead rusalka. In vengeance, the sorcerer cast a spell that raised all the spirits of the sacrificial victims as rusalka, and seve weeks after the solstice, for the seven days of sacrifice, these spirits entered Szablewo and stole the breath of all in and around it. Many died, until at last the people revolted and overthrew the mystery cult. When the rusalka were to return the next year, the people put on white masks to show mourning for the dead. This appeased the ghosts, but they grew angry at all who did not show such grief, and any who didn't wear a mask died of loss of breath. Thus, every citizen of Szablewo now puts on a mask for the seven days of sacrifice, seven weeks after the spring solstice, and to this day, none may enter the area around the city without a nose-and-mouth-covering mask during that period. An entire festival has grown up around Rusalka Week, though the locals always warn that the danger of not wearing a proper mask is very real, and the mask must be kept on even at home and while sleeping, or you risk being drowned by a rusalka.

So, the truth? Everyone does do the mask thing. There are actually laws prohibiting appearing in public during that period unmasked, because those who do not do, in fact, die, gasping and drowning on air. Sometimes bringing a victim indoors or giving them a mask will, it is said, dislodge the rusalka and save them, but most of the time, even that won't work. However, there are no rusakli in the Commonwealth. They are Ussuran creatures, and they don't travel. You can barely find them any further south than the Boyars River, and certainly not in Szablewo. In fact, the problem is caused by a small flowering plant called Plowman's Lace, which grows only in this area. For seven days, seven week after the solstice, it releases extremely poisonous pollen, and breathing in enough of the stuff will clench the bronchial tubes and kill you from lack of air. There was, in fact, a sinister Numanari cult that briefly ruled the city, but they had nothing to do with the plant. The story came about after an explorer came out of the Crystal Caves and claimed to have found mosaics telling the tale of the sorcerer, and what had seemed a total mystery now had some sort of explanation, so people accepted it. Revealing the truth probably wouldn't be very helpful, though. Rusalka Week has become a cultural institution over the centuries, a period in which actions and sins normally frowned on in the conservative city, such as gambling, anonymous sex and drunkenness, are allowed and celebrated. People compete through the year to make the most beautiful and elaborate masks, showing them off and trading them during the festival. In many parts of the city, it is seen as gauche and low class not to have a new mask each day. The festival gives the normally uptight citizenry a chance to let loose a little.

Next time: Ussura, the land of ice and snow.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Bad Idea Story

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Bad Idea Story

So, some time ago, Ussura was ruled by a might Czar. He and his husband had two sons, with the aide of one of their best friends as a surrogate. However, his husband and elder son both died, and so he disowned the younger son and married a young woman in hopes of begetting an heir. However, before he could, he died mysteriously, and both the wife and son claimed his throne. The son wanted to rule from the old capital, in the old ways. The bride built a new capital, modern and advanced, seeking to bring Ussura into the future. No one is sure what will happen after this, but if either is to clame the Czardom, they must bring together the many diverse people of Ussura, or they will not rule unopposed, no matter how capable either one actually is.

Ussura is a place where you can usually tell social class by appearance - primarily hair color. The boyars tends to have lighter colored hair and beards, often blond, while the muzhiks have darker hair and often darker skin from time in the sun and Cathayan ancestry. Different regions vary on how closely boyar and muzhik fraternize, of course, and it's not that rare for a boyar to be dark or a muzhik to be light. Ussurans are just likely to make assumptions about class, wealth and education based on coloration. The boyars tend to have more western Thean ancestry, while the muzhiks are more commonly descended from indigenous and Cathayan blood. The favorite of the Boyars is Ketheryna Fischler Dimitritova, ethnic Eisen, strawberry blonde and with light blue eyes. The muzhiks prefer Ilya Sladivgorod Nikolovich, whose dark eyes and hair come from his Crescent surrogate mother. Many muzhiks also suspect Ketheryna's push for modernization will only further the class divide. Despite what any Ussuran may claim, however, about their pure descent from someone or other, almost all have mixed heritage. EVen the boyars tend to have Khazari or Crescents somewhere in the family line.

There are several major ethnic groups in Ussura, from the Theans of the west to Crescents to the local steppes people. Centuries of intermarriage have blurred thel ines, but the cultures of these groups influence Ussura even today. The Khazari are nomadic horse riders and herders who live on the eastern and northeastern steppes of Molhynia, having come west across Szabla River to avoid Cathayan imperial expansion. They settled among the indigenous people of eastern Ussura, and their horsemanship has influecne all of Ussura. It's one reason why few worry about their lack of modern roads - the old horse trails remain very reliable, especially in winter when the rivers freeze. If foreigners can't figure that out, oh well. Khazars identify as Ussuran, but also consider their tribal affiliation extremely important. They have a long tradition of raiding and killing over livestock, though to the Khazari that's not something to take personally, it's just what you do. The other ethnic grou[s have tended to be much less happy about this no-hard-feelings attitude towards robbery and fighting. Khazari often travel, working as mercenaries, bodyguards or musicians for other Khazari or anyone that'll pay them throughout Theah, the Crescent Empire or even Cathay, returning to Ussura in their older years with money, stories and scars. Outside Ussura, these mercenaries are usually called Cossacks, a corruption of 'Khazar.' The Khazari are also notorious for collecting religions. The eldest tradition they have, Turaism, worships the sky god Tura. Many Khazari are now Orthodox, Madhyamika, Yachidi, Vaticine, Dinist and various combinations. It's very easy to convert the Khazari, but nearly impossible to get them to drop the beliefs they held before conversion, too. Khazari actually consider the idea of killing someone over religion to be morally repugnant on a deepl ever, as opposed to perfectly reasonable reasons for violence, such as horse theft, desire for grazing land or so on.

Crescents, while a minority, are very much dominant in the business realm. For as long as trade has existed, they have come to Ussura with their goods, medicines and resources to trade for fur, metal and crops. Ussurans didn't generally accept Dinist missionary work, though they were never violent, but Yachidi and Dinists have spread throughout southern Ussura with the merchants. Dinist congregations and Orthodox assemblies often share the same building with no conflict, there being no Inquisition at all in Ussura. Crescent influence shows in Ussuran architecture, especially government and religious buildings, and some historians claim the Ussuran onion domes originate from inspiration by Dinist minarets. The Crescents are an extremely powerful economic force in Ussura, and both Ilya and Ketheryna want their support. Ilya is technically half-Crescent, ethniocally, but he was not raised in their culture. He does, however, spend quite some time in their Ussuran enclaves and has good relations with prominent Crescent merchants. Ketheryna's capital is about half built on credit, and so she aggressively seeks Crescent support, promising increased trade and exclusive access to various rare resources, such as demantoid gems, or even boyardoms for generous contributrs. However, Lady Arzu of Gallenia, the most influential Crescent in the country, doubts these promises, which have also been made to many Thean diplomats.

The Tamatama are an ethnic group that originate southeast, in far Agnivarsa, but they travel through Ussura along the waterways and old horse trails, most often found in Veche. Ussuran Tamatama are primarily Dinist, and they occupy a comfortable position as entertainers in the nation. Their traveling lifestyle means they rarely intermarry with others, but that's out of convenience, not prejudice. Khazari often travle with Tamatama caravans, trading songs and maps. Some of the far-ranging Tamatama bands are responsible for stuff like the spread of dance styles across Theah. For example, they brought ballet from Montaigne to Ussura, where it is now extremely popular with the boyars, especially in Bashanta and Ketheryna's Imperial Theater, which uses mechanical devices and special effects systems to boost the work of the Tamatama performers that often put on shows there.

People! Ilya Sladivgorod Nikolovich is the son of Czar Gaius Iriney and his husband, Nikolai. Ilya and his elder brother david were both borne by a surrogate mother and fathered by Nikolai, though Gaius adopted them bother and loved them dearly. David was the heir, but Nikolai's family had a history of falling sickness - that is, epilepsy. It's rarely fatal, but both Nikolai and David eventually died of heart failure during particularly bad seizures, and while Ilya had seizures, they were not nearly so severe. Despite this, heartbreak and anxiety over Ilya's health led the Czar to disown the boy, planning to remarry and get a 'stronger' heir. Ilya, who was barely 14 at the time, confronted his father before the entire court. He'd already lost one father and a brother - he didn't want to lose his second father. After the undignified argument, the Czar banished Ilya, whose response was essentially 'you can't banish me, I'm leaving.' He fled Pavtlow in rage and vowed not to return, though he would not admit how much the decision his father had made pained him. He vowed to prove his worth by being a hero to the people, even if he couldn't be their czar. For four years, he rode as a bogatyr, a wandering knight, using the gifts of the Leshiye to right wrongs and fight evil. He stole horses with Khazari, danced in the taverns in Siev, defended Cathayan caravans, prayed in the mountain monasteries. When his father died, he returned to Pavtlow as fast as he could, where he found his old friend Ketheryna had already claimed the throne in Bashanta. Ilya's travels have earned him massive popular support, but the nobles back Ketheryna's modernist drive. Ilya is unsure of this plan, as he's spent time out with the rural folk, who will likely see no benefits from any of her inventions. Ilya is a traditionalist, a champion of the people, and his grief about his past and his friendship with Ketheryna are clear. He struggles to find a coherent vision for Ussura - everyone knows Ketheryna's plan, but Ilya can only speak of his qualifications, not what he'll do. He is always respectful when he speaks of her, if regretful and frustrated. His populism and personal charisma make him a good candidate for Czar, but his absence of specific ambitions is a huge weakness. His mother, Vera, wants to be part of his new government; he barely remembers her and has no idea what her agenda is, though she clealry has one.

We then get a sidebar on who murdered the Czar, presenting the various candidates. Dimitri Babineaux is not a fighter, but he is a big man, and had the most personal grievance with the old Czar, having been in mutual love with Ketheryna. Metropolitan Lyuba wants to modernize and lacks the native Ussuran respect for nature spirits, having grown up in Eisen. She isn't usually subtle but she can be quite violent. Ilya is a hero and probably wouldn't kill his own foster father, but he did have a very deep anger at the man, and there's plenty of false Ilyas trying to claim his title, who may have done it. General Winter, of course, is the most notorious ice-related killer in Ussura, and the Czar was stabbed by an icicle. Destabilizing the government divides opposition against him. He's a strong candidate. So is Matushka, who may have seen disowning Ilya and marrying Ketheryna without asking her first as an act that delegitimized him. An icicle in the heart would be her style, certainly. Ketheryna herself is a very practical woman and had more to lose with the Czar's death than most. But then again, she does love Dimitri, and is she truly too calculcating to refuse to kill if that was on the line?

Ketheryna Fischler Dimitritova was daughter to an Eisenfurst, though half Ussuran. When she was a child, her mother died in a Horror attack, and her father obsessed over preventing her from suffering the same fate. She was sheltered, though not secluded, and received the best education and combat training that Falk Fischler could afford. When the Czar's progressivist recruiters swept through Eisen to find scientists, Ketheryna's inventions shocked them. To amuse herself, she'd scavenged spare parts to make a latern that projected a map of Eisen via light and shadow, as well as a simple water-based thermometer and a slide rule, plus a clockwork songbird that could fly around and then, unfortunately, explode. She's still not entirely sure why it exploded. The recruiters offered her father a fortune to bring her to Pavtlow, and he jumped at the chance to send her somewher safe. She was happy there, falling in love with a half-Montaigne ballet dancer named Dimitri Babineaux...until she found out the Czar had gotten her father's permission to marry her without either even mentioning it to her.

On their wedding knight, Ketheryna found the Czar's corpse in their nuptial bed, an icicle in his heart. The household would later claim he died in his sleep after consummation of the marriage, of course. When Ketheryna claimed the throne and married Dimitri without even a mourning period, however, rumor spread that the two had assassinated the Czar. Ketheryna has moved the Czar's court to the city of Bashanta, which Prince Bogdan of Veche has expanded under her orders from a tiny village to a very modern city full of technology, Many doubt Ketheryna's intentions, however. An Ussura with paved roads and mahines like that - is it Ussura? Is she planning to sell them out to the west? Ketheryna is a genius and a visionary, who talks fast and thinks even faster, always testing new inventions. She likes to help people, but often assigns extremely strange or dangerous missions in return for her aid. She respects Ilya and his popularity, but thinks he aims far too low. They were once friends, and she's still sympathetic to him, but she'd rather him him working for her than keeping Ussura trapped in the past. She wants to turn Ussura now into what Castille was a century ago - a shining light of progress, even it means destroying old traditions. She is a brilliant, charming woman, but also a technocrat who has little idea what the rural muzhiks or Khazari raiders actually want or care about.

Altai Khatun descends from the legendary Iron Khan of centuries past. His hordes conquered much of Cathay and Theah, but after his death, logistics and individual ambition split his empire, the largest in history, into squabbling khanates. Altai Khatun (which is the female word for Khan) is the last scion of one of these. Her clan fled to Ussura to escape its foes, and she is now Ussura's most famous Knight of the Rose & Cross. She dreams of grand empire, but doesn't want political power, for a temporal empire will inevitably die. Culturee and ideas, these are eternal. Altai whants a khanate of the mind, a spreading of the ideals of bravery, camaraderie, strength and freedom of religion throughout the world. It's that last one that is the biggest issue. She sees the idea of there being only one correct faith as a deadly problem, especially after the War of the Cross and Verdugo's rise. Altai believes that Khazari interfaith ideas must spread across Theah. Why not follow half a dozen religions, in case any one of them is wrong? She and her kheshigs (Khazari elite honor guards) work to fight and defend the innocent against religious threats, always working to protect. While she is personable and friendly, she has many foes that worry her idea of a khanate of the mind is a precursor to more traditional conquest. Western progressives and Orthodox purists often do not appreciate her, especially Metropolitan Lyuba's Schismatists, who want to 'purify' the Ussuran Orthodox of their folkloric traditions. Schismatist mobs have attacked Altai's riders at public prayers and dinner parties, blaming her and her 'bloodthirsty Cossacks' for the ensuing chaos. Altai's own politics are unclear. She wants what's best for the nation, and believes both Ilya and Ketheryna might be it. She isn't sure which is best, and desperately wants to avoid a civil war. She is the perfect picture of a bogatyr, beautiful, brave and bold. She trusts anyone she thinks is heroic and honorable, and a good first impression will lead to her basically immediately inviting you to help fight bandits or Inquisitors. She recognizes her power among the Khazari, but doesn't want to get involved in politics and conspicuously changes the subject if asked about Ilya or Ketheryna.

Archduke Aleksi Pavtlow Markov v'Novgorov, who prefers to go by Alyosha, wasn't always a prince. Once, he was just a goblin merchant in the Borovoi Forest, who bought and sold at the goblin market under the protection of Borovoi, the Forest Walker. One night, though, he met a scared young woman named Masha, and turned himself int oa human to sit with her through the night, giving her gifts from his trading and telling her stories of the forest so she would not be scared. Masha was the runaway daughter of the Archduke of Novgorov, fleeing the stepmother she didn't get along with. When she went home, she insisted Alyosha come with her, though at the time she didn't know he was a goblin. She introduced him as the men that helped her, and they rewarded him with many gifts and adopted him as Masha's brother. When the old Archduke died, Alyosha was shocked to find he'd been named heir after Masha had declined the title to become a priest. The problem is, Alyosha's never been that good at being human; he's capricious and temperamental, which is entirely normal for a goblin, and he's had a hard time learning human etiquette and remembering to alter his appearance to reflect aging, though he thinks he's doing a decent job of it. Still, it's all he can do to keep up with the politics of Ussura. Traditionally, the Archduke Novgorov leads the Knias Douma, but Alyosha really doesn't want to. He supports Ilya strongly, sympathizing with the fact that he too was not a biological son to his father and that some dislike him for that. He also fears Metropolitan Lyuba's attempts at reforms, because they would eject goblins like him from the Orthodox faith. Alyosha has very little confidence in himself as a politician, but may have to step up, even if it risks revealing what he is. After all, there's not technically a rule saying a goblin can't sit on the Douma. He may be a goblin, but he is a fundamentally good person who likes to help people and is shockingly good at math. He masks his discomfort with human ways by mood swing and misdirection. He misses his goblin life, but cannot resist the challenge and fascination of human society. Masha is still his good friend, even though she is now a member of Pavtlow's Orthodox Church. Masha, Alyosha and Masha's confessor are the only people in the world who know Alyosha's secret.

Next time: More people.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Prince of Betrayal

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Prince of Betrayal

Prince Bogdan Siev Benediktov v'Vladimirovich is 38 and is absolutely certain he has bad luck. He's well-dressed but otherwise plain and unmemorable. Even his heard is very unimpressive by Ussuran standards. He is one of the most powerful boyars, sure, but he rules over Veche, which has the smallest population and thus less income from tax than the others on the Knias Douma. He's not notably smart or as charismatic as the others, either. He may be one of the most powerful men in Ussura, but he has extremely low confidence. He often takes dangerous risks, and they rarely pay off. When Ketheryna decided to make her capital, Bashanta, in his province, he swore he could build it in a ridiculously small timeframe. He pulled in muzhiks from across the province, working some of them to death ti build the city in just over a year. It was completed, but the fields of Veche were left fallow to make it happen, and he's not sure they'll have the food to survive the winter if he can't manage to buy enough. To make things worse, two years ago, when General Winter's army arrived, Bogdan decided he had a winner. He'd heard rumors of border raiders and aggressive boyars getting frozen to death and decided he could trust the general. Thne a soldier with frozen eyes showed up and demanded that Bogdan quarter and feed the silent army that was followed by the ice storms. Obviously, he agreed immediately.

There's just one problem: Bogdan had already sold out to the Inquisition, who have been paying him quite well to sneak their spies in through Five Sails. There are few Vaticines in Ussura, and of those most are Khazari, but Verdugo still has plans for Ussura. Bogdan's own court has an Inquisitor in it, and he's got no idea who they are. He dares not use his family's magic power of transformation into a bear, for fear that the Inquisitor will report him to Verdugo. Worse, the Inquisition wants to stop General Winter, who is a clearly dangerous sorcerer threatening the west. Bogdan is extremely insecure and has no confidence whatsoever. He apologizes frequently, but hates doing it. He is utterly convinced, despite his privilege and ability to turn into a giant goddamn bear, that he is inferior, and counteracts this by attaching himself to anyone that seems exceptional. He is desperately hoping that one of his two secret bosses will become so potent that the other will be unable to touch him, as long as he can stay in the right one's good books.

Lady Arzu Sousdal bint Erdogan v'Riasanova is 18, the youngest and most contentious of the Knias Douma. Her family descends from Ussuran nobles that married Crescent merchants, and she is a devout Dinist who dresses in the traditional furs, rubes, veil and turban of Iskandar. Her faith puts her at odds with the Orthodox Metropolitan Lyuba, and her outspoken desire to open the CAthayan border for trade and reduce Cossack border patrols worries both the Khazari and Koshchei of Molhynia. Arzu knows that Ilya worries over foreign influences, while Ketheryna is more focused on the west than the east. Her informants within various secret societies have also told her that Prince Bogdan may support General Winter, whom she hates and hfears. She's tried to warn the others about Winter without showing that she knows more of him than she should, but so far no one else sees him as a threat. Her only friend on the Douma is Archduke Alyosha. Her unpopularity also means she has to deal with frequent peasant revolts, assassination attempts and other such problems. She's alive largely due to her connections to multiple secret societies. Los Vagabundos have a longstanding relationship with her family and have saved her parents several times, and she contracts the Brotherhood river pirates the Ushkuiniks to move her goods. She is also friendly with Altai Khatun, who respects her family's commitment to religious freedom, even if she suspects Arzu is friends with foes of the Khazari to the east.

Only Arzu's closest confidants are aware that she is currently seriously considering an offer to leave the Ussuran state and join the Crescent Empire, not just out of culture but because most people in her province have family in the Empire and shared blood. Trade with them si what pays for their food. Under the Crescent Empress, Arzu would have less poersonal power, but she considers that to be a small price if she gets a government that'll offer Gallenia more support than Ilya or Ketheryna. Lady Arzu is extremely confident and fiery, but inexperienced. She is quick to speak and interrupt others, and she is very blunt and forceful in her speech. The Knias Douma grudgingly respects her strength, but finds her very annoying, especially since a lot of her arguments are sound, just very badly phrased. Her ties to secret societies giver her a lot of knowledge of secrets, and she knows more about the societies than anyone else in Ussura. She's probably in the best position to help coordinate multiple societies, if that's a thing you need.

Koschei "the Deathless" Breslau Aglayev v'Pietrov has a very bad reputation. You can tell it just by looking - he's like a skeleton with waxy, yellowish skin stretched over it. His hollow eyes are creepy. He rarely speaks at the Douma, and he never blinks. When he does give an opinion, it is terse. His voice sounds like a death rattle. He is this way because he took his soul and his death and hide them in an egg in a duck in a hare in a treasure chest buried under a tree on a far-off island off the coast of Vodacce. Until the egg is cracked open, he cannot die. When not at the Douma, he rides through Ussura, followed by a flock of ravens. He stops sometimes, always for the same thing. Sometimes he speaks, sometimes the giant raven on his shoulder speaks for him. He goes to a family, says he wants their child, and offers them a vast sum of money for them. Gold, jewels, livestock, sometimes even land. Rarely, the family will refuse. Sometimes the child will vanish anyway.

It's what happens next that gets weird. Koshchei and his new captive ride into his castle, and inside the black walls frozen with ice, they find a tiny city, its towers reaching into the sky and burrowing deep into the mountains. EVeryone in town, most of them women and children, is happy and busy and hasn't a care in the world. Koshchei has been playing the villainous black widower for centuries to hide what he actually does. He uses his network of ravens to spy on Ussuran families throughout the land, watching for mistreated and abused children. Then he uses his money, power and fear to keep their abusers from seeking them. He speaks as little as possible in public, moving with deliberate slowness and menace. He is attended by ravens, the largest of which perches on his shoulder and can speak for him. Inside his castle, however, he relaxes, and becomes polite, even solicitous of his charges, asking if they need anything from outside. A trusted few are even allowed to return to the world once he is certain they are safe from their former families, keeping in touch with them by raven and recalling them if they have trouble. Of course, they must swear never to reveal his secret. Koshchei must ensure his image of fear is maintained, or his charges will no longer be safe. Who would be terrified of a man, even an immortal, if they knew that all he spent his time doing was rescuing kids and letting them live in a little village inside a castle?

Metropolitan Lyuba Veche Klimentova v'Pscova could have had higher rank in the Orthodox hierarchy than a Metropolitan bishopric, given the Pscov family's pedigree. However, the Metropolitan is more than a spiritual leader - they're a community leader. Higher up in the religious hierarchy, you tend to be more limited in your political career. Lyuba's work with the Knias Douma occupies most of her time, keeping her from rising in religious rank. However, her ambitions have already threatened to bring chaos to Ussura. She believes that the Church's rituals to honor domovoi, Leshiye and other spirits are at best a distraction, and at worst diabolism. If the Orthodox are ever to reach beyond Ussura, they must abandon what makes them so Ussuran - especially the spirits. She has expressed these ideas extensively and often eloquently in public, as well as reforming major churches in every city and large town in Somojez. Her reforms alter the details of the symbolism, centralize power with ranking clergy she personally approves and strip out any mention of spirits. Her supports, the Schismatists, are a violent mob that want to purge the Church. When priests or others speak out against reform, Lyuba doesn't even have to do anything - Schismatist mobs besiege their homes, breaking windows and starting fires. Rumors say they've even figured out how to kill a house's domovoi.

Many boyars also support the reforms, because most senior priests are from their families and therefore benefit from the centralization of power. Plus, nobles are more likely to associate the Leshiye with superstition and think themselves above such things. However, many scholars and intelligentsia say that Lyuba's movement is disturbingly similar to the Third Prophet's. Lyuba is a pious, zealous woman who, while not conventionally attractive, is extremely powerful as a speaker. She does in fact see herself as the Orthodoxy's version of the Third Prophet, albeit with less explicit fire and brimstone. Indeed, she makes a point of keeping up an image of propriety and respectability, leaving the violence to her far more eager followers. She is a very dangerous kind of demagogue, polite on the surface but subtly inciting her followers to enforce her will violently. All of her speeches are planned and memorized ahead of time to better supply these dog whistles. While her intentions are not, in theory, villainous, her results absolutely are, and she is planning to set up an Orthodox Inquisition if she gets a chance.

Gertrude "Trudy" Schmidt was born in Ussuran, but abandoned in the Borovoi Forest as an infant near the Eisen border. A wolf took her in and raised her, and when she was old enough to walk, it led her to a tiny Eisen village. She remembers little of the time with the wolf, but sometimes she has dreams. She grew up on an Eisen farm, learning to fight Horrors, but she found farm life boring. At seventeen, she ran away, surviving by following animals in the woods and hiding from Horrors. Eventually, she went back into Ussura, and for the first time, she felt like it was home. The land itself seemed to lead her, until she met the wolf she had known in youth. Now, she realized it was no ordinary creature. It taught her how to speak to animals and even how to become a wolf herself. Eventually, she made her way to Veche, where she tried to help people. However, she's had bad luck - all of her friends and lovers have turned out to be horrible, up until she fell in love with a lovely lady named Ekaterina...wife of her good friend, the murderer and madman Timofey. She didn't realize his true nature until she fell in love with his wife, and has wielded Matushka's wrath to free Ekaterina and defeat Timofey. Now, the pair live outside Vehc,e near the Borovoi Forest, where Trudy continues to do Matushka's work. She is kind, powerful and rather naive. In other words, exactly what Matushka looks for in someone.

Owen Laslo was born in Inismore before the end of the War of the Cross, but he was three years too young to join the battles. He grew up loving the sea, hoping to join the navy before the war ended. Instead, he ended up on a merchantman, which was no real consolation. His first voyage took him to Vestenb y way of the Maw, landing in Vendal, where he met an Ussuran pirate named Dina. After drinking with her all night, he earned her respect and a post on her ship, leaving two days later. Dina was a Brotherhood pirate, competing with the Vesten Raiders, and Laslo worked happily for her for years before he got shipwrecked near Rurik after an attack by Raider ships that had gotten annopyed at Dina's constant efforts to get them to join the Brotherhood. Few of the sailors survived, and Dina was not among them. Laslo washed ashore, but found himself without any work or friends. As he looked for another ship, he learned that he'd made a huge reputation in Ussura, that everyone knew his name. No honest merchant would hire an infamous pirate, and few other pirate ships came to Rurik. On the other hand, people generally did whatever he asked, out of respect or fear. Soon, he decided to become a mercenary, working all kinds of jobs. He was good at it, and soon began hiring others to help. Now, he is the leader of a prominent mercenary company that employs fighters, guards, thieves and even some jennys. Anyone wanting to hire mercs in Rurik goes to him, and so Laslo spends much of his time working to keep the business a float, but he also owns a small riverboat that he occasionally uses to help the Ushkuiniks. He is gruff, strong man with deep red hair and a full beard. He is loyal to a fault, and his honor will not allow him to break any deal he's made. He is, however, an excellent businessman and will never take a job he's not sure he can handle. He holds his emplyoees to similarly high standards.

General Winter was born Major Akim Maksimovich Lagunov, and his tribe came when Koshchei called for defenders against Vesten raiders. However, after his general ordered him, against his recommendation, to chase retreating skirmishers, a storm whipped up and seperated the group from the army. The sun did not rise that morning, or the next. One by one, Akim's fellow soldiers fell to starvation and cold, but he pushed on with the few that remained. Then, light appeared - two white rendeers, drawing a gilded sledge that gleamed like candles. Mad with hunger, the soldiers attacked, planning to eat the reindeer, but the driver just sighed and turned them to snow. Only Akim kept staggering forward. The white-haired driver looked down at him, and nooded, saying that ice was already in his heart, and so she would make it more interesting. A week later, he went back to the old general's tent, slitting his throat with a knife of ice and taking over the army, which soon broke contact with Koshchei. One by one, he took out provincial boyars during unseasonal snowstorms. Each one's guards were given the choice to join his army or die. General Lagunov tells his men that Ussurans are blessed - Theah's worst winters slay the weak, leaving only the strong. He will bring this gift to the rest of Theah. He is a genius of tactics and strategy, followed by blizzards. He pays well in pillage and plunder, and his best he plunges his forzen hand into, turning their hearts to ice and freezing their blood. They never fall on ice, they can run atop snow without leaving trace. They are impervious to cold, to conscience, to emotion. Only logic remains. General Winter is now the avatar of the cold, caring not that his power antagonizes both Matushka and Tura, whom he views as weak. He doesn't negotiate or talk. He kills. He respects only those who agree with him or can survive him. Even his soldiers will not speak much. It is unclear what his next goal is - invasion of Eisen, the most serious military threat to Ussura traditionally, the invasion of the Sarmatian Commonwealth, whose warm-water ports have always been envied...or the Czar's throne, in nearby Bashanta.

Next time: Secret Societies

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Mother Russia

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Mother Russia

The Explorer's Society is very interested in the monasteries high in the mountains of Somojez, which are often built into mountainside Syrneth structures. These structures appear to have been designed for dense occupation, given the many corridors and small cells in the labyrinthine tunnels, with grand plazas and bridges connecting them. Monasteries often build atop these things, some of which seem to just hang in midair, bridging two mountaintops and suspended by some science entirely unknown to modern Theans. All attempts to duplicate these structures have so far failed, and the Society is unsure whether it'd be a good idea to cut one open to see if that helps explain what's going on...assuming the monks would even let them do it. The Invisible College are quite happy with Ussura, where the Inquisition has no power and where Ketheryna has invited the best scientific minds to Bashanta, where she gives them places to study based on Castillian universities. Her court is a safe haven for Collegians, and they have the leisure of taking time to protect information and set up new projects. Bashanta is often the destination of choice for those fleeing the Inquisitors, if they can make the long trip. Los Vagabundos have trouble moving across Ussura due to the lack of roads, but have long tried to monitor the Czars, with mixed success. Gaius Iriney's deaht was seen by one of their members - one who had a mask. She chose, for some reason, not to involve herself, and then vanished, leaving the mask at a dead drop for her confused replacement. The society desperately wants to find this rogue member and find out why she's vanished and if the Czar's death was murder, self defense, accident or otherwise. What they learn will likely have great bearing on what they do next and who they end up supporting.

The Brotherhood of the Coast have a lot of trouble raiding the frozen waters of Grumfather Bay without joining the Vesten Raiders and working out of Vesten, though a few do base themselves in Saint Anderson or Rurik...though they have limited choice of prey. This has led to a greater focus on river piracy in Ussura, with a focus on the Ushkuiniks. Their name comes from ushkui, the light, flat-bottomed raiding boats they use for easy overland transport, and they've long worked the Ussura/Vesten border with their serpent-headed boats. They attack coastal and riverside communities, seize valuables, and flee to wilderness lairs, far beyond the reach of most civilized people. It is these hideouts that are the source of their greatest ability. See, Ussura's waterways and marshes are full of dangerous supernatural critters, most commonly the vodyanoi and rusalki. The vodyanoi are humanoids with fish or amphibian features, while rusalki are water spirits that resemble beautiful women. In the marshes, the Ushkuiniks learned how to communicate with these monsters, learning their etiquette and how to honor and placate them to prevent their attacks or their luring of people to be enslaved or killed in the depths.

For a very long time, the Ussuran rivers were the only reliable way to move cargo across the nation, but using the rivers without dealing with the monsters was a good way to die, lose money or get enslaved. Enter the Ushkuiniks. They map the rivers, navigating them faster than anyone else can by making deals with the local creatures or avoiding the worst ones. You hire their escorts to guard your cargo against bandits, placate any mermaids in the trees and shoo off the frogmen. Otherwise, well, hope for bandits finding you before the river creatures do. The bandits, of course, share their profits with the Ushkuiniks, and are likely to be members. Occasionally the Ushkuiniks head out into Grumfather Bay, and they've never liked the Vesten Raiders. However, when they first ran into a Brotherhood ship, after a brief fight, the Brotherhood captain suggested that perhaps they might be interested in the charter, and so a grand friendship began.

The Ushkuiniks serve Lazavik, a little old man with one glowing eye, who lives in a hut in a swamp. He is a Leshy, a nature spirit whose health and power reflects that of his home marsh. He was originally just one of the many spirits they dealt with, but slowly became first an advisor, then a leader. Now that Ussura is divided between the two Czar candidates, the Ushkuiniks, who until quite recently had just been deemed a criminal nuisance, have become an important political goal for both sides. Their connection to the land's spirits is vital, and their wealth often gets donated to the muzhiks, which many of the members hail from anyway. This payout ensure the locals support the Ushkuiniks. While you'd expect them to support Ilya, Ketheryna has offered some of their captains complex new boats. Of course, most Ushkuiniks, like other Brotherhood members, have no real interest in politics. They took the boats, but Ketheryna's in for a nasty surprise if she expects them to listen to any call to arms or request for support.

The Ushkuiniks care primarily about wealth, trade goods and river spirits. They follow the same Charter as any Brotherhood ships, but also seek to keep the vodyanoi and rusalki pacified, to ensure they can successfully navigate the rivers. Successfully negotiating passage through a major waterway with a powerful supernature creature is worth 3 Favor and 1 Wealth. Preventing a threat to a spirit-occupied wetland is worth 4 Favor. On top of the normal things you could ask the Brotherhood for to help, you may alsp spend 4 Favor to get the aid of a vodyanoi or rusalka, provided you don't need it to go away from its river. The creature will be a Strength 6 Aquatic Monster that will do just about anyhting you ask that doesn't endanger it or its home. It'll fight for you, but only if it thinks it'll win. OTherwise, it's mostly useful to clear out rivers, scare off critters or spirits, or speak for you with other spirits.

Die Kreuzritter and the Knights of the Rose and Cross have ended up essentially being the same people in Ussura, as the heroic archetype of the bogatyr serves both their agendas. The bogatyr derive from Crescent legend centuries ago, and probably came to Ussura via Khazari poets. They defend the weak, fight monsters and do good deeds. Thus, both the Rose and Cross and die Kreuzritter have found Ussura a great place to recruit people and patrons. For a lot of recent history, they didn't really get along, as the Knights insisted on reasoning with rampaging monsters and die Kreuzritter generally attacked first and asked questions later. However, recent kidnappings by the Sea King, an underwater Leshy near Rurik, forced the two to work together, with die Kreuzritter fighting his minions and the Rose and Cross appealing to his better nature once they got in. It's brought the two socieits to an unsteady equilibrium of cooperation, with members often partnering with each other to use their contrasting methods to the best effect. Performing a mission for the other Society is worth 4 Favor from years, when the mission is productive to the goals of both, though this doesn't stack with any Favor gained from doing something you were already asked to do.

Mociutes Skara's first work was done on the border of Ussura and Curonia, and they remain aggressive in protecting Ussura form war. Largescale warfare hasn't been an issue in years, but local territory and resource conflicts, or just fights between boyars over points of pride, are common. Outside Rurik, the boyars largely ignored the last Czar's ban on such fights, as his guards couldn't really do much to stop them, and these fights often ruin muzhik lives for no reason. Typically, the Shawl will just show up, tell the muzhiks of both sides what's happening, then move them all as far away as possible as fast as possible. Tensions tend to dry up fast when neither army is being fed, after all. However, the agents must know about an attack in advance to get there and do this. Thus, they have been researching a way to call on the Ussuran spirits of the land and households, such as domovoi, which seem to be able to somehow communicate with each other and predict misfortune. The Shawl hopes to be able to use that ability to prevent further violence. Stopping a fight between Orthodox and Schismatists is worth 3 Favor. Getting muzhiks out of harm's way in a noble war is worth 3 Favor for a village, or more if the population is larger than that. Recruiting a domovoi to the information network would be worth 5 Favor if you pulled it off.

The Rilasciare do not like the massive power gap between boyar and muzhik. Boyars have all the power and see muzhik lives as resources. Bogdan's near slave-driving to build Bashanta on Ketheryna's timetable killed thousands. However, the low population density and poor physical mobility makes it hard for muzhiks to organize. The Rilasciare has had small-scale success in getting muzhiks to revolt against weaker boyars, replacing them with democratic communes. In places like Breslau, the ideas of nobility and leadership are almostt gone, except for when visitors show up and demand to see Koshchei. However, that same initiative had led them to support General Winter, who began as a common conscript. When the Rilasciare first heard of a muzhik who could face the boyars in battle and win, they recruited for him and spread stories. Now, they realize their error and have no idea how to deal with the fact that they've made General Winter into something that they really very much do not want. Sophia's Daughters are fairly rare in the area. Both Ilya and Ketheryna are gracious to them, if somewhat distracted by their own issues. However, Koshchei has proven an unlikely benefactor. Even the Vodacce PRinces fear him, and when one of their daughters or wives ends up in his land, the Princes write them up as dead. Only a few strega have actually gotten to the safety of Koshchei's castle, but they want to bring more.

Locations! Rurik Province is the heart of Ussura and the densest populated province. It has four major cities - Ekatnava, Rurik, Pavtlow and Sladivgorod. Its Archduke has always been the most powerful of the boyars after the Czar, due to the financial security brought by the population and the ports. Rurik trades well with the Vendel League, and used to trade with Eisen before Eisen collapsed. It's also the endpoint of several important rivers that go into the continent proper, making it a natural meeting point for dignitaries. Rurik or Ekatnava were both originally considered as the seat of the Czar, but the other provinces protested, largely because a coastal capital would be difficult to attack if the Czar pissed them off. Rurik itself is mostly surrounded by hills and river valleys, with farming happening only in the easily irrigated valleys full of rich soil. There isn't a ton of grazing land, and much of the meat must come from the sea or wild hunting. The Ushkuiniks are most active in Rurik and easily hired there to help you out - or trap you, if you don't pay up. On the rare occasion that someone attacks the fishing fleet, they also serve as the Ussuran naval defense. The nearby islands are said to be home to the Leshy called the Sea King, who rules Grumfather Bay from an aquatic palace. Every so often, he will kidnap interesting people to either join his court forever...or escape, sometimes with the aid of die Kreuzritter or the Knights of the Rose and Cross.

Ekatnava is a city of fishers, whalers and merchants. Its economic power and wealth have made it the sporting capital of the nation, with fencing, boxing and wrestling being the most popular. Every few years, athletes from Vesten, Eisen and USsura gather to compete in the Ekatnava Games, which have field events, races, tests of strength and so on. Pavtlow's Sokolovskaya crime family have recently expanded into the city, taking advantage of its low crime rate to go undetected as it set up protection rackets in the harbor and muscled in on Ushkuinik smuggling and piracy. The local boss, Filippa Sokolovskaya, plans a grand campaign of illegal bets, match-fixing and performance enhancing alchemy for the next Games, next summer.

Sladivgorod sits on a huge rift lake on the border with Molhynia. Lake Vigil provides more clams, snails, amphipods and freshwater seals than the sea itself does. The hunters actually have to obey a strict limit on seal hunting, as overhunting angers the Riftguard, a massive water serpent that maintains the local balance of nature. Even in periods of war between Rurik and Molhynia, fightign on the lake itself is taboo, for it summons the serpent's wrath. Today, Sladivgorod remains as most of Ussura was a century or so ago, with picturesque cottages in the snowy hills and overlooking hte lake. Locals stay in at night, though, for Leshiye hold council with the Riftguard on Lake Vigil under starlight. Legend has it that no one has ever defeated the Riftguard save for Sarangerel Bogatyr, who tricked it into leaving her alone as she fought her greatest foe on the lake surface.

Next time: More places.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Old City

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Old City

Rurik City is the seat of the provincial government and home to Archduke Alyosha and his family. It was constructed by Vesten settlers, and is still home to many Vesten expats, with a huge market that sells all kinds of Vesten-made goods or shares in Vendel merchant ventures. The Vendel League's Ussuran headquarters are just by the harbor, an immense new structure built to fit in with the ancient fortifications of the city. Before the ancient boyar Vsevolod of Somojez converted to Orthodoxy and became a pacifist, he fought a lot with Rurik City over who controlled the coast between St. Anderson and Rurik, and the two cities remain major rivals to this day, their fishing fleets often fighting over control of the best fishing spots.

Until a few years ago, Pavtlow was the capital, home to the most beautiful architecture, best-kept streets and most vibrant court in all the land. Now, it is an empty shell of itself, going through the motions of governance while all real power lies in Bashanta. Until Ketheryna left for the new city, the streltsy of Pavtlow were the Czar's elite guard, who kept order and fought fires in the city. Many streltsy families have served in the same unit for generations. Whenever angry boyars marched on Pavtlow to protest, the streltsy were there to receive them, armed to the teeth. They're probably the best infantry in all of Ussura, though Ketheryna's new Eisen mercenary guards and General Winter's snowmen rival them. Despite being elites, however, the Douma doesn't pay them very well, and many maintain side jobs as crafters. Rumor has it that the streltsy planned to revolt against Ketheryna before she relocated to Bashanta, and that's why they were left behind in Pavtlow. Several streltsy units consider Ketheryna's indifference to them the last straw from a government that has never paid them well. These units have left their barracks and set themselves up as petty crime lords, while others merely faded back into the peasantry. A few, largely the oldest guards, still occupy the barracks and answer to the concept of a Czar. (Side note: many of the Knias Douma refuse to set foot in either Pavtlow or Bashanta for fear of it being taken as a political statement, and the Douma have not met since the Czar's death.)

Few enter Bashanta uninvited, but the muzhiks have always crowded Pavtlow, often after losing their livelihood elsewhere. There are massive guilds of beggars, criminals, pickpockets and so on, who stake out and fight over turf. The sudden evacuation by the nobility has put them into an odd position. The rich, who they'd hoped to gain wealth from, are gone now...but they left a lot behind. Food is scarce, yes, but housing is cheap as hell because of all the empty homes. Some are torn down for parts or become guild halls for thieves and beggars. Now that reliable housing has been secured, the people are largely attempting to begin growing crops on the roofs of the mansions or otherwise creating their own new economies. The greatest abandonment is of the Czar's kremlin ('palace'), built centuries ago and renovated in various spurts since. Each side represents a different period and set of influences in Ussuran architecture, and the actual fortifications aren't impressive. The cannon towers aren't even all finished. However, the Old Guard, a few sections of veteran streltsy gunners, defend it as if the Czar still lived. They are few and can't defend the whole kremlin alone, but they hire neighborhood kids to run patrols and notify them of looters. Then they roll out their infamous mobile barricades and open fire to drive off the criminals. Their chief priority is the Musorga Hall, a royal art museum full of priceless treasures from Ussura and beyond. In the chaos of the court's departure, the Old Guard raided many abandoned mansions to seize artwork and stash it in the Hall. The dedicated old veterans are doing their best to defend these valuable works, but they can't last forever.

When the power vacuum opened up, several thieves' guilds vied for power. In the old days, they had fought endlessly, but the Sokolovskayas realized that there'd be more for everyone if they divided things up evenly, and they've grown to be the strongest game in town. They organized meetings and brokered deals. Now, one guild handles robberies, another assassinations, another corruption, another fraud. The Sokolovskayas take a cut of it all in service fees and provide administration. It's easily the safest, easiest work they've ever had. They know the Old Guard are holed up in Musorga Hall in the kremlin, and are plotting a massive multi-team assault and heist. If they can seize the art there and sell it, they will become rich beyond avarice...assuming they can keep their team from backstabbing each other in the process.

Veche Province is the second-largest, after Molhynia, but the least populous. Once it was larger, but its rulers have often spread themselves thinly, and Somojez invaded and took much of the territory along the Eisen border. Veche has a long history of border tensions with the Commonwealth, and many southern boyars have long wanted to expand southwards and seize land. They assume that, after Golden Liberty, it'll be easier to do, given the lack of strong noble leaders now. However, their own lack of organization has stopped any moves southward. General Winter has been based out of Veche for two years now, though he has an unsettling ability to show up just about anywhere in Ussura surprisingly quickly. Many say he travels with Leshiye magic. He seems to have ingratiated himself with the prince of Veche, or possibly vice versa, and the general has cracked down on several powerful border boyars, forcing them to swear fealty to him or die.

Siev is the government seat of Veche, built on a major road leading to the Sarmatian city of Stanislawiec and the Sejm River. It was once key to moving goods south and served as a diplomatic hub, with envoys from across the Commonwealth, Vodacce and the Crescent Empire. However, after General Winter set up east of Siev, he froze the Sejm. If he's not somehow convinced to relent, Veche's already precarious economy is going to get even worse. So far, no one has ever convinced General Winter to do anything. Siev has a reputation for being exceptionally boring, but it is also the capital of the Ussuran toymaking industry. Its craftsmen may be all business, but they are masters of pewter soldiers (painted or not), wooden dolls, dollhouses and chess sets, all of the highest quality and excellent price. The Rilasciare that supported Winter have also shown up, and while most of the city functions fairly normally (except for there being much less trade and diplomacy going on these days in favor of Bashanta or Sousdal), the outer edges of the city are largely Rilasciare-controlled and work as a democratic commune. The locals largely ignore Prince Bogdan and the other boyars of the area in favor of guiding themselves by communal vote. As long as General Winter is in the area, few are going to challenge them, though he's not particularly helpful in any other regard.

Bashanta was, only a few years ago, a small village, albeit one on a major river. The swampy terrain attracted vodyanoi and rusalki, and kept away most people besides the Ushkuiniks...until Ketheryna decided to make it her capital, draining the swamp and inviting thousands of artisans and engineers to construct one of the most advanced cities in the world. She paid Prince Bogdan heavily to built it within two years - an impossible timetable, and Bogdan worked thousands of muzhiks to death to keep to it, concealing the entire fiasco from Ketheryna. Now, Bashanta is beautiful, complex and, according to traditionalists, all just a big show, with no substance as anything but a proof of concept for visitors to see and decide Ussura's not backwards any more. These traditionalists mock it as Ketheryna's "clockwork onion."

Perhaps the most surprising of the new buildings is the Aztlani Observatory, a massive stepped pyramid at the town's highest point. The dome atop it is bigger than any other roof in the city, and it is staffed by a team of Tzak K'an astronomers who helped design it, with the aid of Alvara Arciniega, who invented the telescope it uses. The first floor is a public science museum with the second largest armillary sphere in Theah (they still haven't beaten the Hierophantic Cathedral's) and many technological marvels on display, many of which were made by Ketheryna herself. Above and below are labs for Ketheryna and her scientists. However, only a few days ago, a massive explosion in the night blew out a corner wall, which has not yet been repaired, though guards watch it constantly to ensure no one can see what happens inside. Rumor has it that either the Inquisition blew it up for anti-science reasons, or that a weapon was tested and accidentally detonated. Neither of these is a particularly happy possibility for the locals.

The Bashanta Kremlin is, like most kremlins, a fortified citadel inside the city proper. It sits on a hill below the Observatory, and the military labs under the Observatory have tunnels connecting them to the Kremlin. To impress people, Ketheryna had the place designed as a Vodacce star fort, even though the design offers very little advantage inside a city. Her elite Eisen mercenaries drill publically in the plaza every morning, then head back inside. Ketheryna's strangest and most advanced work, however, is not displayed like her guards and lesser inventions, but kept in training grounds that connect to the Observatory sub-basements. Of course, the things aren't totally her work. She hired experts on Ussuran folklore and mechanical engineering to assist on them. The things began as an experiment involving the domovoi, the tutelary house-spirits found in just about every Ussuran home. The same domovoi will remain inside the same house no matter how often it is torn down and rebuilt, so long as the stove it lives inside remains intact. If the family moves and brings the stove, the domovoi follows.

Therefore, Ketheryna's research teams took abandoned stoves and put them in increasingly outlandish locations. Churches, taverns, Tamatama-style caravans. As long as the domovoi continued to receive offerings of food and alcohol, they stayed and defended the home against misuse and neglect, even moving things to make noise or scare off vermin and intruders. The latest experiment has put a compact stove housing a domovoi inside the chest of a clockwork robot - a giant toy clockwork soldier, in essence. When exposed to a threat, such as a dangerous animal, the domovoi will animate the soldier and make it walk and fight to get rid of the threat. Ketheryna may, perhaps, have let her fascination with this development overwhelm her good sense, and considers using them as the future of soldiering or home defense. She has not yet revealed her giant robot nutcrackers to the public yet, but has installed them in various halls in the Imperial Palace. It is not yet known if the domovoi are willing to fight human intruders, however, or if they consider themselves trapped and enslaved by this.

The Imperial Palace, on the other side of the Observatory, is a comparatively humble building surrounded by blocks of opulent apartments. Ketheryna's own home connects to these dwellings in order to keep the political powerhouses close to her, and many of the outer halls of the apartments have glass windows - large, expensive and good for spying on neighbors, but not very good at keeping the cold out. They have, at least, made it through winter without being broken by hail. There are year-round balls, salons and other public entertainments in the palace and its surroundings, as Ketheryna knows that the spectacles she's made mean nothing if no one's talking about them. The Imperial Theater is nearby, and unlike most of Bashanta's amenities, it is designed for commoners to enjoy, too, using state-of-the-art machinery for trick entrances and exits, quick changes of backdrop and other such things.

Next time: Somojez

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Veche Is Not In Veche

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Veche Is Not In Veche

Somojez Province is most of northwest Ussura and controls most of the Eisen border. The actual city Somojez is on a far northern island, however. Somojez once controlled most of the north, until Novgorov conquests seized the Rurik area. Of course, while it has land in the mountains now, no one lives there, and Somojez city is far from the rest of the province, alternating between Ussuran and Vesten rule. Currently, the island is Vesten, and the Pscovs have better things to do than fight for it - they have religion to deal with. Most Ussurans practice a form of religion dating back to the First Prophet, known as Orthodoxy, and combine this with rituals to respect and honor the Leshiye and domovoi. Metropolitan Lyuba v'Pscov's reforms threaten to tear the province in half, as the middle and upper classes typically support them, as they centralize power in the cities and purge the Church of 'backwards' elements...which is to say, superstitious peasants and their beliefs. The muzhiks see the reforms as deeply classist and unneeded. The Schismatists threaten to spill over into the rest of Ussura now, as they send wandering priests out to gain support elsewhere. The traditionalist Orthodox have begun to do the same. Pavtlow seems largely sympathetic to the Orthodoxy, especially the streltsy corps, while Bashanta leans towards the Schismatists. Neither Czar candidate has made their position known.

Veche is the largest city in Somojez, once the capital of neighboring Veche until it was conquered by a once-minor boyar from Borovoi Forest, Vsevolod, who continued his conquest until he reached the northern monasteries and was converted to Orthodoxy. From there, he stopped fighting, working instead to protect the church. He did, however, refuse to give up his conquests, citing his duty to convert the locals (most of whom were already Orthodox, of course). Depending on who you ask, he was either a pious hero or a hypocritical tyrant. The city seems to attract strange people, and lies just south of Borovoi Forest. Legend (and poetry) says it was the home base of the most famous bogatyr of legend, Princess Nadzeya. The armored drachen that appears on the Somojez coat of arms is claimed to live in a lake nearby, and many of the city's people claim descent from Leshiye, goblins or other creatures.

St. Anderson is named for Toivo Anderson, a Vesten raider who converted to the Orthodoxy after landing in Ussura. He atoned for his sins as a raider by defending the Orthodox against aggression, and while modern stories attribute the aggression to Eisen, it likely also came from more eastern Ussurans as well. St. Anderson is a notable port for trade with Vendel and Posen, and shares its patron saint with southern St. Andresgorod, one of Vsevolod's conquests. St. Anderson was involved in the War of the Cross, when an Eisen expeditionary force attacked by command of the mercenary bandit Captain Regula Gerver, who sought to take the port for plunder under cover of war. The local boyar, Lady Yesfir, was enthusiastic in her defense but inexperienced and was quickly captured. Unwilling to ransom her, the people of St. Anderson fortified for a siege and got supplies from Ushkuinik blockade runners. When Grever proved unable to starve them out, the mercenary went home with Yesfir still captive. She has only finally escaped during a Horror attack, walking home to Ussura. The land has welcomed her, keeping her safe from weather, but the locals have not. She wants the town back, but they are unsure of her and confident in their ability to rule themselves.

Tebizond, in the east, is known as the holiest city in Ussura and is a major Orthodox pilgrimage site. It's the gateway into the mountains, which are home to many reliquaries and monasteries, many of which defy the laws of nature due to being built on top of Syrneth structures. Rumor has it the monks know far more about the Syrne than most, but keep it secret due to their religious oaths.

Borovoi Forest is north of Veche, and a ring of light, normal woods surrounds the dense core of extremely weird and complex ecosystem at the center, guarded by the local lumberjacks, hunters and trappers, who warn travelers of the dangers but never seem to be able to stop them from trying anyway. Some visitors are bogatyrs seeking adventure, others are explorers or treasure hunters, while others are merchants coming to trade with the goblins. Some are foes of Matushka, so desperate to escape her wrath that they seek refuge among the walking trees. Many of the eldest trees in the forest are awakened beings, able to pull up their roots and move about. Borovoi the Leshy is the forest's ruler, whose teeth and beard are moss and grass. He is the most alien of the Leshiye still active, easily mistaken for a tree when not moving. He is made of trunks and bark and vine wound together, his legs prehensile roots. His trunk is so wide that two men on either side could not wrap their arms around it and touch each other, and his dozens of branch-hands reach down with twiggy claws. Countless animals live inside him, and when he speaks, which is rare, his mouth is full of soil and loam and his voice is as trees creaking in wind. Borovoi is more than just a spirit of this forest. He is a spirit of every plant and fungus in Ussura, and he feels the growth and death of every blade of grass. In spring and summer, he is vibrant, even playful in his slow sort of way, and gives riddles or speaks happily of crops. In fall and winter, he is somber and serious. If you prove to him you are a friend of the growing things, he will tell you the secrets known only to plants. He can say which grasses bear the footprints of General Winter's army, which marsh reeds hide Lazavik of the Ushkuiniks, what oak hides the heart of the Deathless. He knows all these things.

The Borovoi Forest is one of two places in all of Ussura that is free of Matushka's power, the other being Vir'ava Forest. Were Matushka's chicken-legged hut to walk there or were she to fly in her magical mortar and pestle, the trees would rise up and repel her, lashing at her with thorns and vines and heavy branches until, at last, she fled. The Leshiye that live now in the Borovoi once roamed all of Ussura, but Matushka decided she wanted exclusive access to the people of Ussura. she fought and cursed and tricked the Leshiye until they fled to places they'd be safe from her. Borovoi rallied the plant-spirits, bringing them to his forest, where they could band together to resist the killing winter, and their influence is everywhere in the wood. The forest is full of odd plants, such as two species of identical-looking apple trees. One of them makes you grow a horn whenever you eat one of its apples, while the other makes you more beautiful whenever you eat an apple from it, and makes any such horns fall off. Another tree's apples can restore youth to the aged. Coffer-oaks grow beautiful treasure chests with elaborate natural carvings, binding them with branches and roots. As the trees age, they swallow up the chest, rendering it invisible to anyone that doesn't know exactly what to look for. This makes young coffer-oaks an excellent hiding place for things you don't want discovered, if you can find them just before they grow around the chest and stash them away forever.

The Borovoi Forest has two great secrets. First is a magical path that leads into Vir'ava Forest, across Ussura entirely.In the center of the wood, hidden in the wilds, there is a strange market. Magical creatures, mostly long-nosed goblin shapeshifters and wise but often cruelly tricky talking animals. Every night, one stall in the market - always different, always with a different and strange price - sells passage to Vir'ava. The other secret is that Borovoi Forest is not stationary. Slowly but surely, the trees walk. Only a few meters per month, yes, but they move. Every plant of the wood comes from somewhere else, and in times past, was forced to hide by Matushka. Borovoi still remembers, however. He remembers the time before Matushka ruled supreme, before the tectonic plates crashed together on the Molhynia border, when great magical forests covered Ussura. He desires that time's return. And so close to his wood, so tantalizing, is the city of Veche. One day, and for the trees it is one day soon, the forest will climb over the walls, reach their fingers through the windows of the city. They will bring the magic of the growing things back to a sterile city. And then, they will teach Matushka the lesson they have been saving for her for centuries: what you take from the trees, the trees will take back.

Gallenia Province is ruled by the Riasanovas, and while the province is small and has only one major city, it is the most active in terms of trade. While the Crescent and Cathayan merchants are not numerous by, say, Vodacce standards, they have been trading with Gallenia for as long as there's been a Gallenia. The province was settled by Crescents, and Western Ussurans came only after the Knias Douma was founded and outlawed battle between provinces. The province maintains a busy schedule of fairs and festivals, coinciding with the easiest times for merchants to come. The locals trade their honey and ore for silk, quality steel, herbs and other substances that are rare in the area. The borders are guarded by Cossack patrols, who hunt down smugglers and ensure trade stays on the taxed toll roads of the Czar. Lady Arzu would much prefer to open more supply roads, for if she could trade her vast mineral wealth unrestricted with the Curonians and Cathayans, she'd be very rich indeed, as would most of Gallenia.

The province is notable for being home to Matushka's chicken-leg hut, which wanders the western wastelands, though Matushka can of course cross all of Ussura in an instant in her flying mortar. There are no other Leshiye in Gallenia, for Matushka forbids them entirely. As the Leshiye rule the wood or the mountains or the rain, Matushka claims humans as her domain. In the old days, there were Leshiye everywhere, and you could make deals with them for powers similar to those Matushka can grant. However, she disliked this arrangement, as she was always being confounded by bogatyrs, sneaky princes and fools. She'd catch someone that deserved to be eaten, but he'd show that some animal had taught him how to become a falcon and fly away. She'd catch another, and that one would reveal how she'd beaten a three-headed drachen and earned the secret of Matushka's weakness, hidden away in an egg in a duck in a hare in a treasure chest. So Matushka began to chase off the other Leshiye, eating those she could catch and chasing the rest far from humanity. The message got around: if you make deals with humans, if you protect them from Matushka, if you do anything but scare them off, then Matushka will come and take what is rightly hers.

Sousdal is the only city in all of Gallenia, home of Lady Arzu and built at the base of a mountain pass that leads to the main ore mines. It's not nearly as isolated as it seems at first, for Curonia lies just south, across the Sousdal River, and the east has excellent passes into the Vir'ava Forest and from there to Cathay. The city is primarily a keep surrounded by shops and homes, but by Gallenian standards, it's a palace. Just about anyone passing through the area must stop in the city eventually, and it has a very large transient population. The locals primarily service the travelers, and it's one of the most open cities in Ussura, fusing Ussuran, Sarmatian, Cathayan and Crescent influences. The rural Gallenians tend to consider it a challenge to their way of life, however, seeing it as too metropolitan, and fearing that Lady Arzu intends to have Gallenia leave Ussura entirely. That won't stop them from visiting Sousdal to take part in the spring fairs, of course, or stop them selling their goods to foreigners.

Next time: Vir'ava Forest

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Don't ask me how the apostrophe is pronounced.

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Don't ask me how the apostrophe is pronounced.

Once, long ago, Matushka went to eat a young girl, as she does with some frequency. The girl fled to the east, chased by Matushka's flying mortar and pestle, but she had a trick prepared. She had a magic towel and comb that a cat had given her. When she threw down the towel, a river sprung up that magically blocked the mortar, and so Matushka had to fetch her oxen to drink up the river so she could cross. Then the girl hurled down the comb, and a great forest sprung up. While Matushka tried to gnaw through it with her iron teeth, she failed. This is Vir'ava Forest. Where the Borovoi is dense and overgrown, the Vir'ava is like an illustration from a storybook. Paths fill it, each wide enough for two to walk abreast, hand in hand. They lead through flowered glades, and while the trees are not mobile here, the animals are very strange. Here, they are people.

A bear may have a prosthetic paw, which he attached when a woodcutter chopped the original off, later eating the man out of spite. A spider may be a knight, weaving webs to catch evil mosquitoes and flies with the aid of his friends, the tricky crickets and beetles. A cat and a sparrow may live as simple woodcutters, but will help any that oppose Matushka. Vir'ava is the girl of legend, and she is the mother of the forest, living at its heart in a small garden. While she is physically small, unlike her 'husband' Borovoi, she is no less powerful. From a distance, she appears human, but up closer you realize that her hair is the black-and-gold fuzz of a bee, and that she has two long antennae on her forehead. Two of her wings are those of a butterfly, though mismatched, and the other two are a fly's stabilizers, mere sticks with balls on the end. A tough carapace protects her upper torso, and her lower body has a long abdomen and stinger. She has four arms, not two. She is ever attended by a court of pollinators - flies, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds. They move with her moods. When she is happy, the butterflies alight on those she likes. When she is angry, the bees rise to fight. While Vir'ava deeply frustrates Matushka, the old witch dares not antagonize her, for if she is the true soul of the pollinators, her death would doom Ussura. The Swan Maiden is also found in the forest, second only to Vir'ava in power. She is a tall woman, her limbs and neck just a little longer than those of a human her size. She's lean muscle, covered in downy white feathers, and her arms extend out to long wings, which she may use to summon crafters to make anything she likes. She may or may not be Vir'ava's daughter; few see her often enough to ask.

Vir'ava and her forest stand against Matushka. While Matushka is certainly potent, able to give all the gifts that make up the Dar Matushki, she is not the only source of such power. Many other Leshiye could, if they chose, give one or two of those gifts, just not all of them. They just don't do it, for fear of Matushka's wrath. Those brave or foolish enough to break Matushka's rule and make their own deals may flee to Vir'ava Forest for safety. All humans and Leshiye in the forest must kneel to Vir'ava, of course, paying her homage with gifts and praise and obeying her laws. However, those who do find the forest a safe haven, one of the few places an Ussuran shapeshifter whose power is not of Matushka may live and train in relative peace. Vir'ava is also willing to welcome those touched by Matushka, so long as they follow the rules and are properly respectful. Only Matushka is barred. She has sent her spies, of course, but they've found no weaknesses so far. Some claim Vir'ava has no secrets, that her court of beasts and shapechangers is all loyal and strong. Others do not return. Any successful attack on Vir'ava would have to lure her or the Swan Maiden out of their place of power.

Molhynia Province is the largest and strangest, made of the windswept steppes. Its largest permanent city is Breslau, high in the northern steppes and surrounded by walls. At its highest point is the kremlin of Koshchei, and no one of the city below may enter or leave it. Secret underground passages link it to the outside, but only Koshchei or his 'brides' may ever use them. All of the population is expected to serve as the city's militia, maintaining the strong fortifications and manning the walls against invaders or bandits, a tradition that dates back to the city's birth as a mining town. The mines produce demantoid gemstones, gold, copper, diamonds and some iron, which keep Breslau rich as long as trade south or east continues. The mines are run on a worker-run commune, an idea dating back to the early Orthodoxy, which was far less hierarchical and authoritarian than it presently is. Koshchei collects a portion of the profits as tax, but otherwise lets the miners do as they please. The main issue with this is that it's technically illegal. A few centuries back, the boyars pressured the Czar to outlaw communes after a number of muzhik revolts replaced their boyars with Breslau's system. When visitors from other lands come, Koshchei comes out of the castle and has the administrators dress up all fancy so everyone can pretend that boyars run the mines. Sadly, it's only a matter of time before the truth gets out, and some boyars would love a chance to sweep in and seize the mines. Others fear or hate Koshchei and would like to act against him. Worst, their attention may clue in the outsider to Koshchei's big old scheme of protecting the abused.

Saranbaatar is the largest Khazari city, and like most Khazari settlements, it has no permanent location. Three to five times each year, the entire city is broken down in a process that takes less than a day, then rides to its next location and sets up there just as fast. Scouts move ahead of it to identify threats and send information back to the tribal elders, who decide on the new site. Sometimes it is chosen based on enemy movements, the spirits and premonitions about the weather, sometimes because a resource surplus moves them to trade with an another place. As in every Khazari town, animals well outnumber humans. Each family has enough riding and pack beasts, generally horses, camels or yaks, to move them, their ger and any possessions. They will also have at least one bankhar, a large and study dog of extreme fluffiness, to guard the family and be a pet. Bankhars aren't really a breed at this point, but a naturally adapted type of a dog that has thrived for thousands of years in Ussura and served to watch over kids and sheep. Many flocks of sheep or goats also travel with the city, and the hunters keep raptors, most of them golden eagles, to help hunt. Wealth is typically measured in extra horses, and Khazari tend to think of value in terms of horses and fractions of horses. Horses feature in over half of Khazari songs, too. Their horses tend to be smaller and sturdy, suitable for multiple jobs, from fighting to labor to milking, but specialized in few.

A ger is a form of large tent, made of a wodden lattice, doorframe, supports, roof beams and circular crown, over which a sheep's wool felt is stretched. They vary from single-family homes to immense public meeting tents. Typically, it takes two hours to set up a ger, and once in place it is able to handle the Ussuran cold and weather handily. When broken down, the camels or yaks will bear the ger's pieces to the next destination. Not all Khazari travel so much, however. The great hero Sarangerel Bogatyr settled down and became a Madhyamika nun, for example. The Madhyamika are a Cathayan faith, seeking freedom from suffering via compassion, moderation and non-attachment. Saranbaatar was originally founded by Sarangerel as a nomadic monastery, though it rapdily gained followers of every Ussurain faith. Its favorite locations typically have two permanent structures: the bath house and the stupa.

A stupa is a dome-shaped rock mound or other earthwork that contains the relics of dead Madhyamika monks and nuns. In Khazar territory, they also have a syncretic function as bases for Turaist shamans, Yachidi temples and whatever other religious structures passing Khazari may need. Saranbaatar has dedicated clergy for most denominations, but as with most Khazari, the priests will happily muddle through another group's rituals if, for example, you really need to talk to an ancestor buried in the stupa right this second. Once the city stes up, it will hold a religious festival to highly the teachings and interests of those buried in the local stupa, as well as venerating the local spiritual landscape and describing which deities and other figures live nearby and how they can be respected properly. Over the past few years, howeve,r Saranbaatar has discovered that many traditional stupas have been despoiled or descreated, and even after the people of the city pitch in to rebuild and rededicate them, the ghosts and spirits rarely return. The Khazari are not aware of it, but Matushka is behind these acts. She herself cannot approach a stupa that is consecrated to other spirits, but she seeks to marginalize all other Ussuran spirits, and so she sometimes bewitches humans to despoil stupas that have been visited by Khazari towns.

Most Khazari towns feature a large, colorful tent in which athletic competitions are held. These teach many life skills, most notably sportsmanship. When you're part of a culture that constantly raids its fellow tribes, you have to learn how to put aside personal antagonism in case of, say, an attack from an outside empire, so you can band together. Every Khazar that is physically able to learns to ride, wrestle and shoot bows. Less universal, but still important, is raptor hunting and melee combat While Khazari mercenaries sometimes use pistols, muskets and crossbows are both very unpopular compared to the recurve composite bow. However, spirits forbid mortal combat between Khazari within a few kjilometers out from a stupa, for both practical and religious reasons. Breaking thsi rule causes bad weather and animal stampedes as the spirits grow upset, so Khazari near a stupa will typically solve disputes and insults by wrestling at the athletic tent instead.

The latest sports craze among the Khazari is chogan, a sport from the Crescent state of Persis designed to train cavalry. Two teams of four riders use mallets to knock a ball into the opponent's goal on one end of the field. Khazari adore this sport, thanks to the mix of riding and tactics, and have gone so far as to invent variants for camels and yaks, because of course they did. This yea,r Saranbaatar has headed further south than usual in the hopes of attracting the Gallenian chogan teams, famously the best in Ussura, to attend their yearly invitational.

In more dangerous times, the Khazari mobile cities were put of their war effort. Enemies had problems figuring out how to attack and occupy Khazar land when even the location of the cities was basically guessowrk. Half-made fortifications litter the steppe in times of war, as the cities turn into siege engines with alarming speed. As in Breslau, all able-bodied residents of Saranbaatar fight in times of war. Soldiers are typically mounted and will maintain a herd of around sixteen horses to ensure speed in times of war. These horses are also used for milk or, occasionally, meat. Khazar soldiers prfer lamellar armor and a conical helmet with neck guard, relying primarily on bows as their weapon, and a basket-shaped shield with an axe, spear, mace or saber if melee is required. Section leaders wear banners that bear their clan's tamga (sigil) for identification, and use songs to issue orders, as they are easy to remember and recognize, especially backed by drums or bells.

The mountains of Molhynia are the tallest in Ussura, especially the largest, Crystal Mountain, though its width at the base is probably more notable. IT is made of translucent crystal, and in sunlight it can be blinding. It is said that a twelve-headed drachen once occupied a nearby lake, concealing all the treasures and people it stole inside the mountain. IT was only by turning into an ant, using tricks learned in Vir'ava Forest, that Sarangeral Bogatyr could save them. Carvings on rock and crystal warn travelers that Chernobog, a dark spirit, lives atop the mountain. Ussurans know little of him, save that he lives atop the mountains, hurling lightning and cursing people that disturb him. He is a storm and mountain god, associated with Molhynia. Of course, no one actually knows anyone cursed by Chernobog. It's always rumors, fairly recent, a friend of a friend of a relative who went up the mountain and was cursed with the pox, or perhaps to wander. It's never very clear. The truth is that Chernobog has never cursed anyway, because Chernobog isn't Chernobog.

In northeast Ussura, people worship the far more popular storm god Tura, ancient god of the Khazari. Tura is not just god of the sky - he is the sky, and the weather as well. Your walk out and feel the wind and hear the distant lightning? That's Tura. Not his powers, just him. Tura was once lover to Matushka, and they ruled over the steppes together, he in the sky and she on the ground. Humans, however, fascinated Matushka enough that she couldn't leave them alone. She needed to be involved in their lives, helping and hindering them according to how they followed her laws. Tura could not agree, so he left. Since then, he has watched Matushka tighten her grip on the land, terrifying the other Leshiye and driving them into the depths of the wild to keep them away from the humans she sees as her children - and hers alone. She is domineering and cruel, and now Tura feels he must become involved.

However, because he is weather, he can't take human form. If you climb to the top of the Crystal Mountain, however, you can hear his voice, rolling and crackling in the dark clouds like thunder. Tura needs you to keep his secret - if Matushka learned he was back and trying to meddle, she'd kill him, or at least try. So the Chernobog story cuts down on those who would otherwise seek him out. Khazar shamans know the truth, but they are sworn to secrecy by the sky god. Thus, only the powerful and foolhardy seek out the Mountain to challenge the unbeatable Chernobog. Once they arrive at the top, they discover something older and wiser has been watching them, learning the truth from Tura as he recruits them to fight Matushka, whom he once loved. Most of Tura's chosen are Khazari at this point, but a few others from outside the province have joined them. This new generation of bogatyr wanders the land, telling others that they have been cursed by Chernobog. What the others do not realize, and nor does Matushka, is that these bogatyr are gathering allies, resources and power, to stand up to her and make Ussura safe for other Leshiye once more.

Next time: Dar Matushki

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Grandmother Winter's Lessons

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Grandmother Winter's Lessons

So, the Dar Matushki are the gifts of Matushka, who protects Ussura from outsiders, other Leshiye and, indeed, even from Ussurans themselves. She seeks out those that need to be corrected, who lie and act cruelly and so on, and she tests them. Those that pass her tests return with what they need, and a little gift besides, such as new boots, for being good people. Those that fail suffer a Lesson. A Lesson forces you to face your weakness. They are typically painful, to stick in your memory better. Maybe you speak in toads and snakes until you stop lying, or maybe a fox follows you and forces you to agree to terribly difficult things until you stop running away from what you fear, or maybe you thirst and thirst no matter how much you drink until you put aside alcohol. Once you have finally learned what the Lesson must teach, however, Matushka is kind. She gives you Gifts. Forget your Lesson, though, and you will lose your Gifts. Not permanently, but as a warning. If you persist in your forgetfulness, then you will receive the Lesson again. This time it will be more painful, as you clearly need it to be harder to forget.

Matushka's tests are always easy to pass and easy to fail. She travels the land, disguised as an old woman or a child, whichever one her target is more inclined to ignore. She asks for help - never much. Some bread, a guide home, a bit of money, a toy fetched out of a tree. She never asks for more than the target can afford to give at the moment, in money or in time. She tests three kinds of people. First are those who act in a way that harms Ussura, but who have the ability to learn and the potential to be heroes. She will not waste her time and power on those who cannot or will not contribute to the nation. The second are those who, having learned a Lesson, request another. Matushka likes people with the desire to better themselves, though that doesn't make the Lesson any easier or less painful. The third are those who bear terrible hardship with good cheer and patience. For these, the test presents a possible reward for good behavior. They get a gift, but not Dar Matushki. These people do not need a Lesson, so they don't receive one - only a gift.

Without exception, Lessons hurt. The pain may be physical, or it may be of the mind or of society. It's whatever is most effective in a given case. The Lesson reveals one of your vices, targeting it. Cowardice, spite, lying, cruelty, indifference to others, overindulgence. You must learn why you failed your test and why Matushka thinks you need to change. The Lesson ends when you prove you understand by your actions. These demonstrations of understanding are highly personal, and typically easier than the penance for breaking a restriction once you've earned your magic. A liar, for example, might need to confess their lies and undo some harm their lies caused. A coward might need to brave a scary task. Occasionally, a person refuses to learn their Lesson. For them, the mystic curse of the Lesson just doesn't end.

Once the Lesson is over, Matushka will visit you, in person or in a dream, and give two Gifts and a Restriction. She will explain the Gifts and everything that you will be expected to do to maintain them. Those who complete a Lesson are known as Poluchatel, Recipients. Their Gifts are an extension of Matushka's power and command over the land and its creatures, or her expertise in healing and mending. Each comes with a Restriction that reinforces the Lesson Matushka taught, and breaking that means you lose your Gifts until you do penance. If you fail to do penance, you must suffer your Lesson again - and it will be harder this time. The exception to all this is someone that actively seeks out Matushka. She watches over these people, selecting which ones can find her and which cannot. Those who find her are given three things: a thing to destroy, a thing to protect and a thing to give away. They must determine which is which and treat them appropriately. This requires a discriminating eye, a keen mind, obedience to Matushka and the ability to control your own desires, for the thing you want most is often the one you must give away or destroy. If you succeed, you receive two Gifts and a Restriction she has decided is easiest for you to keep. If you fail...well, you get a choice. Go away emptyhanded, or suffer a Lesson.

Matushka pays special attention to the Czars and Czarinas. She tests them repeatedly, granting them her blessing for as long as they pass her tests. The tests are secretive and unpredictable, and only once a leader has failed does Matushka reveal what was going on. One famous failure involved an apple tree. Every night, someone stole its apples. Rather than investigating personally, the Czar sent his sons. The thieves killed one son and injured another, and Matushka berated the Czar for being a lazy coward, refusing to act himself, and removed her blessing. After that, the injured son died and the Czar's wife left him for fear that the curse would taint her, too. Every Czar and Czarina knows that they must always be their best, because Matushka is watching, and without her blessing, rulership always requires terrible sacrifices and loss. Many are now waiting for either Ilya or Ketheryna to fail a test before thy decide who to support, but whatever Matushka has put before both of them, they seem to have passed so far.

Ussurans tend to treat the Poluchatel with wary respect. They are wary because everyone knows that you don't generally become Poluchatel without there being a reason Matushka tested you, but respect, because Gifts require great self-control to maintain. Several famous Ussuran heroes have been Poluchatel, and tales of how bad children met Matushka and learned how to be heroic adults are extremely popular in Ussura, especially with kids.

Next time: Tura's Touch

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Sky Father

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - The Sky Father

Where Matushka is the great mother of Ussura, Tura is its father, and he views his role much differently. Instead of restrictions, he grants responsibility and freedom. Some say he is less cruel than Matushka, but in the end he is equally demanding. The difference works like this. You need to bake a cake. Matushka gives you a recipe and swats your hand with a spoon whenever you make a mistake or forces you to start over. Tura gives you all the ingredients you need or request and a kitchen to work with, but then lets you figure out the rest yourself. Both are still going to require you to make a cake. It also needs to be understood that Tura doesn't disagree with everything Matushka stands for. Rather, he dislikes her methods and her treatment of the other Leshiye. Once, the pair loved each other and shared in each other's power. Matushka granted Tura the power to use and grant Regeneration as a Gift, and he gave her the power to use and grant Storm. Now, though, they see each other as dangers to the land. However, Matushka is currently unaware that Tura is acting against her, for he has used her own transformative power to hide from her in the form of Chernobog, remaining high in the mountains.

When someone finds Tura, he gives them Gifts in exchange for a Task and a Mark. Those that refuse his offer awaken in the mountains with no memory of Tura or their time with him. Those that accept become Chernobog's Cursed. Tura's tasks are generally focused on righting what Tura perceives as Matushka's wrongs - primarily, he wants to free the other Leshiye from her prohibitive laws. When the Cursed leave the mountains, they typically weave fanciful tales of how they disturbed Chernobog and earned his wrath, and they are all united in their work against the control of Matushka and the keeping of Tura's secrets. Only if they find someone who might aid their cause do they share the truth. Tura never seeks anyone out, but instead waits for people to come to him. Some come by accident, exploring the mountains, while others are told of his hiding place by the Cursed. Either way, when you take Sorcery (Tura's Touch), he grants you two Gifts and a Task. He also places a black mark around the size of a big thumbprint on your face, neck or hands. Once you have the Mark, Tura may give you additional Gifts (and Tasks) via your dreams.

All of Tura's Gifts focus on the sky and weather, unlike Matushka's, which focus on mending and animals. All require you to spend 1 Hero Point to activate, exactly as Matushka's Gifts do. His Tasks are special Stories, called Tura's Task Stories, that detail what Tura demands of you. You can complete Steps in other Stories as normal, but until Tura's Task is complete, you cannot write new Hero Stories. Once you do, you can continue as normal.

Gifts
Tura and Matushka share a few Gifts - specifically, Illuminate, Purify, Storm and Regeneration. The game also lists some examples of Tura-specific Gifts. And obviously you can make up your own with GM assistance, just as with Matushka's. The main thing is Tura has sky and weather flavor.
Language of Birds: You can speak to birds - any birds - for the rest of the Scene. They will tell you anything they've seen or heard, and if you request their aid they will try to help you, even if they've never been to Ussura. If a request requires a Risk, the birds roll 5 dice and you decide how they spend Raises. They get 2 Bonus Dice if the Risk is particularly suited for them.
Lightning: You can call down lightning. Any weather is fine, but you must have clear access to the sky, such as being outdoors or having an open window. You cause (Scholarship) Wounds, which cannot be defended against by any means.
Read the Wind: The wind will bring you images of what it touches. You can activate this to quickly check for anyone following you or setting up in a nearby ambush or such, or you can activate it to make a Notice Risk to focus in on an event at any distance. For each Raise you make, you may ask one question about what is happening elsewhere. Each question may involve only one sense - what is audible, visible or smellable, specifically - and not two or more at once.
Wind Walk: You and anything directly touching your skin turn into air. You are invisible and intangible, though you are still audible if you, say, speak or make noise, and people may notice a breeze as you pass. You may travel in any way an air current can, so you can't go through liquid or objects, but can pass through cracks or holes. However, you must be careful not to get trapped in an area too small for you to turn back human. If you remain air for more than 15 minutes (or one Scene, whichever is most appropriate), you start to lose yourself. Every Scene after that costs 2 Wounds, taken at the start of the scene. They cannot heal until you become corporeal again. If you take a Dramatic Wound while air, you immediately become corporeal unless the space you are trapped in is too small to hold you. If you are trapped, you just keep taking Wounds until you are freed, and immediately become corporeal once freed.

Tasks are different in complexity based on how much power Tura has given you this time. Each time you purchase Sorcery (Tura's Touch), you get two Steps worth of Tura's Task, which you may have as two one-Step stories or one two-Step story. If you take the Sorcery advantage twice, you then have four Steps to distribute between Tasks. If you take Sorcery at chargen, you may begin play with half of your required Steps completed, rounding up. If you do, you and the GM have to decide what you've done so far and name someone affected by it. Typical Tasks are focused on spreading Tura's message (mostly, doing things or telling stories that make other Leshiye look good to people or make Matushka look bad, or identifying potential Cursed), undermining Matushka's message (mostly helping people learn to take care of things themselves, showing how indulgence can be positive or convincing people to work together to keep out the wild's dangers or solve problems without relying on Matushka or her magic), or stopping Matushka's plans (usually stuff like doing some specific order for Tura that may not make a lot of sense, investigating or spying on a Poluchatel or even investigating Matushka herself).

Further, all of the Cursed receive Tura's Mark, a black splotch on the face, hands or neck that is cold to the touch. If you have the Mark, you can always tell if someone else's Mark is real or fake. It also lets you get new Gifts without having to go all the way back to the mountains to chat with Tura directly. Handy, that.

How the Ussurans treat a Cursed is depends on if they know of the Mark. Those who don't know typically assume a Cursed is actually a Poluchatel and will treat them accordingly, even if they see use of a Gift only Tura can offer. If they know of the Mark, however, they know that you're one of Chernobog's Cursed, and therefore treat you with suspicion and pity. Suspicion, because of the stories spread by the Cursed about themselves and Chernobog. Pity, because they believe the Cursed are doomed to die a violent death. If an Ussuran knows you are Cursed, any action taken in a Dramatic Sequence that involves them requires an additional Raise to overcome their suspicion. Generally speaking, though, Poluchatel and Cursed tend to get along. The Poluchatel tend to treat people they don't know kindly regardless, and the Cursed like to cultivate friendships they can later use to gain information about Matushka's plans. This is likely to change when Matushka becomes aware of what Tura is doing.

Next time: Fencing!

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Ussuran Dueling

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Ussuran Dueling

Ussuran duels have always favored unarmed combat. Indeed, some Ussurans claim the only true measure of a warrior is the fist. Because of this, there are many formalized schools of unarmed combat in Ussura, and their practice transcends social class. Many boyars still favor fistfighting over fencing duels. Because you don't need special equipment, most villages in Ussura have a small handful of Duelists, who pride themselves on teaching and training others. They typically spend their time drinking and watching the local kids brawl, seeking out those that seem to have the instinct for it afterwards and training them rigorously. In cities you can find formal and prestigious dueling academies, such as the Schola Vani ('School of War') in Pavtlow. Parents actively seek to send their children to these, though admission is usually limited to the children of boyars or those who can pay for the privilege, though the rare muzhik gets in on scholarship if they are very talented. While such scholarships are very rare, they provide hope for muzhiks that, with sheer will and strength, they can rise above their station.

Ussuran duels are displayed during holidays and the Winter Fairs. Boyars often host dueling contests in honor of Matushka, sending word throughout the region so that the best Duelists may attend. Depending on the holiday, fair or host, one of several kinds of competition may occur. One rule takes precedence over all others, though: you don't hit a Duelist that's fallen to the ground. Period. Ever. The most typical and common duel is the one-on-one fistfight, in one of two forms. The first, called perestrelka ('skirmish') involves dodging and weaving, hittin when you can. The second, povoroti ('turns') is practiced only by the toughest, because it's taking turns punching each other, no dodges. You may only defend with your arms and wait.

The most popular form of contest, however, is called a wall-on-wall match. These are considered the highest form of Ussuran entertainment, and may involve anywhere from dozens to hundreds of participants. Wall-on-wall matches can last for hours, as the participants are divided into teams, called walls. Each wall has a chief fighter that serves as their tactician and commander, and each wall forms a tight formation, three to four ranks deep. The goal is to attack the other wall and push them from the dueling area. Wall-on-wall matches rely on basic tactics, as the teams try to breach the other wall with their heavy fighters or attempt to encircle it and force it to defend against attacks from all sides. Walls often use false retreats or other tactics to lull foes into false complacency. However, generally speaking, a wall attempts to never, ever break formation, as doing so risks giving the other wall an advantage.

In all cases, Duelists typically fight bare-armed, to prove that they are using only the strength of their muscles, without iron or steel reinforcement. Bare-knuckle fighters are given as much respect in Ussura as fencers are elsewhere. It's not that Ussuran duelists never use weapons, of course. A true master Duelist realizes they must sometimes fight on an opponent's terms, and they are often eager to learn fencing styles of combat. These techniques have also always been useful in war for the pragmatic Ussurans. While fencing is rarer among Ussuran Duelists, it is not unknown. It's most common in cities, where some dueling schools teach it as part of the curriculum. Among kin and other Ussurans, though, boxing remains supreme.

The biggest dueling festivals are unquestionably held on the eve of the new year, when the cities and towns slaughter vast amounts of livestock for meat and uncork the best ales. Children head to bed early in hopes of gifts from Grandfather Frost and his granddaughter, Snegurochka, while the public squares fill with dueling exhibition matches. The best fighters gather to compete, one-on-one and wall-on-wall, to gain fame and favor among the boyars. The ultimate goal for those that dare to aim high is to be invited to duel one-on-one in Pavtlow on New Year's Eve, and even the loser of such a match is sure to come into fame and fortune.

Kulachniy Boi is the most widespread style of unarmed fighting techniques in Ussura. It means 'fist pugilism' and it focuses on punching and boxing generally, for both practical and ceremonial purposes. While festival fights are not meant for permanent harm and so do not use the most powerful techniques of the style, that changes when the Duelist heads out into the world. When dealing with armed and deadly foes, the Duelist puts on rukavitsa, specially made gloves and metal arm guards, which grant their fists the ability to produce much more damage than fighting purely unarmed, but still maintaining the same appearance and style, especially if worn under sleeves. The style bonus is Iron and Velvet. When wearing rukavitsa, you may use Brawl in place of Weaponry for all Duelist Maneuvers. Further, you get one free Raise to keep your weapon concealed.

Now, legends! Ussura is a haven for strange magical beings and spirits, and the locals mostly continue to take part in rituals to keep the spirits happy and protective of them. So what are these legends? Well, there's the Chervona Ruta, the Fern Flower, a rare yellow flower that grows on the mountain slopes. Legend has it that once each year, on the summer solstice, the setting sun grants its color to the flower for just one night, turning it red and enchanting it with summer's luck. Picking a red fern flower brings both magic and danger. The flower can bring many benefits, as it brings luck or wealth to those that carry it, for as long as it is alive. Drying it, unfortunately, doesn't extend the magic. If you give it to someone else, it can forge a love bond, though the magically made love fades when the flower dies. Some say it always gets replaced by hate, while others say that it can produce a natural love that will outlast it. These people claim red fern love is stronger than any other. If it is woven into a bracelet or crown and worn, the flower grants the ability to speak to animals in the areas where the fern grows. However, it is also known that evil spirits guard the ferns, and those that would pluck them must kill or outsmart these spirits to gather the flower's blooms.

In truth, the spirits aren't evil. (The magic is entirely real, though.) Rather, they are servants of the Leshy Poludnitsa, called Lady Midday. She is a cruel, pessimistic Leshy of summer, who hates humans and sees agriculture as an attack on the land. She curses farmers with heat sickness if they can't solve her riddles and cuts those who cross her down with a vicious scythe. She blessed the chervona ruta with the power of the solstice in order to win a wager with Matushka, insisting that greedy humans always put themselves first. She made the leaves of the fern able to make a tea that gives a lesser, more temporary form of the flower's power, but to gain the real strength, you must uproot and kill the flower itself. She bet Matushka that nine of ten times, a human would kill the flower over brewing the tea, and her spirits guard the flowers not to stop it being picked, but to see what the intentions of the picker are and report on them. Those who pluck the flower for selfish ends are hunted by Lady Midday, while those who take only the leaves or who take the flower out of selfless need on someone else's behalf she leaves alone. If you were to learn the truth, you might be able to persuade her that she's wrong about human nature, ending the wager. Lady Midday is Strength 9, Elemental (Heat) and Relentless.

Few have ever seen the Firebird, though many claim to have done so. Fewer yet possess one of her feathers, though many have fakes. Many stories exist, varying by region, on the Firebird's powers. Some say she can heal the sick and resurrect the dead, others that she grants wishes at the cost of lifespan, which she stores in her tail feathers to hand out to the worthy, others that she can sense lies and burns those who lie and cheat others. All agree, however, that she is a beautiful bird with fire-colored plumage, and that her feathers bring warmth, light and luck. Just enough people have seen the Firebird or found her feathers to keep people searching for her, out of greed, need or desperation. Boyars seek to cage and capture her, merchants try to gather her feathers to sell to kings and nobles, children hunt her to cure their ailing parents. Some even want to worship her. The Firebird is ever-elusive, attracting people that chase her to get her to fulfill promises she has never made. Some say she can be found in the mountains around Breslau, others that she lives in Vir'ava Forest. Few ever find her, however.

In truth, the Firebird began life as a girl named Stasya, abused by her parents and made to work long hours with little respite. She went hungry most days, mining for rubies. Koshchei heard of her plight and rescued her. However, she did not enjoy life in his castle, wishing to be free to roam the countryside. This he could not allow, for to free her would endanger all his other charges. Thus, Stasya made a deal with a Leshy of fire, who turned her into a bird of flame and light, and she flew out of the castle. However, the Leshy refused to return her to human form. Now, Koshchei seeks to find her, afraid she will reveal his secret and endanger all. His interest in the Firebird has drawn others to want to capture her, too, assuming she has some kind of magic. She does not; the legend has taken on its own life. Many boyars, including the Deathless, offer great rewards for her capture. She, meanwhile, wants to find someone who can turn her human once more, or at least protect her from the greed of others. She will not be anyone's prisoner, no matter how good their intentions, but she also fears retribution from people who learn that, in fact, her only magical ability is that she has a fiery, warm glow. Until she can find someone who truly seeks to help her, she fights for her life to avoid capture. She is Strength 4 and Elemental (Fire).

Next time: More monsters.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Angry Ghosts

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Angry Ghosts

Mstitel the Night-Haunt follows after horses, watching for the flash of coin. They say it can smell a boyar a mile off. And once it does, it destroys him. It is a trickster of some sort, with terrifying claws that rend its wealthy victims. Muzhiks have nothing to fear from it, but it hates boyars with a terrible passion. No one knows why, but Gallenian boyars know better than to travel by night or, if they must do so, to hide their wealth and dress plainly, to confuse the Avenger. Even traveling in groups will not keep them safe, for it can fight many at once. It comes out only after dark, to ambush nobles. First, it performs acts of mischief, scattering the wood of a campfire, tipping a wagon or disturbing bats to make them shriek across your path. It may trail a noble for hours, terrorizing them until they break down. Once the boyar is terrified enough, fleeing or brandishing a weapon in false bravado, Mstitel strikes. It impales on idle blades, rolls boulders over ridges, spooks horses off cliffs or bridges. The few survivors always say that, just before the chaos, they saw a pair of angry red eyes watching them from the shadows.

The truth? Once, atop a Gallenian mountain, there was an estate built for Lady Kveta Masalsk Radkova v'Riasanova, where she lived with her large family, to the eleventh generation. The estate's domovoi came to love the family, and when a rival boyar came in to murder Lady Kveta and all her kin, it was left alone in a mountain tomb. Its grief over losing its purpose and beloved family drove it draw deep from its will, deeper than any domovoi before or since, calling on power that no domovoi should ever use. It became something else, something larger and darker, and its instincts to protect warped into a desire to 'protect' the land from boyars that would abuse it. It became the Night-Haunt, Mstitel. When it finds a traveler, it watches them to determine their social rank and heritage. It listens to speech, gauges wealth from luxuries, even asks questions or riddles in the voice of the wind. If anything displeases it, it goes into a terrible rage and plays with its prey before finally killing them in a horrific mockery of its once friendly nature. It is just barely possible that its wrath could be appeased by a hero taking ritual vengeance against the family that slew Lady Kveta's family, or performing funerary rites for the fallen house, especially if you could find a last survivor of Kveta's line to help convince it to return to its original state. Mstitel is Strength 7, Fearsome, Nocturnal and Shadowy.

Every fisherman in Ussura knows it's dangerous to set off in a boat without protection against rusalki and vodyanoi. The mere presence of a human that hasn't placated them angers them, and when they're angry, people drown and things break. The rusalki were once living women, but they linger in their watery graves to haunt others. The vodyanoi, on the other hand, are half-human children of the Leshiye of the waters, resenting humanity for its ability to travel on land. They are generally considered a single cooperative threat. Some say that rusalki and vodyanoi enslave humans to build an army of amphibious soldiers that they may, one day, drown all of Ussura and rule it. Bogatyr and other warriors kill or banish these things when they can, especially when the Ushkuiniks use them to strongarm others. Some families, however, have made longterm deals with the spirits, especially if their survival depends on the waters. They might give up the firstborn of each generation to the rusalki or allow a vodyanoi to live under their roof as a brother every thirteenth month.

In fact, the vodyanoi and rusalki work together only when they see use for it, and their cooperation is full of backstabbing and competition. The Ushkuiniks and some others have learned how to play this to their advantage, using the spirits' pride and spite to pit them against each other or manipulate them to help. There are no grand plans of conquest, though occasionally a vodyanoi with delusions of grandeur may attempt to take over a single estate or fishing business. The rusalki tend to lack both the imagination and motivation to meddle in anything past the shore. The vodyanoi do live in underwater fiefs that are something of a parody of surface life. When they 'drown' someone, they do not die, but are instead cursed to breathe water instead of air, forcing them into slavery. It is possible to bargain with them to get people back, or to get a Leshy to help break the curse. The rusalki care little for wealth or servants, and are not in fact ghosts. They aren't dead and were never human. They are water spirits that consider certain areas to belong to them. Their attacks and seductions are based on territory trespass, and any slave-taking is because they think their target is pretty and they want to keep them. They are possessive, jealous monsters with no real regard for others and their desires, which makes them combative but easy to bribe. However, there are ghosts that pretend to be true rusalki sometimes, and it's best to figure out what you're dealing with because the tactics needed are very different. Rusalki and vodyanoi are both Strength 6 and Aquatic.

Upir are spoken of by the Orthodox as a cautionary tale against witchcraft and the worship of false gods. These, plus dying of unnatural causes and bringing corruption and shame on your family cause you to become upir. Walking corpses that do not age, thirsting for blood and killing to survive. They move after sunset, drawing their victims away from safety and leaving them a hollow husk in the town square. Older tales suggest, however, that upir are not born of sorcery or damnation, but instead that they have a contagious disease that turns people into bloodsuckers after death. In places with the disease tradition, tradition dictates immediate cremation of any bodies dead to illness or unknown causes, lest they rise. Some say an upir can be cured of their condition, so long as they don't die first, and every region has its own version of what indicates someone is upir. Some say the infected lose the power to see colors or the ability to eat foods that are not meat. Others believe erratic or antisocial behavior are symptoms, and others say it is the ability to walk in the cold unprotected without being harmed. Another tale says that upir are caused by botched reincarnation, making two souls exist in the same body - either by chance or evil magic. One dominates the waking life, while the other roams free at night as the body sleeps, delivering nightmares and stealing the life force of children. When an upir dies, they say, the second soul can escape as a butterfly or moth to find a new host. Thus, in communities that believe this, butterflies and moths are slain on sight. Despite the wildly differing tales, no one doubts that upir exist. Rumors of frequent sightings can draw in Kreuzritter upir hunters, who head out to rid the land of them. Other nations believe the upir to be related to the blood-drinkers of other nations, such as Eisen's vampir. However, while in some cases techniques that work on one work on the other, all too often they don't.

So, the truth? The upir are tied to an event in the distant past, when an old man feared death so much that he meddled in necromancy. He became immortal, but at terrible price - he and all of his line would be upir. The bloodline is now spread far and wide, but very dilute. Not all who bear it become upir. But a person with enough of the old man's blood, born under the right kind of moon? They're an upir. In life, they have strange cravings for raw meat, or the company of crows, or exposure to the cold. They may even crave blood, but in life they don't require it to live. They age and die normally. Once they die, however, they transform into an immortal blood-drinker, human-looking in all respects but requiring blood to live. An undead upir can be killed only by fire or Leshiye-blessed weapons. They aren't nocturnal by nature and have only one soul, but when they sleep, their soul does in fact exit their body as a moth or butterfly to drink the blood of others via their nightmares, and so many upir choose to sleep by day to minimize the harm they cause accidentally. Not all upir are villains, though it's easy for them to become so. They aren't contagious, and they aren't caused by sorcery or doing evil. However, those who study necromancy do run the risk of accidentally or deliberately recreating the old ritual to make upir, turning them and their entire family into the creatures. If a PC wants to be an upir, the game says it is possible, by use of the Dark Gift Advantage to gain, say, the Nocturnal Quality, especially by use of the Befleckte Seele Background (albeit for an Ussuran rather than an Eisen character). Most upir, however, are Monstrous Villains with Strength 7 and Influence 5, and are Powerful and Regenerating, as well as having the Extended Family and Fascinate Advantages. Some very old and potent upir may be even stronger than that.

Northeast of Tebizond, high in the mountains, you can find Strannik. Some say she is a human, abandoned at birth and with no awareness of human society. Some say she is a Leshy, more potent even than Matushka, but elusive and hard to interact with or be blessed by. Some say she is an evil spirit, who takes the lives of those that trespass in her mountains. Others believe she is a terrible serpent, turned into human form to trick people into her lair so she can suck out their warmth. Others say she is the last living Syrneth. Only one thing is agreed on: Strannik appears as a tall woman in dark furs, untouched by the cold. Some say she is very powerful, able to reshape her mountain, and others say she is vicious and cruel. Others say she blesses those who find her.

The reality is no one's ever seen Strannik. The name comes from a number of different legends, but she doesn't actually exist. The most common tale is of a young girl lost in the mountains and raised by bears. Even those that say Strannik is Syrne or Leshy start with a girl getting lost in the mountains. Maybe she gained power from some benefactor, maybe she found a lost artifact, maybe she got possessed by a spirit. Everyone in Somojez has a Strannik story to tell, always about a friend, relative or acquaintance that met her. Perhaps she guided the person to safety, or perhaps she killed them in a fit of rage. (It is best to remember that if that one is true, there shouldn't be a story in the first place.) The stories persist, despite Strannik's apparent nonexistence. At this point, telling the story is almost as important as the story itself. Any Ussuran storyteller of any skill whatsoever knows at least one Strannik tale, and probably several. Sometimes, people get in games of oneupsmanship or contradict each other's stories. It's just one big ol' rural legend.

Next time: Vodacce

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - HELL ITALY

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - HELL ITALY

Vodacce is a land of contradiction, of honor and depravity, where words and actions are judged on entirely different standards. It last unified days were the Old Empire, and most of its interconnecting roads date back to that time. Over the centuries, there have been more and less princes vying for control. Today there are seven, but once there were as few as three. Their various strategies to fight each other and control Vodacce are known as the Great Game. It is a ruthless activity, nearly omnipresent in Vodacce. The Princes work their schemes into every aspect of life, and the only safe place from one Prince is the court of another. Because of the power that many noble women wield in Vodacce over luck and fate, the ruthlessness is seen as pragmatism - you wipe out entire families and ruin your enemies because if you don't, well, a grieving sister or mother as more dangerous than an assassin's blade. Only total destruction is safe. You spare no one - even children, who may one day grow to seek revenge. This casual brutality is a self-perpetuating system, and those who can no longer be credible threats are quickly wiped out.

Vodacce custom, however, declares that men never fall - they are pulled. Because everyone knows Sorte is everywhere, it is blamed for everything. When a normally temperate man suddenly starts to drink, the Vodacce assume not personal crisis, but a strega's art. Outrageously low chances and absurd coincidences are accepted without a thought, because when even fate can be bent to ambition, normal probability simply does not apply. Many folk practices have grown up to protect against Sorte, such as nailing seven spiders to a lintel, but these serve to hide the great weakness of the magic: its users cannot benefit themselves with it. They can only wield its power on others. Further, the women who can wield that power are kept as prisoners of their own palatial homes. They are held apart from society, barely educated, slaved to their husbands or their fathers or their brothers. Social convention states that any strega must test her daughters for the gift, as well, and condemns them to the same fate.

Many from outside the nation wonder why women with such power over destiny tolerate these circumstances. The answer is unsatisfying, yet simple: to survive. The strega are powerless to aid each other, barely educated and with little choice but to rely on others to feed and house them or shelter them from those they have cursed at their husband's call. Further complicating things is that the status of the strega is one issue, perhaps the only one, that the Princes agree on. Whatever an individual man may think of his wife, no matter how much he loves or admries her intellect, he knows in his heart that if he allows her to go unveiled or she is seen to study, the agents of the Princes will descend upon his family in full brutality. Every Prince back to the first has understood: their wealth and their power relies on the subjugation of the strega. However, things may be changing now. Morella Alouse Giancinni, wife to l'Empereur, and Domenica Vespucci, wife of Stanislaw II, both left Vodacce with the blessing of their Princes. Whatever short-term gains these alliances may have made, they also gave two powerful streghe freedom and privilege that is unheard of in their homeland.

The women of Vodacce could be far more potent, were it not for the cleverly made laws that trap them in the control of their husbands and fathers. Nobles keep their women on a leash, controlling what they are allowed to learn, how they may act and who they can meet, as much as they dare to do. Even a non-strega noblewoman is kept on a gilded chain. Commoners have it easier, generally. Common women are allowed to do largely as they please, except for reading or writing, which are forbidden even to them. Of all women, only courtesans may pursue higher education, and even on them, literacy is fairly rare. Courtesans might be said to be the most powerful of women, for while none are streghe, they understand Vodacce politics and even take part. However, it should be understood that in Vodacce, no fewer women work and fight than in any other nation - they just suffer more legal boundaries, and socially, the Vodacce typically frame them by the men in their lives rather than their own power. Their father's name may be more important than their own deeds, and they are expected to be demure and obedient to their husbands. It is a world of double standards. While a man may, even is expected to enjoy courtesans, it would be a scandal for a woman to do the same. Men casually drink and duel into the night, but a woman who challenges someone must be sure to strictly abide by Guild regulations or be punished. Men may sit around all day discussing philosophy, but a woman doing the same is a criminal. Women must act carefully to remain within Vodacce law, and most of its women learn how to play the game of law as best they can.

Prince Alcide Mondavi is the only prince with a full writeup, but the rest get a brief cover in a sidebar; more on that later. The Mondavis trace their ancestry back to a group of Old Empire rice dealers. It is said that he loves books more than women and farming more than fighting. Not that he's bad at fighting - quite the opposite. He excels, and few who have challenged him have survived. He just doesn't make a big deal out of it, seeing combat as a mere obstacle to be overcome as efficiently as possible. However, his public face as a bookish, indifferent prince is a mere facade. Where Giovanni Villanova revels in being publically merciless, Prince Mondavi conceals his brutality behind his family's reputation for complacence. However, Alcide Mondavi is a true monster. His hunting lodge, la Montagna di Cacciatori, is a testament to his psychosis. His lands are kept orderly and free of crime by kidnapping and murdering troublemakers. The Prince's game wardens are a handpicked squad of remorseless murderers, and when he became Prince, he had them kidnap all criminals in the town of Elemosina and release them in his game preserve. There, Prince Mondavi hunted them down like animals, skewering them all on his blade. This is the only form of hunting that still provides Alcide with any sense of accomplishment now, seeing the eyes of a man who knows he is about to die, that he is nothing more than an animal. The predators of the mountain are now mere concealment for Alcide's games, having developed a taste for human flesh given all the bodies he leaves for them.

More recently, Prince Mondavi's ambitions have expanded. He is no longer content with private murders - he wants Vodacce to be pushed to violence. He and his agents have begun heightening tensions between the other Princes, using his rice exports to hire loyal and bloodthirsty Eisen mercenaries and bribe ruthless Inquisitors. If his plan succeeds, he will provoke a Vodacce civil war, growing rich by selling food to both sides and then unleashing his allies on the exhausted survivors. He will drown the land in blood...and if that brings him the crown of a king, well, so much the better. Alcide Mondavi is a man with few pretensions to fashion. He is never ugly, he's just plain and utilitarian. He carries himself with a bored aloofness and has little time for society. Few outside of his closest associates - he has no friends - know of the monstrosity that lurks beneath the surface, and those that find out usually get sent to the hunting lodge as prey.

So, that sidebar. Not all of the Princes are dyed-in-the-wool Villains like Mondavi. Some can even be said to be heroic. Others, less so. Gespucci Bernoulli is a wealthy man of grand excess, and a ruthless leader who believes that the first thing to do when threatened is put on a show of force. Vincenzo Caligari is a spy and a smuggler, obsessed with Syrneth artifacts. Many argue that he is no longer a man at all, thanks to his mad obsession. Giovanni Villanova is pragmatic, ruthless and publically merciless, the wolf that the other Princes throw their foes to when they lack the stomach for personal cruelty. He is also one of the biggest threats to the other Princes. On the other hand, some of the Princes will not go to the same extremes, and do not generally abuse their power. Donello Falisci is a happy if somewhat alcoholic man, and while he deals in secrets, he's more likely to pick and choose what he sells and to who rather than just freely dealing in them. Michele Lucani is an honorable man, who refuses to force his wife and daughters to use their power and instead works with them as partners. Alessandro Vestini is the weakest Prince, even if his lands are rich. His wife actually runs his territory, and women have made huge strides in his lands while he pretends to ignorance about what forms of knowledge they pursue under his rule. More on them will be covered in locations.

Anacleto di Rinascita is the Bibliothecarius and keeper of the library within the tower of L'Edificio, able to discuss nearly any topic at the highest level. He is an attentive listener and has helped many to solve the riddles of artifacts and relics as long as he is allowed to document anything discovered for L'Edificio's collection. He has been approached several times by the Invisible College, but has always refused membership. He is a devout Vaticine, and while he finds the recent anti-intellectual bent of the Church repugnant, he sees it as the inevitable influence of Castillian prurience. Even so, he will not associate with those denounced by the Church, not matter how sympathetic he finds their cause. The aging scholar is currently frustrated by only two topics: the origin of the Syrneth ruins and the nature of divinity. The many accounts of complex traps, inhuman architecture and strange materials in the ruins suggest they lie outside Theus' plan, and the artifacts hoarded by the Caligaris seem to have no place in human history. They seem to be something parallel and separate, devised by inhuman minds for inhuman hands. Anacleto's pursuit of the topic has drawn him closer to Prince Caligari, who is 30 years his senior but has the strength and power of a man 10 years his junior. As for the nature of divinity, reports of heathen gods walking the land of Aztlan in the New World has shaken Anacleto to his core. If tangible yet numinous beings exist across the sea, by what logic can their existence, past or present, be ruled out in Theah? The deeper he searches, the more sacrifices he and his fellow scholars must make to solve these mysteries, and he worries that he and the Eruditi, his order of librarians, have tainted their souls. Anacleto is a round, portly man with a fatherly demeanor. He tends to make a lot of analogies to help explain his thoughts to laymen, and will often interrupt high profile lectures to deal with earthly problems. He is a very knowledgeable man, and he adores discussing Aztlan and the Syrne, looking to gain any extra details he can from travelers. He will happily barter his own knowledge for it.

Desiderata, Mistress of La Passione, is the most famous courtesan in Vodacce. She runs the Vestini family courtesan academy, but has no relation to their family. In fact, shockingly little is known of her past at all, and she casually deflects all inquiries with charm. She showed up at La Passione as a girl, paid her tuition with a sack of gold and gems, and grew into a very handsome lady. While she was much pursued, she was never quite able to conceal her contempt for the loudmouthed nobles...which made them pursue her all the more, and she quickly began extracting favors and money from them. She used those favors to secure the independence of La Passione, and a brief dalliance with young Prince Marco Vestini established that the school would exist in perpetuity, safe from the Princes, while a night with a Cardinal earned it a writ of exemption from Church persecution. When the school's headmistress grew too weak to lead, Desiderata was chosen as her successor despite her youth. Since then, she has spent most of her time fucking with the double standards of Vodacce. She has openly taken both male and female lovers and refused to punish her students for doing likewise. When one of her students was found with a Lucani nobleman's wife, she performed only a brief inquiry into the wife's situation, and on finding that the woman had paid for her time, she simply told the noble that he should either satisfy his wife or reduce her allowance. She's modified La Passione's curriculum to include self-defense classes, shooting and physical fitness. She's even drawn the ire of the Duelists' Guild by teaching her students an unlicensed knife fighting style that uses an easily concealed stiletto to attack the neck, abdomen and groin. She often leads her students in handing out food to the poor and indigent people of gutted Bassifondi, and has often offered precocious slum girls scholarships to La Passione. Many believe she hails from the area herself. Desiderata is, unsurprisingly, a ranking member of Sophia's Daughters, and shockingly sincere in her actions and convictions. Among those she distrusts, she is charming, diverting serious conversations to discuss irrelevancies and trivial matters, but among her trusted friends she is a plainspoken, goal-oriented and ruthless woman.

Marcelo, il Pazzo di Potenza, is a fixture of the city of Potenza for as long as any can recall. His ravings outside of the gates of Prince Bernoulli's palace have earned him the name il Pazzo, the Madman, and he certainly looks the part, with his lank hair and bunions on his bare feet. There are many stories of his rise and fall. Some claim he was a Bernoulli cousin, tortured and broken for some hideous crime. Others say he was a somozzatore, a frogman, who found something under the city so terrible that it shattered his mind. The colonelli, or merchants, say that he was cursed by a vengeful strega. He spends most of his days ranting and raving and speaking in tongues, but sometimes he is clear and concise. Sometimes he speaks of the past, of the feeling of his daughter's hair in his fingers, the sunset along his favorite canal or the smell of his wife's perfume. Other times, he speaks prophecy. Either way, these moments of clarity are always shocking. His oracular moments have seen him consulted by ship captains before voyages, city fathers and guild leaders over matters of business, locals seeking the answers to petty conflicts. It'd be hilarious if folks didn't keep swearing his advice had saved the city on several occasions. Popular agreement has made three forbidden topics of inquiry with Marcelo: the Bernoullis, Syrneth artifacts and where his powers came from. Anyone mentioning any of these three things in his presence sends Marcelo into a catatonic state for days or triggers a howling fit in which he attacks anyone that disturbs him. In either case his madness renders him utterly useless at best or even dangerous at worst. He's not actually very old, despite his gray and scraggly hair - he's just aged beyond his years. He sounds friendly and reasonable even when ranting incoherently. Whatever caused his condition makes him see all possible futures simultaneously, and the terrible strain of this ability, especially in Vodacce, where fate is a plaything of the streghe, cost him his family, his job and his sense of self. He desperately wants to get his old life back, but no one seems to notice his pleas, hidden in his madness.

Next time: HELL ITALIANS

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Crimedoers

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Crimedoers

Ippolito Malandrino is Vodacce's most famous outlaw. Just ask him. He is a hired killer, pirate and bandit who travelers across Vodacce by land and sea. He cares not for politics - he'll work for anyone, and prefers pedestrian crimes like armed robbery and kidnapping. He is also a tireless self-promoter who hires children to spread tales of his villainy, to make his victims more likely to listen to him. He's been known to let his horse, Bucefalo, go hungry if it means getting a more stylish cloak. Many wonder why the Princes allow him to keep operating, perhaps due to him having some kind of arrangement. More romantic folks say that one of the Princes slew his lover when the man would not betray Malandrino, and that death broke Ippolito utterly, blinded by rage and beginning a quest for vengeance. These rumors never specify which Prince, however, or name the lover, or say when it happened, and given Malandrino's penchant for self-aggrandizement, they aren't the most truthy rumors...probably. Certainly he is an elegant man who is quite charming, able to play the dashing rogue, the grieving lover and the anti-hero with equal ease, depending on which is most useful to him. At his core, he is very selfish, a hedonist who cares about his own pleasure of all else.

Mother Superior Teofila di Tamamello is a courteous, friendly woman who runs the abbey of St. Dorothy in Agony. She welcomes all women who come with a good heart, and the nunnery has thus been used by many families to offload daughters that refused to play by the Vodacce societal rules. She has done a lot to break down barriers in this eclectic mix of women, forging a community out of the abandoned and the scorned. This stems from her childhood in Tamamello, a border town in the northwest, where she saw brave women of the Commonwealth fighting and preaching against war, and resolved to bring the same to her own nation. She joined the holy orders at a young age, to gain some privacy and protection for her work. She is dangerously progressive by Vaticine standards, and was sent to the crumbling church of St. Dorothy in Agony to put her in her place. Instead, she began bringing in the unwanted women and dedicating them to the church, and even the most conservative priest couldn't deny the good in that. Within, she educates her charges to a grueling standard, using even the parts of the Vaticine curriculum currently out of favor. She has deliberately made the work too hard for any one woman, forcing her girls to form strong bonds over study groups and offset each other's strengths and weaknesses. She now has a dilemma, however. Her relationship with Donello Falisci has brought temptations and divided loyalties. His donations have gotten the best materials and food for the church, which is nice, but some of her wards, especially the noble ones, long for the creature comforts of nobility still. She's trying to distance herself from Falisci without pissing him off. While she is warm and courteous, neither hide her massive intellect. Despite her age, she is expert at spotting deception and insincerity, and exudes calming authority. She is a levelheaded and decisive member of Sophia's Daughters.

Orlando Rabbioso appeared one night in Corantine of 1666, naked as a jaybird and wielding a blade, fighting the town guard of Baccante. He managed to do well, but came to his wits as the moon rose, and the guards tackled him and sent him into the river. In the ensuing interrogation, the man claimed with deep conviction to be...well, impossible. He had a thick Montaigne accent and claimed his last memory was holding a pass in the mountains near Buche against Castillian forces, who had cut him off from the army. His archaic, stilted speech appeared to support his claim to be the famous chevalier of Montaigne myth that singlehandedly held off a Crescent army until reinforcements could arrive, but that would mean he'd be centuries old at the least. Prince Falisci declared him a harmless eccentric and let him go. He was apparently immune to all Sorte, and he began appearing in times of need to help people, fighting with such skill and passion that they began to call him 'Rabbioso' - the furious. His work is not always welcome, but always comes from his sincere conviction that he is a legendary knight-errant charged to protect the poor and helpless from the honorless and tyrannical. At one point he attacked a wedding party because he believed the bride was coerced. This has made him very unwelcome in parts of Vodacce, and Villanova has a bounty on his head. The Mondavi and Caligari tolerate him only because he hasn't done a thing to them yet. However, the common folk love Orlando, the first champion they've really had in decades. He seems to have stepped straight from a storybook, a caricature of an ancient knight. Whatever he really is, he truly believes himself to be the chevalier of legend, his accent is atrocious, and he is absolutely and completely honorable. And it is actually somewhat possible that a Syrneth relic did snatch the original Orlando out of time and drop him here, if somewhat unlikely unless the GM really likes that hook.

Vittorio Ribaldi is one of the most active men in Vodacce. Born to a poor family in the ghettos of Potenza, he took to sea young and made his way to captain of a barque. He has lived a life of adventure since, working as a smuggler and blockade runner. His illegal cargos of food and medicine brought hope to the Eisen peasants in the War of the Cross and the Castillian partisans in the Montaigne invasion. When the Inquisition got rolling, he and his crew seized an Inquisitor's caravel and delivered the so-called heretics safely to Vodacce. When the Church could no longer ignore him, Vittorio and his crew took their captured ship, renamed La Fortuna, to Aztlan. There, he claims to have been shipwrecked, fought in a failed uprising against the Empress of Runakuna, beaten an Eagle Templar of Nahuacan in single combat and took his weapon and cloak before marrying a Tzak K'an princess. And certainly he did come home with an Aztlani wife, who goes by Allegria and does her best to keep up with their three kids, none of whom have any sense of danger. Other stories speak of Vittorio's travels to Cathay and the Crescent Empire. If the tales are true or not...well, either way, Ribaldi tells them quite well and has a major following. When asked why he has retired to the mountain town Fontaine, he refuses to answer. He is a middle-aged man with a grand silver beard and a tendency to wear an Aztlani poncho and carry a macuahuitl. He tends to sprinkle his tales with political lessons and hints about the ability of the brave to change the world, as he is in fact a member of a Rilasciare scell. He plays the role of incorrigible old flirt until his cell has vetted a recruit well enough for him to reveal his true allegiance.

Ronan Lehane is Inish, the son of a lighthouse keeper and a half-Montaigne. His fencing skill was enough to get him into a Valroux dueling academy, and he spent much of his early life as a hired blade...until he met the playwright Edward Cranna (or possibly Armistead? The book can't decide), who needed a leading man for his play, The King of Blades. Edward recruited Ronan for his mastery, and the swordsman fell in love with the stage, and also his leading lady, Lenora of the Marchers. The pair soon married, and Ronan solidified his role as the best at being a hero on the stage. His career ended abruptly, however, when in the final act of a Vodacce tragedy, a masked actor stabbed Lenora and killed her on stage. Ronan was unable to catch the killer, and he left the troupe to keep trying. He eventually tracked the killer to Vodacce, a woman who claimed that Prince Mondavi had hired her to kill Lenora and get Ronan to come to him. She didn't know why, and she'd been working the gig for two years before she struck. Now, Ronan is seeking Mondavi, hoping to untangle the plot and find out what makes him so important. In his youth, he was a happy, flamboyant fellow, but now he is quiet and driven. His old self peeks out sometimes, but never long, due to his grief and his need for vengeance. He doesn't much like Vodacce and he absolutely hates Mondavi and his followers.

Gregorio Zambelli is a name feared and hated in Caligari lands. He is the chief assassin of Prince Caligari. Sometimes he just shows up to get an artifact or steal from a vault, sure, but more often he is a spy and killer, ensuring the loyalty of Caligari's lessers. He is a mystery to all, and keeps his own secrets - the foremost of which is that he was born Lucrezia Constantina Iolande, a daughter of a courtesan family. He always struggled at that life, more interested in tales of Vodacce bravos and daring fencers. Lucrezia was trained as a courtesan, but always wondered why the simulations never ended in 'and then you save the other woman from the villain and run off together with his money.' Lucrezia ran away from home young, inventing the Gregorio identity after stealing a sword and self-teaching fencing. Gregorio could go where Lucrezia could not, could learn to read. It wasn't an easy life, but after a few well-done kills using his Lucrezia identity to lure in victims, he earned a reputation. He soon got hired by Prince Caligari, and there he remains...though if Caligari knew the truth, he might not be so trusting or kind to Gregorio. Gregorio is utterly loyal, as his current life depends entirely on Caligari's favor, and he will do nothing that disrupts that. The book uses 'she' when discussing Lucrezia and 'he' for everything else, so...I think he identifies as male but is more fluid than you might expect?

Secret societies! Most Vodacce pirates are not in the Brotherhood, and they have no allies in Vodacce waters, as the princes and local pirates both resent them. Generally, they stick to the Widow's Sea, though some have been known to smuggle Fate Witches for the Daughters. That's individual cases, though, not policy. Die Kreuzritter exist largely on the fringes of Vodacce civilization, and they mostly come there looking for lost dracheneisen brought south or gathering information on monster attacks. Some Vodacce members push to have all streghe declared dark sorcerers, but the others of the group resist this. It is unclear how this will impact the work of Sophia's Daughters as yet. The Explorer's Society would love to be more active in Vodacce, and has chapterhouses in Potenza and Baccante. They'd love to be in Caligari lands, too, but the Prince has refused them, and all attempts to find what he does with his artifacts have ended in tragedy. The Princes occasionally press them for artifacts or information to pay their rent, and the heads of both chapterhouses have gotten very good at stalling and giving up the minimum required, but it's a full-time job doing it. The Invisible College have selected the town of Serafino as a hiding spot, in the lands of Giovanni Villanova. This is largely because Villanova has sworn to destroy any agents, temporal or religious, who interfere with his work, and the city also has a major university that he helps fund. Plus, the local (and notorious) black market is good for getting new identities or rare reagents to study. However, it hasn't worked out quite the way they intended...

Specifically, while most scholars just picked up a new identity and left Serafino, a few chose to stay, finding the lack of moral or ethical constraints...freeing. They devoted themselves to the higher mysteries and named themselves the Philosophi Sanguinis, the philosophers of blood, and began to dabble in the occult - sorcery, monsters and grisly artifacts. Prince Villanova enthusiastically supports their work, funding their projects as long as they share what they learn with him. For most people in the area, they have been nothing but a benefit; their work far exceeds what's come out of Castille since the Inquisition got to work. If their methods are unethical...well, you don't hear commoners complain if it improves their lives. And it certainly has - an Eisen scholar by the name of Rehor Heinzdorf has recently developed a rough theory of heredity, and his work in hybridization has increased crop yields. Plus, medical research in Serafino has allowed previous untreatable conditions to be managed or prevented, and infant mortality has dropped massively.

Now, Herr Doktor Heinzdorf has a new focus. He's noticed that sorcery often follows bloodlines, and wants to understand that relationship. If sorcery is a disease of the blood, he could then cure it, freeing Vodacce's noblewomen from slavery. As to how Prince Villanova would use such a 'cure,' well, you can figure that out yourself. The Philosophi Sanguinis have also begun to interfere with the work of both die Kreuzritter and Sophia's Daughters in order to acquire sorcerers for study. If, for some reason, you wanted to be a member, they care mostly about natural science and discovery, including taboo subjects. Delivering a forbidden reagent, dangerous artifact or unnatural creature for study would be worth 4 Favor, and smuggling a fugitive scholar into Vodacce would be worth 5. You would be able to get a new identity for yourself or any Invisible College member for 3 Favor, and get access to a forbidden discovery for 10 Favor. Such things include poisons made out of monster, artifacts able to unleash terrible curses or other dramatic, corrupting objects to be called on only in direst need. Whatever it is, it's one use only and they'll want a full report on its effects.

The Knights of the Rose and Cross had a chapterhouse in Vodacce a generation ago, but everyone inside it was poisoned and killed. Rumors say a few nobles still number among their benefactors, but they prefer to stay out of Vodacce in general. They aren't forbidden to go there or to act as their code demands of them there, they're just told that they won't be welcomed and may wish to remain covert. Los Vagabundos do not operate openly, but do operate, often hiding among the Castillian population of L'Aquila when they need to lie low. Donations from the L'Aquila Castillians are an important source of funding for them, and so they often look the other way for smugglers. Mociutes Skara are active in the north, helping to blunt the impacts still felt from the War of the Cross. They own a large manse in Fontaine, used for shipping goods to Eisen and beyond. They are friendly with Prince Vestini, who is aware that without their work, he'd be overrun with refugees. The Rilasciare are heavily persecuted, living in the margins. They are deeply influenced by Sarmatian thought and want to expand the rights of commoners, weaken Sorte's influence and weaken the Princes. They often envision a republic, similar to the old Numanari democracies. Publicaly exposing a Prince's agent is worth 3 Favor, typically via soapbox shouting, pamphleteering or whisper campaigns, and humiliating or thwarting a Prince is worth 5, though this need not be public. You may spend 6 Favor to cause a major disturbance, such as a bread riot to draw off guards or a demonstration to clog the streets. The Rilasciare are extremely popular among the Vodacce common folk (and no small number of intellectuals). However, one should be careful - these acts often invite retribution onto the people.

Sophia's Daughters are focused deeply on Vodacce...and, within its borders, split into two camps. The first, led by Desiderata, says that women must seize their rights by force if necessary. Thus, they work to train women in armed and unarmed combat, shooting, physical conditioning and so on. Their dreams of insurrection are opposed by Teofila di Tamamello, who believes that the cause of women can be advanced without total chaos and war. To that end, she focuses on spreading knowledge of politics, history and law, to reform the nation. She intends to found a school for young nobles within the church, hoping that early exposure to talented and intelligent women will shape their beliefs and sympathies. Neither side has overcome or convinced the other, and each is supported by one of the two founders of the Daughters. Juliette favors Desiderata, who taught her, and believes that only force will prevail against men like Giovanni Villanova. Valentina supports Teofila, because she believes open rebellion will lead to the deaths of thousands of innocent women at the hands of their husbands and lovers, which is not a cost she is yet willing to spend. While the identities and relationships of those at the head of the factions are largely unknown to the rank and file, the disagreement is not, and most Daughters favor one or the other side.

Favor with Desiderata's Daughters and Teofila's are tracked separately. You can earn 2 Favor with Desiderata by defending Vodacce women from violence or oppression by men, or 3 if the defense involves a violent message for the man. you may spend 4 Favor to gain a Strength 10 Brute Squad, per the Rilasciare rules, made of masked Daughters. Unlike a Rilasciare squad, they be given specific and detailed instructions, and for 2 more Favor, may have a single Brute Squad type and ability, which you may activate with Hero Points. They remain for one scene or until defeated. You can earn 2 Favor with Teofila's faction if you help the downtrodden, or 3 if they are women. Such aid must be nonviolent. You may spend 4+ Favor to call on a fellow Daughter, with all Traits at 3 and one Skill (that is not Aim, Brawl or Weaponry) at 3, plus one rank in that skill per 3 additional Favor spent, or plus one more skill at 3 per 2 additional Favor spent. You cannot get both increased skill and extra skills, however. The agent will aid you for one scene.

Next time: Places.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Island Nations

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Island Nations

The lands of Prince Gespucci Bernoulli mostly run along the eastern coast of Vodacce. They are protected from land forces by swamps, mountains and shallow coastal waters, but they depend on the sea to survive. The cities that have sworn to him are Pioto, Porto Spatia and Saint Andrea, as well as the town of Orduno, whose name is either from Lake Orduno nearby (according to Prince Bernoulli) or a lost bet with a Castillian admiral (according to the locals). The first and greatest of his holdings, however, is the island Potenza, at the mouth of Lake Rosa, which controls all sea trade to Caligari and Falisci lands. The ability to tax their trade and the Bernoulli exclusive license to trade with the Crescents has made Potenza wealthy beyond measure. It is one of the oldest cities in Vodacce, and as it grew from a simple island hamlet, the architecture of the city changed as well. In the ancient center, the streets are cramped and twisty, while further out they are grand boulevards. A hill over the harbor once held a fortress, but now it holds the Bernoulli manse. The manse is an immense creation of white marble, gilding and frescoes, showing off the Bernoulli wealth. However, it is also armed just as heavily as the fortress it was built on top of. In Gespucci's lifetime, no enemy has ever withstood its cannon fire.

Most of Potenza's wealth is from its crafters, called colonelli in the local dialect. This is most apparent in its secretive guild of shipwrights, who operate out of an artificial lagoon behind 30-foot walls, always patrolled by armed guards. They can make a barque in a day or a carrack in a week, and their complex, called il Arsenale, has been very difficult to infiltrate. Most know that membership is hereditary and permanent, and the guild forbids marriage outside its ranks. Within the complex is a huge longhouse made in the shape of an upturned hull. It is called il Bastimiento, and it serves as the guild workshop for all parts of a ship. Work surfaces use the cantilevered decks, with a system of tracks and pulleys to move pieces up, down, fore and aft. If you don't want to wait for one of the traveling platforms, it is common to just swing between the rigging ropes that make the system work. Daylight comes in through large portholes, reflected by mirrors to move it to anywhere it is needed for lighting. At night, chandeliers are lit and meals and celebrations happen.

The outlying districts are known as Gli Ghetti, the ghettos. In 900, the city's population began to run out of island space, and so land was constructed, built out with lumber from the mainland on thousands of wooden pilings sunk into the bay, with stone platforms on top of them. These were used as the foundations of homes, piazzas and more, and the time, salt and dirt of the waters have turned the pilings into something closer to stone than wood. The outlying ghettos are architectural wonders, with streets of water, navigated by single-oared boats. Flooding is frequent, even in wealthy homes, and the people have just gotten used to occasionally having to wade through their own living rooms. Inevitably, some parts of the ghettos fall into the bay every so often. War, storms and earthquakes account for that. These are rarely cleared out - people just build on top of the fallen pieces instead.

Thus was born la Citta Sommersa, the Drowned City. Divers, called somozzatori or frogmen, swim under Potenza, navigating the pilings in search of fallen treasure. Among the young poor, it is common to goad each other to acts of greater daring and longer trips under the city. It is, of course, an extremely dangerous activity. There is essentially no light down there, and you must navigate by touch and memory. The locations of air pockets are closely guarded secrets, as overuse makes them bubbles of death, rarely replenished if ever. It doesn't help that the waters under the city are treated as a dump for everything from sewage to bodies. This is extremely unsanitary, and also pulls in squid, sharks and worse. While there is much wealth to be had under the city, and many sommozatori do become rich, many others die, never returning from their trips beneath.

The biggest, oldest and most beloved festival each year in Potenza is Carnivale. Some say it dates back to the triumph of a Prince over rivals, others to some religious event connected to the First Prophet, others that it was originally a pagan rite. No one actually remembers the truth, and the truth doesn't matter - everyone takes part. All winter, each person works to produce an extravagant costume for Carnivale. Custom and tradition say you must make your own, but more recently, the wealthy hire tailors to do it for them. Doing so is quite scandalous, however, for it goes against the key spirits of Carnivale: equality and anonymity. Anonymity is provided by the secretive colonelli guild of mask-makers, called the mascherari. They stand on street corners wearing fine masks, and can be approached to schedule a home appointment. These appointments are always attended by a mascherari wearing a different mask, though sometimes it's the same person. Once the details are decided, they make and deliver the mask in a locked box. Occasionally, they will give a poor person a far, far finer mask than they can actually afford, to better confuse the issue of class, though they would never make a substandard mask for a rich person. Because of this, only the mascherari can identify the revelers, which makes them extremely powerful. The licentious festivities mean they end up knowing many secrets and shames of the wealthy, which they aren't shy about using to protect their business or advance their goals. During Carnivale, anyone may approach anyone else. The secrecy of the costumes ensures equality of status, with all that matters being the skill of your costuming. All may behave exactly as they desire, and drunkenness and sex are very common, as are pranks. Those who do not take part in the festivities are often thrown into the canals, and even Fate Witches may take part, exchanging their translucent lace veils for fully concealing black silk.

Prince Donello Falisci owns the banks of the Fiume di Vino, from the mountain source north of Sedilo to the mouth on the shore of Lake Rosa. While Vaticine records say its name is Fiume Divino, the River of God, everyone else agrees it is the River of Wine. The grapes grown in Falisci lands are why they are the wealthiest estates in Theah. Falisci wine is so good that lesser nobles have gone bankrupt to buy but one bottle, and even the best courts consider their cellars worthless if they don't have a few of them. Baccante is the chief Falisci city, and it is the Vodacce people imagine exists - rolling hills, olive groves, vineyards. Its wine is famous, and even the worst table wine in all of Baccante is leagues above its equivalent elsewhere. Not that wine is their only export - just the most famous. Baccante does a fair amount of general trade, given its location on a major river. It ships ores from the mountains on down to the sea, for example. Prince Falisci is proud of his lands being open, and he gives excellent price breaks for import and export as long as you do your business in Baccante, making its market one of the best in the region.

This is all because Baccante is a carefully constructed illusion. Prince Falisci may be gentler in his schemes than the others, but he is still a skilled player of the Great Game. Powerful people, lulled by wine and gentle river air, are prone to saying things they shouldn't, and the city is full of Falisci informants. Baccante's carefully maintained appearance has been the work of decades, and the highly skilled bureaucrats that run the city know exactly who pays their wages and where they owe their allegiance. Their warmth and courtesy is an actor's, not a friend's. By making the city appear neutral, by caring for public safety, sanitation and trade, the Faliscis have made themselves a clearinghouse of intelligence from across the continent. The other Princes know the risks of visiting, but also its value. Where else can you catch up on intrigue and gossip from across Theah?

In the ancient Numanari catacombs under Baccante, you can find the city's worst-kept secret: Il Bugiardo, the favored drinking establishment of expats and spies, built into the ossuary itself. It is run by Lelio, an exile from Potenza, who is famous for his many outlandish lies, many of which have a kernel of truth. They're like puzzles to be solved, and those that manage it are usually quite proud of doing so. He, meanwhile, just likes telling stories. Within il Bugiardo, combat is strictly forbidden, as Lelio says it disturbs the dead, whom he is responsible for. Those that disregard this policy often disappear in the catacombs.

While Baccante is the most visible Falisci city, it is not the center of their power. That is La Vigna, half a day north of Baccante. The compound there contains ruins that date back to the Old Empire, tastefully integrated into the modern buildings. The Falisci are masters of entertainment, and even the favorites of Charouse covet an invitation to a La Vigna gala. Their wealth fuels things like wine fountains, the greatest courtesans, delicacies from across the continent and more, all for the select few. Favors are exchanged, treaties brokered. It was here at La Vigna that Morella Giacinni's marriage to Leon Alexandre was formed. The entire villa is set up to facilitate dealmaking and conversation, with many private areas. For things that Prince Falisci considers of great importance, he will invite guests for a tour of his cellars, to sample rare vintages. This is an honor rarely given, and almost always results in the parties involved making a deal (and getting quite drunk).

Between the two cities, one can find the Postumi, 'the hangover,' as the Church of Saint Dorothy in Agony is commonly known. It was built a generation ago to house dishonored women, and quickly became a dumping ground for those who failed to measure up to Vodacce ideas of womanhood. Here, noble and common woman could mix freely, and gain a Vaticine education. The church always claimed they read the lessons to the girls, but if any were caught reading, well, no one who cared was around. Prince Falisci, when he took his family's crown, soon realized the women were among the smartest people he'd ever met. He stayed for some time, discussing theology and history with them, and began to visit frequently. After a few years, the Mother Superior suggested formalizing things, and the Falisci clerks brought over reams of business documents, contracts and even some of their less sensitive diplomatic letters. The analysis of the church women astounded Prince Falisci, as they discovered several merchants cheating the family and even found troubling inconsistences in reports from people considered close allies. The nickname Postumi comes from the clarity and pain that these reports brought. Donello has begun soliciting their opinions on more sensitive topics, even recruiting some of the women as his agents. The relationship has continued to deepen, with the Faliscis providing the women with all their material needs and valuing their input.

Next time: Villanova

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - MY NAME IS VILLAINOVA I AM EVIL

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - MY NAME IS VILLAINOVA I AM EVIL

The Villanovas are used as bogeyman across Vodacce, and invoked to ward off lesser evils, particularly Prince Giovanni Villanova. They are utterly ruthless, pragmatic and amoral. Their lands make up the tail of the peninsula, between the mountains and the sea. Their main city is Serafino, which appears at first glance to be a paradise. It has a deep natural harbor, fertile land for miles around, lovely mountains in the distance. Its architecture is graceful and highly vertical. However, it is not a trading or craft hub in the traditional sense. Rather, it is a thriving black market city, dealing in exotic poisons, unusual weapons and stolen goods. It's not even really illicit, given the Villanova approach to law. Murder, drug possession, poisoning - these aren't really crimes in Villanova lands. What'll get you imprisoned and beheaded is tax evasion or disrespect to nobles.

L'Universita dei Serafini is where the real treasure is, however. Rumors say the doctors there vivisect people to learn more about the body, and whether that's so or not, they are certainly on the cutting edge of medicine, often literally. Their students claim to have cured side sickness by careful surgery, and others have claimed advances against typhus, cholera and even white plague. There is the dark side, though - not one of the students or faculty swears to do no harm. Whenever a new poison or chemical interests the Villanovas, they have the university test it. Typically, this means grabbing a prisoner, sending them over, and subjecting them to tests. If the prisoner survives, their sentence is halved. If not...oh well. Sure, not all of their work is sinister experimentation on humans. They also perform quite standard chemistry to create medicines. Of course, these experimental medicines are then used in live human testing, but hey, any chance to cure a life-threatening illness is worth the risk, right? At least, that's what the faculty say. They are also one of the only institutions at present that performs post-mortem dissection of human bodies to learn more about organs and body systems.

The lands of Prince Vincenzo Caligari cover the fertile eastern shore of Lake Rosa and the mountains south of Porto Spatia, which forces essentially all of their trade to go through Bernoulli. This has made the Caligaris expert blockade runners and smugglers, which only fuels their artifact trade. The mountains end up producing a lot of rain over Caligari lands, giving rise to il Bosco Grigio, the Gray Wood. This actually refers to two forests. The first is beech, chestnut and oak west of the mountains, near the city of Rinascita. While the Caligaris maintain all hunting rights there, citizens may explore the wood and gather anything fallen from the trees freely, particularly deadwood. This has prevented much undergrowth over the years, so the western forest is quite airy and open, favored by young lovers and those that wish to talk in private. It is also where Prince Caligari keeps his store of Syrneth artifacts, within a mausoleum deep in the wood that has a door that is reputed to be solid dracheneisen. Its locking mechanism is clearly Syrne in nature, regardless of its makeup, and only the Prince ever enters it.

The other forest, on the eastern side, is evergreen - pine, fir and spruce, mainly. Clouds and fog linger there, making it feel haunted. As the mountains reach the sea, they drop off to sheer cliffs and granite sea stacks. This is the realm of the Longona, the legendary beautiful goat-women of the peninsula. Local folklore claims that any man that can convince a Longona to marry him will have prosperity for three generations, and a few sailors tend to die each year trying to find the goat-women. Whether they even exist or not is a matter of some debate locally, and it certainly doesn't help that wrecker groups work the coast, luring in ships with false signals. Once they smash the ships and kill the crew, they scavenge the cargo that washes ashore. The people of Rinascita claim that the lingering fogs are the souls of the drowned, awaiting the call of Theus or Legion. Few spend time in the haunted wood, fearing the dead, and so it is an ideal camp for bandits...which just makes the wood even more dangerous.

Rinascita is both awe-inspiring and oppressive. It is made mostly of dark granite from the nearby mountains, and while it towers over the land, it has a dark, bleak feeling to it. Most of city life actually happens outside the walls, with the main market lying just outside the city gates. The interior's cyclopean architecture give it a sense of emptiness even in the busiest times, and it is famous through the continent as a place of learning, especially about antiquarian sources, though it is not generally described as pleasant. The streets follow a clear if alien pattern, with long, arcing boulevards that connect seemingly random points, with few alleys given how the buildings seem to be stuffed in. The roads bend back on themselves in zig-zag patterns, which can make travel within the city frustrating. The locals are, at least, extremely friendly, largely because the most direct routes across the city involve going through other people's homes. Thus, they have developed a culture of hospitality and kindness, using human touches to offset the confusing, somewhat alien architecture and empty streets. Within the buildings, shared wine and meals are common.

All of the twisting roads emanate out from the center of the city, where a huge tower of smooth stone exists. It is known just as L'Edificio, The Building. It is aligned to the cardinal directions and is over a hundred and fifty feet tall. It is also home to the largest collection of books on the entire continent. The complex is maintained by an order of librarians called the Eruditi, and they give Prince Caligari detailed information on all visitors. Their leader, Bibliothecarius Anacleto di Rinascita, is beloved by the people, happy to discuss anything from conspiracy theories to politics with anyone who wants it, noble or common, as well as helping other researchers, telling off novices and assisting visitors in navigating the library. The place has more works that date back to the Old Empire than even the Vaticine, and they've protected a number of 'heretical' books from the Inquisition, as well as protecting a number of texts on the occult that exist only within the library at this point, largely philosophical or theological in their bent. The collections contain books on just every subject, and they have been accused before of hoarding forbidden knowledge. Anacleto has commented that such complaints seem to largely emanate from Verdugo, who, quote, "never met a book he didn't want to burn." L'Edificio is open to everyone, but no book is permitted to leave its premises for any reason. Thus, many visiting scholars painstakingly copy important passages and sleep within the building itself while seeking knowledge.

Very few in Vodacce are sure what to make of the rise of the Lucanis. Three generations ago, the then-head of the family, Michele Lucani, was given a keep, land and wealth at the tip of the peninsula by the Villanovas. He claimed the title Prince. It is sometimes said to be in name only, but the past century has seen the Lucanis grow beyond mere jokes. Still, as new arrivals and near-vassals of the Villanovas, the Lucani have struggled to assert themselves and are protected largely by a network of advantageous marriages. The current Prince, Michele Lucani (after his grandfather), has made the biggest strides towards legitimizing the family's claim to rule by power.

The family's prime claim to nobility is their long occupation of the city of L'Aquila, once a port of the Old Empire. From there, the Lucani ships patrol the Vaticine Gulf for pirates and trade along the shipping lanes of the Widow's Sea. Their claims are bolstered by the family's inarguably powerful streghe, whose mastery of Sorte is unrivaled. L'Aquila is full of Numanari ruins, and many of its structures are equally old. As the empire faded, L'Aquila preserved a measure of its grandeur; the city guard even use the old legion barracks. The residents are fiercely proud of that legacy, and they're known for being honest and hardworking people. The city's main claim to fame beyond this is its textile industry, the best in Vodacce. The clothmakers, tailors and lacemakers of L'Aquila are famously fashionable. Their carpentry is no less skilled, and ornamental works from L'Aquila are common both in domestic settings and for ship figureheads, at quite high prices. They also produce semiprecious stones in the mountains nearby, and their ceramicists are famed for the rich clay they use. The city also has its own unique artform, opere di commessi, in which variously colored stones are inlaid on a slab to make intricate patterns. Masters of the art are rare and their prices are extremely high. Recently, the city's been flooded by Castillian immigrants, which has taxed their resources and brought an influx of Castillian culture. The locals and Castillians get along quite well, and trade with Castille has picked up as a result, at least.

In the center of the city is a huge circular ampitheater, dating back to the Old Empire. Il Anfiteatro, as it is called, was once home to gladiatorial bloodsport. Now, it is used for an idiosyncratic tradition of the city. Any man accused of a minor civil offense that threatens his reputation may demand trial by combat. If he wins or the accuser declines the challenge, the crime is expunged and forgotten. If he loses, he must abide by the arena's judgment. Combatants fight to surrender, or to the death if both sides agree to it. Most of the duels are young men fighting over women or people accused of petty theft. Serious crimes are generally rare in L'Aquila, and when they happen they are beyond the arena's remit. The Castillians have also introduced the tradition of el Baile del Toro, the bullfighting art. While the locals were initially repulsed by what they saw as elaborate murder of livestock, they've warmed to it after the goring of several would-be Vodacce toreros, which convinced them that the fight actually required much more skill than they'd initially believed. There's something happening in the ampitheater most weekends, with many coming to watch and bet. Even nobles attend sometimes.

The ancient baths of the city are also still extant and important. They are unrestricted by class or even gender, and are used as a place to socialize, do business and soak. No one is sure what keeps the hot water flowing, but it still works, whatever it is. The Lucani discourage exploration. The only area of the baths not open to the public is a small, secluded pool reserved for Fate Witches, one of the few places they can be unrestricted by chaperones. While eavesdropping on them may learn much, the prospect of pissing off a lot of witches generally keeps people from trying. The baths, called Le Terme dell'Imperatore, are one of the big reasons people like L'Aquila so much - they get to mix regardless of social class, free of the trappings of society, and it's made the city a friendlier place. A lot of higher-level business happens there, as it provides an excuse for people to mingle when they normally wouldn't, and so contracts are debated in principle while bathing and formalized later. While the Castillians still find the idea of mixed bathing rather licentious, getting over that somewhat has helped them integrate.

Deep below the city is a large natural cavern, carved out by the sea and tides: Il Sottomarino. The cavern system is riddled with passages, none of them accessible at high tide, and the natural harbor within can hold up to five large ships. It can only be reached by the Numanari Approach, and only a few know how to enter it in the first place. The Explorers, if they knew of it, would be crawling all over the place in search of artifacts; they do not, though the place is still littered with machinery of the Old Empire, some of which still works. The Old Empire used the cavern as storage space, aware of its limited access. When the Lucani found the place, undisturbed for centuries, they found neatly packed weapons, long-dissolved food and two dilapidated rowing ships. Now, they have repurposed the cavern, albeit with similar uses. It stores food, arms and ships, and the family has spent several years tunnelling from their estate into the cavern, for easy access in case the Villanova ever try to retake the land.

Next time: Mondavi and Vestini

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Italian Bread Basket

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Italian Bread Basket

The lands run by Prince Alcide Mondavi are quiet and sleepy, largely. They produce most of the crops made into food for the rest of the nation, particularly rice. It has made the Mondavi very, very rich, but the other princes tend to look down on them for being peasant-like. Prince Mondavi ignores the insult - he doesn't like society parties anyway. He has only one extravagance - La Montagna di Cacciatori, his hunting reserve that surrounds the only mountain in his lands. It is known as Hunter's Mountain, and is the remnant of an ancient volcano. The elite corps of game wardens make sure none of Mondavi's prey, animal or human, escapes the mountain. He has imported the white bears of Ussura, wolves from Eisen's Angenehme Wald and even a lion from the Crescents, though he found it to be poor sport in the cool climate. The deer on the mountain are usually enough for the local predators to survive winter, and the lower areas are trapped to keep any from escaping. Peasants avoid the place, thanks to all the dangerous beasts, and tend to be very generous with the wardens. Everyone takes great care never to speak about the occasional person going missing or coming out of the reserve with bullet or sword wounds, assuming they notice in the first place.

The primary city of Mondavi land is Elemosina, a small city on the Vaticine Gulf. It primarily works the rice trade, dealing mostly to Castille and Eisen these days. It's a valuable trade, but very boring. Most of the city's liveliness comes from foreign sailors bored of the lackadaisical attitudes of the locals. They often start brawls just to have something to do, and crews often bet on the outcomes. The city comes alive only on market days, when the locals display a passion and understanding of agricultural goods that outsiders often find baffling. The price of a bushel of rice often leads to arguments or even duels, though there is only one recorded death over crop prices - a duel over carrots in 1327. The victor's grave is an informal pilgrimage site for farmers before the market starts. The city has few indigents and little poverty. Prince Mondavi claims he has enough work for all, and he does indeed go out of his way to employ paupers and derelicts, which has earned him a charitable reputation. Even if he does prey on some of them instead.

Palazzo di Agitazione, the home of Prince Mondavi, is unusual for being within the city proper rather than an estate in the country. It is a vast, sprawling palace, but not an ideal one. It takes up nearly a fifth of the city's land, with 2143 windows, 1252 fireplaces and 67 staircases, plus gardens with 1800 fountains. Maintenance takes a small army, and it'd be impossible without the Mondavi wealth. However, the place's design seems to make Fate Witches uncomfortable, rendering them unable to use their powers in it, which makes it much safer for Prince Mondavi to have guests over. Few streghe ever visit twice, as the experience is deeply unpleasant. Prince Mondavi's wife, who is a powerful witch, has her own modest home distinctly away from the palazzo, and spends little time with her rather introverted husband in general. Apparently they do love each other, however, and they have three daughters. Prince Mondavi also makes an effort to consult his wife on all matters, trusting her completely.

The Vestini are the second-most-recent family to seize a principality. Their claims to nobility are somewhat dubious, as their women rarely have Sorte, and when they do it is weak. Free of the magic, however, Vestini noblewomen tend to be educated, often quite well. They may not (legally) read and write, but math only requires knowing numbers. Vestini women compete with witches for marriage by learning skills that a Fate witch will almost never possess. It is said that they do not need magic to run their husbands' lives - just a tally book, schedule and pen. Prince Alessandro Vestini isn't especially altruistic about this, though - his wife is one of the most intelligent women in Vodacce, and without her aid, his lands would have fallen to ruin long ago.

Pacatezza has always been the Vodacce hub for commerce in the Vaticine Gulf. It deals in goods coming down the rivers from Ussura, Eisen and Castille, giving it a cosmopolitan nature to add to its reputation for sophistication. Sailors love the place. It is famous for two things - its guilds and its women. Unlike L'Aquila, its guilds are epicureans - chefs, painters, sculptors, goldsmiths and jewelers, dedicated to the physical delights. Likewise, its courtesans are famous for their intellectual abilities and sophistication in and out of the bedroom. They are not cheap. Jennys come to the city from across Theah for the chance to attend a courtesan school in Pacatezza, hoping to gain sophistication and patrons while bringing something exotic and a little unknown. Not all make the cut, however, given how high the standards are.

La Passione is the most famous of the courtesan schools, built in a former church of the same name. The Vestini are famous for educating women far beyond other principalities - or, indeed, anywhere else in Theah, in some subjects. Many of the family's non-sorcerous women attend the school for a few years before going to find a husband. The Vestini neither deny nor exalt the sexual side - what people do in private, they say, is their own business. By educating women about sex and surrounding matters, the women become equipped to fend off brutes and recognize worthy husbands. While this still isn't the equality of women elsewhere, it's sights better than the lives of women elsewhere in Vodacce. In large part this is due to the headmistress, Desiderata, who encourages her students to learn martial skills as well, to ensure they can defend themselves. The school is also famous for the tradition of la Tarantella, the Dance of the Spiders. In this tradition, things are reversed - courtesans use pseudonyms but go unmasked, while their suitors and other guests must use the clothes, masks and manners of the courtesans. This is freeing for the courtesans and a sobering look at their lives for the other guests, who quickly learn how much work goes into having to constantly keep up interesting conversation.

Sadly, for all its loveliness, Pacatezza has a dark side. Local folklore claims the weak sorcery of the Vestini is not a failure of the blood, but the curse of a dying strega. Legend has it that an immensely powerful witch found a Vestini courtesan seducing her husband, became furious and tracked the man to their love nest, where she committed suicide and cursed the pair with her final breath. Whether this is true or not, the area it is believed to have happened has been abandoned for decades. Few residents will willingly live in the eastern quarter, called the Bassifondi, and it is largely home to indigents and criminals. Whether it's a curse or just urban blight, it is the first thing people see of the city when they come down the Vestini River - open sewers, collapsed buildings, rats. The only people who often frequent the area are La Passione's students, who come to distribute food and medicine. While this charity may seem out of character for Vodacce, not a single student or teacher of the school fears anything in the streets of the city.

Not all of Vodacce is controlled by a prince. Fontaine should, in theory. It sits on the Sejm in a fertile valley right next to rich mineral deposits. However, getting there is just too much trouble. The western mountains rise 10 to 14 thousand feet high, and there are few mountain passes. Plus, there's avalanches, wolves, bears and possibly undead. It's made the citizens of Fontaine far more rugged and self-reliant than the lowlanders, and the Great Game has little to do with their lives. They actually have radical suffrage, in which every adult, man or woman, votes for the mayor, whose few jobs include resolving disputes and ensuring public safety. The implicit challenge to the Princes that the town represents has been mostly ignored due to its small population and remote location. It is, however, a haven for those pursued by a Prince's men. Here, such outcasts can enjoy a life free of Vodacce politics, drinking Ussuran booze and talking Sarmatian political theory and Vaticine vs Objectionist theology. Aside from the iron mines, which bring out ore for Fontaine's exceptionally high quality steel, the mountains remain mostly unexplored. Rumors abound of Syrneth ruins above the snowline, but only one man has ever claimed to have found one, and he went mad shortly after and died of exposure, having torn the skin off his own face with a rock. Still, archaeologists and Caligari agents come through every so often. They return either empty-handed or...well, don't return.

Joppa was once ruled by the Joppa family, who rivaled the Vestini and Bernoulli in wealth. Now, the city is a monument to what happens if you lose in the Great Game. More than a century ago, their prince made a play to unite Vodacce under their rule, using alliances with the Lucani, Falisci and Villanova to undermine the other families and become emperor. However, Prince Villanova doublecrossed them and leaked their troop movements to the Vestini, who stopped them dead. In retribution, the other Princes sent armies to Joppa and overtook it, murdering the entire family or sending them into hiding. No one now claims the family name Joppa. Those who might have the right have long since severed all ties. Ruins dominate the city's old site. The city was largely undamaged by the attack, but most of its people moved to Five Sails or other parts of Vodacce. The ruins were overtaken by thieves and indigents, but they too left without work or merchants nearby. Now, a small enclave of Sarmatian merchantss have taken over the old estate, restoring and refurbishing it. These new homes serve as secret vacation homes, hidden within Vodacce yet untaxed by any prince. Few know of them, and the merchants plan to keep it that way. From the outside, the city looks empty and ruined, but deep in its heart, the estates light the night.

Next time: Sorte

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Witchy

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Witchy

Just about everyone in Vodacce fears a Fate Witch, even their husbands. However, every noble also craves their power. Strega exist in their own social stratum and identity, raised from birth to harness their power. They form a tight-knit community of sorceresses, teaching their power to the young and aiding the nobles. Most if not all noble families in Vodacce have Sorte somewhere, and sons of potent strega are often married off exclusively to other strega in order to keep the bloodlines strong. Fortunately, the practice is widespread enough to avoid inbreeding. The gift can lie dormant in male lines, who will still cite their sorcerous ancestry with pride. Generally speaking, a strega is identified at birth. Almost all of them bear il bacio de destino, the kiss of Fate - a red birthmark on the cheek or neck, typically either shaped roughly like a heart or lips. The birth of a new witch is often celebrated with lavish parties, and they are typically betrothed within months to cement alliances. This is one reason few would dare to attack even an untrained witch - you draw not just family retaliation, but their allies, too. Most strega are born to nobles, but any Vodacce girl has a chance of having the gift. The nobles find strega born to common families quickly, raising them as nobles in exchange for, usually, vast sums of money paid to their families.

Streghe raise younger sorceresses from birth in the rules of the sorcery. Girls born to nobles study under their mother, usually, while those of the lower classes study with the families they will marry into. The education includes etiquette and behavior, of course, and the men of the house frequently police it to ensure nothing forbidden is part of it. All training is by rote and experience, as literacy is forbidden. Streghe spend most of their lives isolated, learning only from each other how to handle the social structure of Vodacce. They are taught quickly how potent their power is, and their real training begins at age 10, when they receive their first deck. This deck contains only the Lesser Cards, which are used to learn how to read the Weave. By the age of 12, when they begin practical training in other Tesse, they must have a strong grasp of the Lesser Cards and may begin incorporating Greater Cards, starting with those that resonate most with them.

Upon mastery of the basic deck, a strega may begin to learn Tesse. While they will study all four Weaves in time, they may choose which to start with. Most tend to begin with the Arcana Tesse, which is the most common of all four. Not all do so, but the habit of constantly Reading the world around them leads most to find ways to learn more and manipulate that information. Many work to command all four Weaves, and those who have equal mastery of all are viewed with awe and fear. If a young strega wishes to learn but has no appropriate mentor in her own family, she will often be sent to another family for a time to study. The education of young streghe takes precedence over any political alliance or rivalry, and it is common for nobles to turn a blind eye to this fosterage. Streghe themselves rarely care about political relations between their families, forming tight friendships regardless of politics. They can't take part in most public affairs until married and are still isolated even after, so they only end up bonding with their own communities. They tend to be quite pragmatic, seeing the results of their magic as purely business and unrelated to personal relationships.

While nobles almost exclusively marry streghe, there are always rumors of middle-class and peasant families secretly keeping their daughters and marrying them within their own social circles. There are also rumors of streghe serving as headmistresses in schools for young girls near the borders. It's hard to get any detail on such schools, though, and many doubt that they actually exist. Any streghe that exist outside the nobility are very careful to hide their abilities, for fear of societal retaliation.

Streghe are universally considered noblewomen by virtue of their gift, regardless of birth. Vodacce makes this easier to handle by the fact that it generally doesn't use or have surnames, as it means that it's not immediately obvious that someone was born to a common family just from their name. Streghe often adopt the surname 'Destine', as they are typically considered to be their own family. While streghe are often betrothed from a very young age, they rarely meet their fiances until the wedding. During training, a strega is almost entirely isolated from the world, to minimize the potential fallout from their early pulling of the strands. If not betrothed by the time training is complete, they remain in their family's home until marriage. Typically this isn't a very long time, and most streghe learn far more from their teachers than their actual family.

To learn etiquette, powerful families host mock social events that emulate the obligations a noblewoman will face in society. These are typically open to any witch in training and their teachers, offering a chance not only to test their abilities but also to learn the complex social cues of Vodacce life and to become accustomed to the gowns and veils they will have to wear outside the home. To practice among actual nobles would risk disgrace, however, and so the roles of the actual nobility (besides the witches) are played by hired courtesans, who understand noble society intimately but do not cause any risk of losing face. Courtesans are also happy to receive the blessings of the young streghe, and generally accept that the price of these blessings is the occasional curse practice, too, with the understanding that such curses will not last long. Pulls are, of course, prohibited at such events - using a Pull in a social gathering would be a major faux pas.

After the party ends, the courtesans and teachers meet privately. Most believe it is to discuss and evaluate the students, but few noblemen ever actually learn what happens behind those closed doors. Those that know do not admit to it, because what it is is a quiet alliance of courtesans and streghe that lets them actually influence politics. Outsiders often wonder why Fate Witches accept their lot so readily, and the truth is that they don't, but instead work around it. Their existence is restrictive, and while an individual husband may give his wife much private leeway, in public they must remain demure and obedient. Not all men give private luxuries, either. Thus, the streghe often suffer and need the aid of the courtesans. They often trust the courtesans, who are better educated and versed in politics, to give them political advice and help. In exchange, the streghe wield their power for the benefit of their helpers. The guise of veiled disapproval and hatred between the two groups is largely a public facade, though on individual levels, many streghe do indeed hate many courtesans or vice versa. Just, for the betterment of women, they put aside their differences behind closed doors to help each other to a common goal.

This women's alliance is mostly about schemes within Vodacce, but the highest echelons of power among women almost all work with Sophia's Daughters, spreading from trusted allies of its original founders. The group uses the rumoured schools on the borders to educate streghe, using agents to carefully suggest the schools are merely false gossip. Outside the gaze of the nobles, the schools have it much easier arranging safe passage out for their women. It is easier to transport young girls still in training, but it isn't unheard of for adult women to flee either, even those married for years. Outside Vodacce, however, the streghe remain adamant about controlling the training of new witches. Many safehouses also serve as schools of Sorte as well as the topics more generally forbidden to Vodacce women, like literacy, or survival skills for outside a court setting. The schools in the safehouses are generally run by prominent escapees, who typically stay underground to avoid recapture, but are often some of the best witches alive. They often have to make makeshift decks for their students, using them to teach literacy alongside magic. (This often helps the grown women involved to learn to read and write in the frame of teaching the younger girls the meanings of the Arcana, too, and they've begun starting written records on how to cast Tesse properly and deal with Lashes.)

Next time: Sorte Untrained

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - How To Fuck Up

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7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - How To Fuck Up

As more and more streghe escape Vodacce, the possibility of growing up either unaware of the power or using it without training increases massively. Streghe insist on training all young witches they are aware of for good reason - Fate demands a price, even if you don't know it. Ask too much, and it whips back on you. A trained strega understands how to repay Fate and how not to ask too much, but the untrained rarely understand how, if they know they incur a debt at all. The power of Sorte does not manifest until the age of 10, and without training, they may think themselves just abnormally lucky. In youth, things just bend to their favor. However, as they age, Fate turns slowly but surely against them. Even without the benefit of a deck, they learn to read the world and pull at the threads by trial and error, causing good and bad luck. Within Vodacce, Fate Witches that fuck up usually only end up taking down themselves and their families, maybe a small part of town. Getting too many Lashes is hard, because other streghe can see them and will force you to atone and stop the potential tragedy.

Outside Vodacce, these things can grow to cataclysmic proportions, gathering years' worth of Lashes and condemning the world around them to a terrible fate. Famine, plague, entire towns swallowed up by the earth. Fate's backlash is not just against you, but everyone you use your power on. Entire communities have been decimated or damned by an untrained witch not understanding the costs of her own power. Streghe do all they can to follow such rumors, to locate and train those who don't understand their gifts.

Mechanically, this means you can take Sorcery (Sorte Untrained) if you want. Doing so reduces the cost of the Sorcery advantage to 1 rather than 2 each time you buy Sorte Untrained rather than normal Sorte. You can mix and match trained and untrained Sorte, unlike most other Sorceries. You can also pay that one extra point later to upgrade a purchase Sorte Untrained to normal Sorte. Further, every time you learn a new Tesse via Sorte Untrained, you gain a Lash, and the various Tesse also have extra negative effects when used via Sorte Untrained.

Untrained Tesse
Read: Functions entirely normally.
Arcana: When using the Minor version, roll a die. On an even roll, you activate the target's Virtue. On an odd roll, you activate the target's Vice. Major version functions normally.
Blessings and Curses: You do not choose how many Lashes you are willing to take. Instead, when activating these, roll a die; that is how many Lashes (and thus how powerful) your Tesse is this time. You may spend Hero Points to roll an additional die per point spent and choose which die you prefer.
Pull: When you Pull someone, you also Pull yourself. Any time the target moves, you move in the opposite direction. Whenever your target takes Wounds from your Pull, you take an equal amount.

So, dueling! Let's talk dueling. Life as a Vodacce Duelist can be tricky, given the speed at which Vodacce men can and do take offense. They've never had any controversy over dueling, of course - duels have always been a part of life, tacitly approved by the local Vaticine teachings that see inaction versus acting on one's anger to be the true sin. Even so, few opposed the coming of the Guild and its laws, though they are only respected to the same extent any other Vodacce law is respected. Between rich fencers and courtesans following the lead of Veronica Amborgia, there are now far more people who want to become Duelists than there are people to train them. This is a problem, because while there's many qualified training candidates, there is also a lot of illegal dueling. Were the Guild to become involved in all of them, its members would have no time to fight for themselves. Most illegal duels are spontaneous, erupting in a fit of passion. Taking the time to find a Duelist to issue the formal challenge is unthinkable, often seen as a cowardly delaying tactic. Vodacce Duelists often privately agree, but the Guild still has to involve itself in illegal duels to keep the peace, make its money and justify its existence.

The Guild picks when to get involved wisely. If it were to try to stop every fight, it'd quickly run out of both support and manpower. Largely, they issue fines for illegal duels, which discourages casual dueling...sort of. They're high enough fines that many nobles engage in illegal duels for the thrill of the chase from the Guild. It may seem prudent for the Guild to find and fine these nobles, but doing so to, say, a Prince's son would be disastrous if they wanted to stay in the Prince's lands - which, generally, they do. Still, they justify their existence well to the fencers of Vodacce. While many fencers in the land are skilled, Duelists are legend, their names striking fear into the hearts of lesser swordsmen. Even the most eager fighter often backs down when learning they face a Duelist. Besides their superior skill, Vodacce's Guildhouses teach students how to control their emotions. This is useful anywhere, but for the Vodacce, who are known for their quick and volatile tempers, it can prove extremely helpful, making them more calculating and deadly.

The solution to the Guild's illegal dueling problem has often involved trading on the fear and respect that Duelists command. Some Duelists in each House are skilled gossips, tracking local feuds and dramas in order to get ahead of the game and be on hand when potential duels break out. Typically, a Duelist will contact both parties of a dispute they learn of to offer their services early, assuming that there will be a need sooner or later, and to ensure they know the Guild is watching. Larger Guildhouses have even taken to sending out nightly patrols to retroactively officiate impromptu duels and collect a fee from the challenger (or the winner, if the challenger is dead or unconscious). Most of the Princes and many of the richer merchants keep a Duelist on staff to ensure that any fights that happen under their auspice are approved. Rumor also has it that the Vodacce Guild quietly offers its aid to any man or woman, no matter their origin or skill, if they come to fight for revenge. Vengeance, in Vodacce, is always free.

Many nobles avoid Guild fines by hiring a bravo, a fighter that will serve as their bodyguard. Often the bravo is a Duelist, though not always. The Guild only concerns itself with duels where it's likely to see a profit by getting involved, and it's far less likely to fine a random bravo for dueling than a wealthy merchant or noble...unless they learn about the bravo's benefactor. Sometimes, a warrior will pledge themself as the bravo for a family member, friend or lover, putting their own reputation on the line for whoever they've sworn to protect. The bravo tradition is likely the most honorable tradition Vodacce has. They may serve as watchdogs, but they are devoted and loyal ones as long as the pay keeps coming - and some do not even ask for pay, serving only out of a sense of duty.

No one is sure who invented the Le Strade style of dueling, though many make the claim that they did. It is named for the narrow streets it was born on, designed for fights in the tight and twisting boulevards and high spires of Vodacce. Students of Le Strade view the environment as an obstacle course and a way to gain advantage. They favor lighter swords and a free offhand, to better aid them in vaulting walls, swinging from bridges and so on. They take training very seriously, and often make runs through new locations in order to learn the distances between buildings, the height of obstacles and the strength of railings - it's better to know ahead of time than risk death pulling stunts unaware in a duel. When two Le Strade fencers meet, they tend to show off their latest tricks to each other, and when this happens at a Guildhouse, it can gather huge crowds that bet on the outcomes. The style bonus is La Furia delle Strade. When you wield a fencing sword in one hand and nothing in the other, and you fight in an environment with a number of obstacles to climb, jump or swing on, such as a city, a town or a ship, you may perform the La Furia delle Strade Maneuver. This prevents (Athletics) Wounds, and creates an environment-related Consequence for your foe with (Finesse) Ranks. They can overcome this with a single Raise, but if they don't by the end of the round, they take the Consequence's Rank in Wounds. You may use this only once per round.

Next time: Legends.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - More Reasons To Never Visit Hell Italy

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - More Reasons To Never Visit Hell Italy

Vodacce has many, many stories about weird supernatural gribblies. Many of these are written up in Lo Conto de li Conti, the Tale of Tales, a collection by the explorer Loanna Bazza. One tale speaks of the Badalisc. Once, there was a village where the people schemed and fought against each other constantly, and the Prince grew tired of dealing with their cases, so he decreed that no one could accuse another, and that he would kill anyone that became violent. The villagers obeyed in letter but not spirit, finding ever more creative ways to offend and take vengeance on each other - so much so that all the good people left. Except for one family, that is. They were the richest of the town, and they saw leaving as a non-option. They'd heard of fierce forest beasts, which they might use to bring the town back to its senses. They went into the forest looking for an answer, and they returned with a hideous beast. It had a large, goatlike head, two small horns and glowing, fiery eyes, along with a mouth large enough to swallow a man whole. The others of the village thought they had lost their minds, imagining the worst. However, before any could flee, the creature began to speak in an unnatural language. The family's young daughter translated. The monster, through her, revealed the deepest, darkest secrets of everyone in the town. At first they were shocked, then angry, but eventually, as the recitations continued, they all laughed, their scheming rendered useless by the creature. And thus, the village was saved, as was the family's power.

Few believe this story is true, of course. They interpret it as a morality tale on the dangers of plotting and scheming and the value of trusting your neighbor. However, there is a village deep in the northeast, near Sedilo or Fontaine, where you might enter the forest and find a creature that can reveal the intentions and plans of anyone it meets. It is elusive and difficult to tame. You must lock eyes with it, to show you have no fear, and you must remain that way for an entire hour. Even once you have done this, you must never turn your back on it, or you will break the spell. Once you have tamed it this way, it will teach you its language and allow you to lead it somewhere. Once you have brought it there and had it use its innate ability to reveal secrets, it will magically transport itself back to the forest. The Badalisc is, however, fiercely territorial, and will attack anyone that enters its den. If you don't lock eyes with it immediately, it will fight until you die or it is gravely wounded or killed. It is not interested in any gift or bribe, and its language can only be learned by someone that has beaten its staredown. It is Strength 6 and Teleporting.

It is said that on New Year's Eve, an old strega, perhaps the first, travels across all of Vodacce. From afar, she looks like a fragile old woman with a broomstick and hamper, covered in soot and rags. With that stick, though, she can fly faster than a bird, and in the hamper she bears judgment for all. To those who are good, she brings gifts - baubles, food, money. To the bad, she brings punishment, generally bad luck or pain. Both are given out by Fate's whim, and none are immune from her judgment, no matter their rank. To placate her, most families leave an offering of fine wine and food. She is the Befana, the bringer of judgment, who brings hope to the just and fear to the wicked. Many stories speak of her origins. Some say she lost her only child and, after a long chase, brought vengeance upon Fate Herself. Her sense of justice was so great, it is said, that Fate made the Befana Her envoy, to judge all people. Others say she made a terrible mistake long ago, which she now tries to compensate for. Others say she is first of the streghe, so tied to Fate and so deeply entrenched that she cannot die, and that she keeps the Vodacce in check that the power of Sorte may continue. But everyone knows, no matter where she came from, she will judge you on New Year's Eve.

While the original Befana may have been one woman, in truth she is now many. The abuse of Vodacce, and particularly Vodacce women, is kept silent and secret, and would go unpunished if not for the Befana. They are a massive network across the nation, which watches for evil deeds. Their 'witnesses' exist everywhere - children, young women, widows, peasants, couriers. They see and listen and inform via encrypted messages, naming those that deserve gifts and those that deserve pain. The Befana are...just women. Some are streghe, but many are just excellent liars who use the disgise of the Befana to bring justice. They do not attempt to reward all acts or punish all wrongdoers. Rather, they are vigilantes trying to improve Vodacce, one New Year's Eve at a time. Sophia's Daughters and the Befana are aware of each other and approve, but their MOs differ greatly. Sophia's Daughters mainly try to get streghe out, while the Befana want to make Vodacce more livable for them. To help the Befana, you must be vouched for by their witnesses - and it's hard to trick them, as they are largely invisible and unknown. If you could get into their network, you'd learn a hell of a lot about the secret crimes and sins of Vodacce, and be expected to help fight them.

According to legend, the Vestini maintain their power with the support of a monster - one they display on their own coat of arms. The Biscione. This, the Great Serpent, appears in the center of their blazon, a disproportionately long snake whose tail goes on for some time. It has azure scales as thick as steel, a fin along its spine, and atop it there is a splash of red that represents a child being torn apart and devoured. The painting is vivid and memorable, but some say it cannot compare to the true Biscione. These people claim, in secret of course, that the family's wealth comes from the beast's treasures. Other families avoid the Vestini for fear that they will turn their monster upon them. It is said the creature craves human blood, often that of the young. Some say the reason the Vestini are weaker than other families is that they must feed their children to the beast.

The truth of the Biscione is worse. The Biscione is not a new addition to the family - the Vestini have known it since their founding days, and they owe it a blood price. The serpent does indeed devour human flesh, and it dwells in a magic lake that preserves it and keeps it strong. It is effectively immortal, and the Vestini family must feed it or it will devour them instead. They have barely any control over it at all, and content themselves merely with throwing enemies to it. Age and relation to the Vestini isn't important - all it wants is human blood and flesh. The Vestini actually hate the damn thing, as it often demands more than they can give just from their captured foes. It cannot be defeated unless it is made to leave the waters that sustain it; in them it is immortal. Outside them, it's just a giant snake with impenetrable skin and a jaw big enough to snap horses in half. Its lake is able to restore life to people...sort of. To benefit from the healing properties of the water, one must consume human flesh. If you've done that in the past day, drinking of the lake of the Biscione restores your health. Otherwise, it is deadly poison. The Biscione is Strength 10, Aquatic, Chitinous and Powerful, and while in its lake it gains Regenerating, too.

Next time: Sexy goat women, pixie monks, a giant wolf and the ghost witch.

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - What If A Goat, But Sexy

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - What If A Goat, But Sexy

In ancient times, a creature from the Otherworld fell in love with the human world, and whole the Otherworld was timeless and magical, she wished to enter ours. Because in the Otherworld, wishes and will can change reality, she did. With her, she brought others like her. In the material world, for no clear reason, they took the form of women from the waist up and goats from the waist down. Since their arrival, they have always preferred to live in the harbors and cliffs of the Vodacce coast, watching over mortal lives from hiding. No one know of them until one of them, Longana, fell in love with a mortal man. She dared to reveal herself in her full glory to him, and he fell in love with her immediately, asking her to marry. She agreed, on the condition that he must never ask her name, for no clear reason. He agreed. They lived happily, and they had children who appeared fully human but had the impossible charm and beauty of their mother. Their estate was fertile and rich, nad many jealous neighbors whispered that the woman must be a strega, or worse. When sne ignored them, they began to tease her husband for not knowing the name ofh is wife. At last, he caved, and one night while drunk, he asked her name. With tears in her eyes, she told him, then disappeared into the night forever, returnign to her people with a broken heart.

Apparently, this entire story is true, and the exceptionally sexy goat-women are known now as the Longana. Some dedicate their lives to finding them, for they are renowned for their beauty, intellect and magic power. Specifically, the Longana have control over natural phenomena. They may prevent bad weather, preserve crop health and tame any animal. They also know many things mortals do not. It is said by some that the fabled sexual skill and intellect of the courtesans are but a pale imitation of the Longana goat-women. Some say the first courtesan was a Longana, and that she passed on her beauty and knowledge to her daughters to start the first courtesan family. Certainly everyone knows that one night with a Longana is one of the most pleasurable experiences anyone can have. (Remember: goat from the waist down.) Despite multiple efforts, none has ever seduced a Longana since that first man. In truth, the Longana are still curious about humans, but they fear suffering the same fate as the original Longana. (...that she got asked her name, I guess.) They will happily defy convention, however, and approach a hyman if they find a truly honest proposal or true appreciation. They like honest men and women and those who have good intentions, which they can tell because of their powers. They will only approach those of pure heart and honest tongue.

The Monachello, or Little Monks, are found in the legends of southern Vodacce, where they are said to live in abandoned abbeys and monasteries. They are small but thick creatures, dressing in brown robes tied by a rope belt an wearing a broad-brimmed hat. The Monachello enjoy playing tricks on people, it is said - pulling off clothes, stealing stuff, even causing minor accidents. Some say they are the best of thieves, stealing things elft out or even purses from pockets, leaving the owner none the wiser. However, other tells tell of Monachello appearing in the dead of night, when all hope is lost, to help people without expecting a reward. In these tales, they bring food, water and money to the sick, the poor and the destitute. Sometiems, they even lead people to treasure hoards. It is unclear where the treasure comes from, and typically a person only gerts as much as they need and no more. If they try to take more than that, it is said that they will receive the negative attentions of the Monachello, who seem to target the rich more often for their pranks. No one can agree if the creatures are good or evil, so most prefer to avoid them, and tell children and foreigners to do the same.

The Monachello are only found in southern Vodacce primarily because they live in underground tunnels that connect the southern hills. They are small, humanoid hillfolk with opposable digits on both hand and foot. They are sensitive to light, which is why they only come out at night, being subterranean in nature. They dress as Vaticine monks because they model themselves after the first people that settled their hills - the monks. They also style their ethics and behavior on the same group. Their twisted understanding of the Vaticine Credo tells them that they should help "good" people, and take that help from "bad" people whether they know it or not. Thus, they spy on humans by moving through homes and palaces unseen, noting who is good and who is bad. Those that are bad have their homes marked by an invisible magic. Any Monachello that can see the mark considers it an invitation to play annoying pranks and steal things, which they then give to good people in need. When seen, they may ber persuaded by freely offered food or coin. They appreciate this, and will happily talk to any that give this gift. They can be influenced this way to focus on a specific bad person or to help a specific good one. They ask nothing in return but may, if you offer, ask for your help with some minor tasks or small objects, typically involving theft. Monachello are STrength 3, Shadowy and SWift.

Once, it is said, there was a walled city that feared no army nor manmade tool. Many tried but failed to take it, breaking armies on the walls, and even the best tactics could not breach them. In their hubris, the city folk declared that none could hurt them. That is when the Wolf d'Aggobio came. It was large as a bear, with fur as hard as a rock and teeth sharper than a blade. It first took their livestock from outside the walls, and in just a few short nights, it ate them all - every last one. The people had no meat, and had to buy it from travelers. Soon, news of the Wolf spread, and even food sellers stopped coming. Winter approached, and the people realized that if the Wolf was not stopped, they would starve. They sent their best warriors, but the Wolf ate them all, and realized that it loved human flesh over all other foods. And so it jumped the walls, beginning to hunt and eat the townsfolk. They cried out, tried to reason with it, but it paid them no heed. It ate until full, left, and returned the next day. For a week it slaughtered, until a foreigner arrived. The locals told her of the Wolf, warning her to go away, but she ignored them and waited for it. She walked p to it, extended her hand and patted its head. Wordlessly, they both left, as if long friends. The city was broken, but it was saved, and neither Wolf nor woman were seen again.

Besides being a cautionary tale of pride, the story tells about one of the most dangerous beasts in all of Vodacce. Fortunately, the Wolf appears only when a population grows proud enough to attract its attention. The Wolf is largely immune to injury by weapons, heals quickly from injuries it does take, and is immensely large and strong. It isn't indestructible, but only the best fighter has a chance of wounding it. Beyond that, it just eats any who it meets, terrorizing wherever it stops for years before moving on. The best way to stop the Wolf is to tame it. Only a truly fearless person, pure of heart and wishing it no harm, can do so. Few people fulfill such requirements, especially in Vodacce. Thus, the best chance any population preyed on by the Wolf has is to send out envoys hunting for such a person, which is a legendary task in and of itself. Once the Wolf is tamed, both it and its new friend will leave the material world to find peace together in the Otherworld. The Wolf d'Aggobio is Strength 10, Regenerating and Powerful.

Streghe may seem to have the ultimate power, but Fate is a fickle mistress, and any strega will tell you, you must be careful or you will get a backlash you can't handle. Few besides the streghe know the legend of the Falsoseta, the creature that devours your luck and power. It is said that a strega, a mistress of all the Tessere, got too proud, too arrogant, believed she had utter control over Fate. For a time, she seemed right - her enemies fell, her allies rose. She forgot that she was not Fate Herself. This lasted years, as Fate waited for the best moment to take vengeance. A group of potent foes banded together to defeat the strega and her husband, and she said she would destroy them all at once. Yet when she pulled on a strand, Fate would not obey. Instead, a wretched old woman appeared with long, slender fingers. None could see her but the strega, for she was made by Fate. She latched onto the woman and stole her away. When her husband came looking for aid, his wife was gone. No other witch would help, fearing the curse. And so, his foes stole into his home and destroyed him and his entire family. None dare speak the name of this fallen Prince any more, for fear of attracting the Falsoseta, and the Witches caution each other against hubris, or they too will suffer the same fate.

Falsoseta may, in truth, be made by Fate...but if so, she isn't any punishment for hubris or failure to pay Fate back. Fate handles that Herself with the Lashes. The actual origins of the beast are wholly unknown. Some scholars say she has always existed, but only streghe can see her, and so they say it is Fate. Falsoseta lives between this world and another, trapped forever between. She appears as a woman in black, wearing a black veil. Witches say that behind the veil is only a well of inky darkness. She has long, spindly fingers that are used to make false threads, silvery and shining, between Terra and the other world. These threads look identical to those of Fate, which bind everything. Falsoseta is essentially a spider evolved to entrap her favored prey: Fate Witches. She even mimics their appearance to hide among them. She doesn't just eat streghe, however - anyone who accidentally touches one of her threads and pulls on it will draw her attention. She may not get as much nourishment from a normal person, but she feeds well on any sorcerer. She isn't invisible, and she doesn't kidnap people in the way the story claims. Rather, she can be seen by any sorcerer, due to their attunement to the unnatural. She sometimes hides in the other world, which can make it seem like she's snatched a victim away. Often, before she attacks, she appears as if she were a normal strega. She is Strength 4, Teleporting and Chitinous.

Next time: Mechanics!

Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Mechanics, The Smallest Part Of The Book

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: Nations of Theah, Vol. 2 - Mechanics, The Smallest Part Of The Book

New backgrounds!
Eisen-Only
Apostat: You were cast out from youyr home for being a witch. Earn a Hero Point when you choose to ally with someone you find personally distasteful to accomplish something important.
Befleckte Seele: You have an evil power, a dark and monstrous side to you. Earn a Hero Point when you use your Monstrous nature to solve a problem and someone shuns you for it.
Eisenblut: You were a wealthy noble. Earn a Hero Point when you choose to sacrifice something personally important to you for the good of Eisen or its people.
Stratege: You were a chessmaster and planner. Earn a Hero Point when you make a critical miscalculation in your plan, and it gets you or your allies into trouble.
Sarmatiaon-Only
Macher: You were a thief specializing in working with groups. Earn a Hero Point when you choose to reveal yourself to an enemy in order to help another character get out of trouble.
Mowca: You saw the good in everyone. Earn a Hero Point when you successfully solve a problem by convincing another character to listen to their conscience.
Rycerz Ludzi: You were a knight of the common man. Earn a Hero Point when you solve a problem by convincing a group to unite and stand up for themselves.
Rycerz Senatu: You were a knight of the nobles. Earn a Hero Point when you choose to hide something from an authority figure for noble reasons, and it gets you into trouble.
Ussuran-Only
Borets: You were a famous brawler. Earn a Hero Point when someone recognizes you due to your reputation, and you'd really prefer they didn't.
Doverchivii Dusha: You were a trusting and kind soul. Earn a Hero Point when another character gets away with lying to you or manipulating you, and it gets you into trouble.
Razrushitel: You were a siegebreaker. Earn a Hero Point when you commit to a course of action that is loud, direct and lacks any sense of subtlety.
Tura's Cursed: You were given power by Tura. Earn a Hero Point when you convince another character to shun authority or act outside of their defined social status, and it gets you into trouble.
Vodacce-Only
Capitano: You were a brave sailor. Earn a Hero Point when you commit to a dangerous course of action because your bravado and ego won't let you turn away.
Moroso: You were a romantic. Earn a Hero Point when you let another character get away with something because you're romantically interested in them, and it gets you into trouble.
Pistola Nascosta: You were a quickdraw gunner. Earn a Hero Point when you solve a problem with the threat of violence, but without having drawn your firearm.
Wild Strega: You were an untrained strega. (Oddly, this is not called out as female-exclusive. Probably an oversight.) Earn a Hero Point when you choose to help another character using your untrained Sorte powers, and it gets you into trouble.

New advantages!
1 Point
Penny Pincher: You can take this multiple times. Each time you do, you may save one more Wealth Point between sessions than normal. (Normal: none.)
Personal Motto: Select a personal motto, adage or catchphrase, such as 'I've got a bad feeling about this' or 'We always pay our debts.' Whenever you make a Risk after saying your personal motto, and whenever your personal motto is appropriate, you gain 1 Bonus Die.
2 Points
Born in the Saddle (Knack): You may activate this to have your horse perform a special maneuver. Examples include making an immense leap, summoning your horse to your side as long as it's physically capable of arriving, or having it evade an attack (preventing (Ride) Wounds) or attack a foe (dealing (Ride) Wounds).
Heartfelt Appeal (Knack): You may activate this to get another character to follow their conscience, look the other way for the greater good, or otherwise do the right hting when it's not in their best interest.
Imperious Glare (Knack): You may activate this to use your real or imagined authority to make someone leave you alone, get out of your way or dismiss your actions as nothing but a tantrum from a haughty noble.
O Captain My Captain (Knack): You may activate this when you make a Risk to take a bold or dangerous action on the high seas to inspire your crew. All of your allies get (Sailing) Bonus Dice.
Wrecking Ball (Knack): You may activate this to break down a door, smash a barricade, knock over a carriage or otherwise break or disable an object using your strength and momentum.
3 Points
Body Blow (Knack): You may activate this whenever you spend a Raise to deal Wounds or perform a Wound-causing Maneuver during a Brawl Risk. Each Hero Point you spend this way causes 2 additional Wounds.
Brains of the Outfit (Knack): You may activate this when you spend a Hero Point to give Bonus Dice to another PC in a Risk. If you spend the second Hero Point, you also give them (Scholarship) Bonus Dice if you describe how your academic knowledge will help them.
Fast Draw (Knack): You may activate this when you make an Aim Risk to gain an additional Raise for each pair of doubles on your roll. These dice can still be used to make normal Raises.
Flashing Blade (Knack): You may activate this when you spend a Raise to deal Wounds or perform a Wound-causing Maneuver to a character or Brute Squad during a Weaponry Risk. If you do, you can deal an equal number of Wounds to another character or Brute Squad in the scene. You may use this only once per Round.
Trusting: You may activate this after the GM buys unused dice from you during an Empathy Risk. If you do, you get 2 Hero Points per die instead of 1. You may use this only once per session.
4 Points
Flirting With Diaster: You may activate this when you make a Tempt Risk. The GM must buy all of your unused dice. You may activate this only once per session.
Moral Compass: You must have completed a Redemption Story and have no Corruption to take this. Whenever you help another PC complete a step in a Redemption Story, they lose 2 Corruption rather than 1 at the end of the Story.
5 Points
Dark Gift (Knack): Select one Monster Quality. You may activate this to get the benefits of that Monster Quality for one round. Whenever you do, you gain 1 Corruption Point, but do not roll for Corruption. If this causes you to hit 10 Corruption, you immediately become a Monster under the GM's control. While your Dark Gift is active, it is obvious to even a casual obeserver that you are using monstrous powers. You may gain this after chargen only by adventuring in Eisen.

The End!

Next up, pick:
The New World
The Crescent Empire

(I decided not to do Heroes and Villains; it is literally just a collection of example Heroes and example Villains plus discussions on different 'builds' and techniques to focus the characters on specific tactics and natures, and while some are well-written, and others are hilariously dumb, it's not super interesting as an F&F.)

The Crescent Empire

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire



This book is formatted slightly differently than the other ones of the lines, primarily because the Crescent Empire is a unified political entity (albeit one made of four different nations, plus a fifth that is not technically a member). So we're gonna be a while before we discuss the five nations of the Empire - Anatol Ayh, Persis, Sarmion, the 8th Sea tribes and the independent city-state Sahur. The book opens with a long-form poem about the insects of the Emperor's palace, and how they saved his life and therefore prevented him from wiping them out with magic, along with interludes on moral leassons of the story, also in poem form. As poetry goes, uh...well, it has a meter and a consistent rhyme scheme, at least, and it's technically proficient. I'm not a huge fan.

The Crescent Empire lies between Theah and Cathay. Its current government (and name) date back to the days of the Vodacce invasions, through the conquest of Numa and Castille and on to today. Its current leader is Empress Safiye, the Returned Shadow of al-Musawwir on Terra, Mani Sultan of Anatol Ayh. The empire itself is tied together by familial bonds and fragile relationships. Each nation that exists as part of it has tense conflicts with the others, and each would probably rather be independent. However, to the outside world, the empire appears united and indivisible. No matter what conflict rages within, they unite against the outside. It is what makes them strong. Most Theans have little understanding of the Crescent, of the jinn that once freely roamed it or of the Crescent codes of honor. While these can be very complex, the locals seem to have no trouble.

Anatol Ayh is the seat of Imperial power, and has been since the Anatoli warrior princes Aaliyh of House Chaghri founded the Alwarith Dynasty. Their current leader, the Anatoli Sultana Empress Safiye, is the height of their heroism and achievement. The Anatoli are famous for the art and military ingenuity. They are known as the eye of the crescent or the heart of the moon. Persis is their long rival, which now tears itself apart in conflict. They are led by Sha Jalil and bound by an ancient and enshrined class system. They chafed under the rule of the prior Emperor, Istani, and when Safiye took over, things got turned upside down. Rebel groups have splintered and civil war rages. Persis, long the birthplace of Crescent art and poetry, now threatens to shatter. Sarmion is a nation of scholars, healers and warriors, but after the most recent attack by the Numanari and the overnight vanishing of nine tribes, they struggle to rebuild. The death of their King, Josiah, has left a power vacuum that the rightful Princess Batya refuses to step into. They endure in a land of beauty, but things are not easy. The 8th Sea is a desert inhospitable to all life, in which no person could live for more than week. The Tribes of the 8th Sea have lived there for millenia, dating all the way back to the ancient empire of Katab. Their life is harsh, yet vibrant, and they are bound together by family and by honor. The tree main tribes, al-Jamal, al-Hisan and al-Thi'b, swear loyalty to the Empire, so long as it is loyal to them. Apart from the empire is Ashur, a city-state that stands alone in the Green Mountains, home to the largest single population of Orthodox in the entire world. They are pacifists, and would have been long conquered if not for the Guardian of the First Garden, called by Theans the Old Man on the Mountain, and his army of Assassins, who keep Ashur safe from all threats, within or without. Ashur shares much history with the empire and they are not blind, but they more than any know that there are many ways to fight.

In the ancient times, the 8th Sea was once a fertile land, and the Katabic people lived there. The made colonies and cities. When the first drought came, however, many left the land in search of water, and it is from these travelers, who went north and east and west, that the great nations of the Empire were formed. Eventually, the 8th Sea dried out, and only a handful remained within. When maps were made of the region, explorers found it formed a crescent shape, giving the region its name, and from the region, the empire. Today, the people who live there use the word 'crescent' more poetically. Anatol Eye, the furthest north, is the Eye of the Crescent, a land of luish wilds, rocky mountains and flowering water. Nestled in the southeastern mountains from it is Ashur, the Crescent's Shadow, an oasis in desolate mountains. In the south is Sarmion, the Western Star, a place of education and ceremony, where most live on the coast or in the mountains. East of them is Persis, the Eastern STar, a land of hot, dry summers and frigid winters, with many types of terrain, And the 8th Sea itself is the Crescent Moon, a vast desert in which one cannot find oases or water. Even at the highest mountain, the sands are burning hot and the air so warm that the locals refer to it as Ifrit's Breath.

We get an explanation of the goal in the book in trying to bring the complexity and cultures of the Middle East and Central Asia, and that we will get details on Yachidism and al-Din, which are to Judaism and Islam as the Vaticine is to Catholicism - ie, recognizable but not nearly identical. The book is not a scholarly treatise, after all. We also get a lexicon and a sidebar saying that they'll be using the Crescent spellings rather than Thean, which is to say, not Anglicized.

The chapter on the current state of the Empire opens with Safiye defeating her evil brother, Istani, for control of the throne. However, due to an obscure law stating that any accused criminal had the right to try and beat their executioner to the gates of the palace and thus have their life spared, Istani survives, especially because he delays his sister by forcing her to save the life of a small boy rather than kill him. Istani fliees in to the night. We are informed that Safiye's troops, the Chavra of Sarmion, chased Istani and his loyalists out of Iskandar and through the nation of Anatol Ayh, driving them into the 8th Sea. They abandoned the chase a week into the 8th Sea, when they ran out of food and water, and it is commonly held that there is no way Istani could have survived, as nothing survives the 8th Sea. Safiye took the throne.

However, shortly after her coronation, the Chavra returned to Sarmion under the command of their princess, Batya, to find that the Numanari had launched an attack on their homeland, known for its scholars and healers, as retribution for years of Crescent occupation. Istani had done nothing to help Sarmion, leaving their lands unguarded, their king poisoned and their holy sites pillaged. Safiye sent half of her new armed forces and all of the Chavra to aid Sarmion, opeing that they'd arrive within two days using her fastest ships. She sent her riders with treasure to the Tribes of the 8th Sea, to secure their allegiance and earn their aid in reinforcing Sarmion. The ships got caught in a storm in the Numanari Approach, and there was nothing that could be done but have the few Janissaries trained in the Art of the Second Prophet climb the rigging and, wielding ancient weapons of power, reflect the lightning bolts back into the sky while monsters rose from the depths. It took five days to reach the Sarmion coast - and that was too long. The walls of Salemoria had fallen, warriors lay dead in the streets, or alive but heavily deformed by abuse of their magical power. The Quabilat al-Hisan, 8th Sea warriors who had ridden to aid in battle, were now attempted to reunite families and bring the living to medical aid. Sarmion had won, but at terrible cost.

In the wake of the war, Safiye set out to ensure it would never happen again. Istani had been a tyrant, who had forgotten that it was unity that made the Empire great, and for unity, all had to be equal. And so, for her first official act, Empress Safiye made three decrees. First, Yasaklam. Rulers of the Empire would no longer be required to kill their siblings in order to take the throne. Second, Kaldirma. Sorcerers were no longer required to register themselves with the Empire or die, as they had been under Istani. Last, Degistirme. There would be no class system in the Empire. While this was all wildly popular with most people, the rich were not happy, particularly Shah Jalil of Persis. Not only had Persis long been Anatol Ayh's rival, but Jalil had been Istani's lover, and was infuriated by his presumed death. To ease the transition, the empress gave him ten years to enact her decrees and withdrew Imperial forces from Persic. The rebels of Persic now turned inwards - where they had once opposed the Empire, now many only opposed the shah, and Persis' civil war is still ongoing. The 8th Sea has continued as it ever has. The al-Thi'b were displaced just before Safiye took power, driven out by the giant serpent Saghira, and now struggle to find new lands. The neutral city Raqmu is full of rumors that something or someone conspires to set the tribes against each other - perhaps the jinn, who are mad that humanity has almost forgotten them, or perhaps Istani, who may have survived somehow via a jinn pact.

Ashur has always stood apart from the Empire. It has been independent since the 9th century, and was primarily neutral during the Numanari attack. While the Guardian of the First Garden would never allow the Numanari to breach Ashur, he did nothing for Sarmion. However, the city-state sent aid after the final battle, bringing caravans of fruit and vegetables down to the war-torn lands to bring relief. When Safiye sent an envoy to the Guardian and the Pleroma (the government of Ashur), bringing thanks and gifts, they were returned with a simple message, one known well by all who live in Crescent land: Five fingers, one fist.

Next time: History.

The Crescent Empire - Ancient History

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Ancient History

The Crescent Empire didn't begin united, or even as a group of friendly nations. They were a group of countries that fought themselves and each other, with a long history. Each has tales of a great, ancient civilization that predated all of them, known as Katab, which spanned the entire region and was advanced, powerful and wealthy. In those days of legend, potent spirits known as jinn roamed the world, and people did magic with ease, raising amazing monoliths that still stand to this day. The Katabi people spoke and wrote the Katabic language, one of the oldest languages known, and certainly one of the oldest still in any form of use today. Scholars across the Empire dedicate themselves to investigating Katabic writing on the structures, statues and tombs found throughout the region, even deep into the 8th Sea. Theories are plentiful as to what actually caused the downfall of the Katab Empire, but their fall is what laid the ground for what would follow.

Before the formation of the Crescent Empire, though, there was a time of darkness. Katab's collapse plunged the Crescent into chaos. No records exist of this period, as each region became ioslated. It is known that the Ifrians, Numanari of the Old Empire and mare came across the sea to plunder, and that the various kingdoms fought each other. Anatol Ayh attempted to conquer Persis, while the 8th Sea raiders attacked Ashur and the tribes of Sarmion fought each other endlessly in service to ancient spirits. The years of infighting did, at least, bring a sharing of cultures, in which all learned from each other. This blending continued with the rise of Shah Korchas the Great of Persis and his formation of the Haxamanisiya Empire. The shah was raised in poverty and hiding to prevent his death at the hands of his grandfather, the King of Nidian, who had been told of a prophecy that his grandson would rise up and supplant him. He did do this - first, he slew his grandfather and united Nidian, in what is now south Persis, then annexed the land around it, using his powerful army of ten thousand soldiers, called Athanatoi by the fearful Numanari - Immortals.

Korvash's Haxmanisiya empire stretched from Khemet in north Ifri, into Numa, and even as far as Sarmatia and Ussura. Now, all qualed before the power of the empire. It would last for generations until its final defeat at the hands of Iskander the Great of Malcedon. Malcedon was a tiny island kingdom between the Old Empire of Numa and the Crescent. It was a client of the Numanari, a conquered people that desired to be free. When King Phillypus the First married the half-Numanari princess of Khemet, Olystina, he made himself a target for the Old Empire. He was slain in his bed by Numnari spies, dying in the arms of his son, Iskander. This galvanized the Malcedonians in rebellion. Olystina declared that Iksander, descended from two dynasties both of divine blood, was the greatest of warrior kings. Many believed it, and history does say he had uncanny instincts in battle. He was a warrior and a philosopher, a tactician that led from the front and inspired his people to become free during the battles between Numanari and Haxamansiya. While the empires fought, Iskander united both Khemeti and Malcedonian forces across both territories. His actions left a massive impact.

Iskander freed Anatol Ayh from Persic control and Haxamanisiya rule. In his honor, the House of Chaghri named their capital after him, building the city of Iskandar that, to this day, is the heart of the Crescent Empire. Iskander even traveled to Sarmion, and while he thought of invading, he was welcomed as a friend and brought to the gates of Salemoria, where the High Priest and prophet (but not Prophet) Yermeya offered up a sacred white bull as a gift. The bull was the ancient symbol of Malcedon, and Iskander accepted it, declaring Sarmion to be forever friend to his empire. Sarmion was spared, prospering under Iskander's protection from their ancient Numanari foes. At last, Iskander conquered the Haxamanisiya Empire in the fifth century, and the Numnari stole much of the territory of fallen Persis, with Iskander taking the rest. However, his ambition went beyond even his reach. He never stopped or settled, always installing client governors as he moved on. He reached the western edge of Cathay, where he became fascinated by the culture and religion. He died there of mysterious fever, having left no heir. His mother ruled briefly, but the Numanari swiftly took vengeance on Malcedon, enslaving Olystina as a prisoner and dancer. Their sorcerers called down a terrible curse, sinking Malcedon below the waves until only its highest peaks stood above water.

After the fall of Iskander and the Haxamanisiya, Numa again invaded. The war spread across the region, but the worst was in Sarmion, where the Numanari took many into slavery to rebuild their crumbling and failing infrastructure. It was among the Sarmion slaves of Numa that a young Yachidi teacher named Yesu became the First Prophet. Stories speak of his teachings and message, but the greatest mark he left was on Ashur, where he led his followers to build a new land. His word spread across Persis and Anatol Ayh, even making a small impact in Sarmion and the 8th Sea. It would not be, however, until the rise of Khalil ibn Mustafa, the Second Prophet, in the seventh century, that the real friction would begin between nations.

TYhe Second Prophet was a legendary wanderer, exiled from his home in the tiny state of Thaj after incurring the wrath of its sorcerer-princess, Shahnaz. She sent sorcerers to test him wherever he went, but he could not be destroyed. His preaching influenced people from across Ifri and Theah as well as his home in the C rescent. When he finally returned to Thaj and was slain by Shahnaz, he had hundreds of followers with him and thousands more had accepted his teachings across the world, praying to al-Musawwir (that is, Theus - same god, different name). The impact of the Second Prophet on the Crescent is impossible to overstate. He lived for a time in Anatol Ayh, and the entire nation became his ofllowers. The Caliphate of Anatol Ayh was formed in the wake of his death, and when local Persic leaders began to outlaw al-Din as a religion, the Caliphate invaded to protect the Persic Dinists. The occupation led many Persic to convert to al-Din, which didn't really help relations with Persis.

In the north, Vodacce became the center of the Vaticine Church, who claimed to be the inheritors of the Prophets. Their influence had transformed Theah, especially CAstille and Vodacce, and had brought the eyes of the Theans to the southern lands. They had little interest in Anatoli-ruled Ashur, as it was being ravaged by the Numnari, and they saw little value in the 8th Sea, they believed Persis and Anatol Ayh were both ripe for the taking. The Vodacce saw a chance to shore up their economy and invaded. As with the Numanari, they believed Sarmion would be the perfect launching point for invasion of other nations, and they tried to take its ports and its capital, Salemoria. By then, however, Sarmion had become long used to fighting Numanari invaders, and they were not easily conquered.

General Yedha and the Maccabe warriors held out against the Vodacce, who launched simultaneous attacks on Persis and Anatol Ayh. Yedha's lover, King Ahaz, reached out to the rulers of those two nations for aid, as both were allies of Sarmion. This united the shah and the caliph against Vodacce, and together, the three lands called on the 8th Sea tribes, allies of Persis, to drive out the invasion. Ashur, an Anatoli client state at the time, provided most of the supplies. Led by the Caliphate, the new alliance attacked the Vodacce forces and drove them out. When the dust settled, the leaders of the nations gathered in Iskandar to discuss what would happen next. History says that on the third night of feasting together, they all shared a prophetic dream of unity. When they awakened in the morning, they found that the night had gone on longer than normal, that the only night was a thin crescent moon. This was taken as a blessing by the Second Prophet, and the leaders declared that they would unite as a empire dedicated to mutual growth and protection. While it would be primarily Dinist, all would have freedom to worship as they pleased. This freedom brought the loyalty of the Sarmions, and particularly the Yachidi rulers of that nation, who offered their elite army, the Chavra, to help protect the new empire.

They would, of course, need a leader. Discussions raged all night over who would lead. In the end, the Caliph, Aaliyah, daughter of Ilkin of the House of Chaghri, who had led many of the battles against Vodacce, became the first Empress of the Crescent Moon. She took husbands (and one wife) from each of the other nations, including Prince Johathan of Sarmion, Princer Sayed of Persis, warrior-Princess Anaya of the Tribe of the Camel, Siber of the Tribe of Wolf and Isham of the Tribe of the Horse. Together, this new family swore to produce a new line, of united blood, and no one can say who truly sired the heir to the empire. They set their capital in Iskandar, and Aaliyah bore the first royal line of emperors. In an effort to symbolize the unity, the ruling dynasty was known as the Alwarith, and the people of the empire became known as the Alwarithli.

Because nothing good can last, the new empire was invaded by the failing Numanari Empire. They still had vast swathes of the coast of the 8th Sea under their control. In their first true act as a world power, the Crescent Empire counterattacked, driving the Numanari from their shores and conquering their ancient enemy. (And beginning the long cycle of conquest and rebellion over the Numanari islands we read about in the Numa chapter of Pirate Nations.) Numa became a client of the Empire, broken and stripped of its treasures. The retribution and vengeance visited on the Numnari was terrible and vicious, and the Crescents found they needed more resources to maintain control there. They headed west, attacking Castille and handily conquering them. Empress Aaliyah was old when this happened, and while she led the invasion, she also showed concern over the Empire's dedication to war over internal and spiritual growth. When her son Darius, first child of the great mass marriage, took the throne, he understood that each nation had to be able to grow on its own. He halted all further expansion and attempted a more gentle rule. He might have succeeded, had the Third Prophet not risen to power.

Next time: The Third Prophet Fucks It All Up

The Crescent Empire - Problems

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Problems

The 12th and 13th centuries were a time of chaos. The Khazari attacked Persis in 1221, under the Iron Khan, Khitai Khan, and conquered it before anyone could do anything to stop them. The Khazari Empire was far older and more potent than the Crescent Empire, and no one could take Persis from them. It remain under Khazari control until 1507, when it was freed by the warrior-poet Khata'i. It was shortly after the conquest that the Third Prophet showed up. He was unwilling to accept variations in belief or use of magic. He saw al-Din as an insult to the Vaticine version of the faith, and the Crescent's control of Castille as proof of Vodacce Vaticine weakness and Crescent wickedness. All of the followers of Theus in the Empire, from the Yachidi to the Dinists and the Orthodox saw the Prophet's rise as a troubling sign and sought to distance themselves from the new Vaticine. Many claimed the Third Prophet was no prophet at all, especially given his dedication to violent upheaval, much unlike the first two Prophets. This did nothing to stop his reforms, however, or his call to liberate Castille. Vaticine warriors fought the Crescents, driving them from Thean shores.

Faced with the possibility of an invasion by Castille, the empire lost more control over Numa in its scramble to prepare. Finally, at the last moment, the Tribes of the 8th Sea called for an end to hostilities due to the losses taken. They pulled their support from the war to force the Empire to step back in the face of a loss - a loss it would certainly have without its most fierce warriors. The empire consolidated within its own borders, from Numa to the edges of the 8th Sea. Emperor Nasir ceded Castille to the Vaticine and watched them descend into fanaticism - but not without leaving one final 'gift.' The Emperor hired an Ashurite Assassin team to kill the Prophet. No one is sure if they succeeded - none of the Assassins returned alive, and shortly after, the Third Prophet vanished.

After Khata'i pushed the Khazari from Persis, the Persics declared war on Anatol Ayh, demanding to become the seat of the empire. The infighting lasted decades, until Sultana Soraya of House Chaghri suggested a marriage between herself and Shah Fardhead when he took the throne. She was widely supported bt the Anatoli and thiose Persics that wanted peace, but many Anatoli saw Khata'i as a traitor and demanded that Farhad be tested first. Farhad, desperate for peace, engaged in a hundred tests set forth by the Imperial Divan, touring the entire empire. Secretly, the sultana was so impressed by him that she put a body double in her throne and headed out to help him. The two became lovers, and by the time the trials were over, they were ready to co-lead their empire.

It would be some time before trouble came again - just last generation. Emperor Shareef was on the throne then, long considered wise and fair. His only real failure was that he ceded Numa back to its people after controlling it proved too costly. This loss haunted him, as he wanted to give a united, powerful nation to his daughter and heir, Safiye. He had her groomed to be the perfect ruler, with teachers from each nation. Safiye became best friends with Princess Batya of Sarmion, as well, and she was sent on a tour of the empire to learn more about it, remaining away for the better part of a decade. No one knows if the Emperor died of natural causes or was murdered, but rumor has it that his son, Istani, was not a patient man. He seized the throne while his sister was away, taking his lover, Shah Jalil of Persis, as his consort. Jalil used the imperial throne's power to declare martial law in Persis in 1648, and a year later, the two created the Magician Registry, which expanded and radicalized Dinist distrust of magic to a new level. It required all spellcasters to give their identity to the state, in an effort to root out worshippers of demons and evil spirits. (In theory. In practice, it was to limit magic so that Istani could do his own method of demon-binding in secret, unopposed.) Cut to, well, the overthrow of Istani by his sister, more on which later.

Now, let's get into the Alwarithli as a society. While each nation within the Empire is unique, there are a number of things that they share in common. Specifically, their celebrations, education, commerce and medicine. There are four weeks throughout the year that are considered to be celebratory holidays under Imperial law, each falling on an equinox or solstice. In the Spring celebration, people decorate their homes with the first banches of green leaf and blossom. They will set a pot or plate of sprouts on the dinner table as a centerpiece, and on the last day of the week, everyone gets together with drinks and baskets of food to picnic in the public squares, meadows or parks. Ashurites also use this time to celebrate the discovery of their land and the burial of Yesu. Because the fig tree is central in the story of Yesu and the first Ashurite settlers, they traditionally plant figs during the holiday, and bake and eat fig cakes as well as setting out large platters of both fresh and dried figs to snack on.

In Summer, on the solstice, people put large tubs of water outside, splashing each other and hurling water around. This water feast will inevitably draw in the mischevious jinn known as perian, who secretly mingle with the revelers and occasionally throw splashes of water themselves. At the end of the day, those they find worthy will not suffer drought that summer. In this time, the Yachidi make a point of celebrating their covenant with Theus, studying the rituals and practices laid down for them. All Yachidi learn these by heart, but also are taught not to take them for granted. One way they study is for groups to come together pick a single law from the Tariyag, as the Yachidi list of 613 divine laws are known, to discuss. During their study feasts, the Yachidi do not eat meat and use a vast amount of dairy products to make food such as rice pudding or cheese pastries.

In Autumn, with the harvest is a holiday celebration about sharing in the wealth of the land. People give gifts to each other in the form of baskets of food, and the wealth give food and old clothing to the poor. The Anatoli and Persic have a tradition of leaving on pilgrimage on the final day of the autumn holiday week. Families prepare for it over the entire preceding year so they may weave special pilgrim's robes, which have unique geometrical themes that are special to each family and repeat in different patterns for each family member. Pilgrims receive gifts of food form their family and friends to take on the journey, and are typically seen off by a crowd that follows them to the edge of town, singing songs and waving paper flags.

In Winter, families come together by the light of the fire and the oil lamp for opulent meals. On the night of the solstice, the Yasnavans light magnificent bonfires in the center of their towns and cities for the fire ceremony. Smaller fires are also lit for those who are brave enough to jump through them, either to show off or for ritual purification. While some 8th Sea Tribes also observe these Yasnavan rites, they have also interwoven the Feast of Sacrifice. Each tribe raises a special herd, known as the Glorious Herd, which is sacrificed to the serpent Gocihr on the morning after the solstice. Once the bonfire goes out, the goats are placed in the ashes, and one person remains to witness the sacrifice's acceptance. They may never speak of what they say, except to tell if the sacrifice was accepted or not.

All families and households in the Empire share one love: kaffee. Every family has its own kaffee pot. In Persis or the 8th Sea, such pots are shaped like an hourglass with a crescent-shaped beak, while in Anatol Ayh, Sarmion and Ashur, they are small pans with long handles. Their often intricate designs and high quality show their importance, and in the Empire, there are no cheap kaffee pots. The pot is important because kaffee is drunk at every social gathering of any kind. Happy occasions have highly sweetened kaffee, and somber events use bitter, unsweetened kaffee. Offering kaffee to a guest implies that they are trusted and welcomed, and it is very rude to refuse a cup. Not offering kaffee, on the other hand, is a clear message that when hospitality no longer applies, the visitors are very much not welcome. Many say that they can read the future in the grounds the remain in the kaffee cup. To read the grounds, one flips the cup upside down onto a saucer after drinking, so that the grounds run down the sides and form a pattern. The topic to be scried on must be decided before drinking, and may be strengthened by putting a symbolic object on the cup while the grounds settle. Of course, you need to be a skilled kaffee reader to tell the meaning of the residue. The ability is fairly common, however, and most people have a friend or family member that claims to have the gift. Skeptics often say such predictions are self-fulfilling prophesies, but there have been famous readings of legend that contradict them. Most Crescents have at least some deference for the practice and predictions, on the grounds of better safe than sorry.

The Persic and Tribal kaffee drinkers rarely add sugar to their kaffee, so that the bitterness can complement their honeyed pastries, though they often do add cardamom or saffron or other aromatic spices. Anatoli, Sarmion and Ashurite drinkers prefer a sweeter blend, often brewing multiple pots of varying sweetness for guests to choose from. They also often serve their kaffee with soft, sickle-shaped candies of starch and sugar gel, known as hilal, or crescents. Kaffee is also frequently enjoyed at kaffee houses found throught cities of the empire. No city has so many as Ashur, however. These places often have a terrace in which locals gather for gossip or to argue politics. While such discussions may grow heated, it is generally considered that in a kaffee house one must remain civil, as it is common ground where all are welcome, regardless of nationality or religion.

Next time: Education.

The Crescent Empire - The Good Life

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - The Good Life

It is rather widespread knowledge that the Crescent Empire has some of the best educated citizens on the planet. Even their poor and peasants receive an education that a Thean peasant can only dream of. This is because of the Dinists. One of the teachings of the Second Prophet is that al-Musawwir is 'the Educator of all the Worlds,' and therefore it is the responsibility of all Dinists to ensure that any person born in their society is educated. Not that their education is limited to the Dinist faith, of course. Alwarithli consider a full education to cover all parts of life, including art, law, customs, literature, fighting, science and other useful skills. They have an approximate 99% literacy rate, and see the ability to read as a right granted by al-Musawwir. They hold a special respect and reverence for scholars.

Typically, a Crescent education begins at home, at the age of four. After that, a child is expected to attend school until they become of age, which is not exclusively based on chronological age, but also on ability to tell right from wrong. Most adults that can afford to do so attend university, and while many Theans see universities as a Castillian innovation, the Alwarithli have had them for centuries and often these universities have thousands of students. The university is in many ways a mirror of their views on the importance of education to the soul. The University of al-Qarawiyyin has plain and simple columns and arches, but intricate arabesque floors, which are lined with reed mats rather than rich carpets. These floors are designed as a place to sit, think and speak. They provide a sense of intimacy and home while studying, entirely by design.

The scientific method of experimentation, so revered in modern Theah, was pioneered by the philosopher al-Basri nearly 600 years ago in the Empire. Crescent intellectuals also developed the zero and the current numeric system, which has by now been widely adopted in Theah in place of the Old Empire of Numa's letter system. The most significant advance in Imperial science, however, is their develop of abstract math, known as al-jabr, or algebra in Theah. It is an essential (if highly abstract and theoretical) tool for any science, engineering, medicine or economic study, among other things. The Crescents also excel in their current studies of natural philosophy. They have recently developed a theory of 'struggle for existence' (read: evolution) which considers that animals must compete with each other and predicts that some must become extinct while others thrive. A recent offshoot of the theory even suggests that humans derive from advanced animals, or, as posited by the philosophy Al-Hadrami: "the animal kingdom was developed, its species multiplied, and in the gradual process of Creation, it ended in humans arising from the world of the monkeys."

Theans didn't acquire paper technology until some time after the Crescent Empire did. In a period when the largest Thean library contained only 36 volumes, comparably large libraries in the Empire of the same period had over 400,000 each. The transition from single-sheet rolls of papyrus to multi-page codices (that is, books) was pioneered in the Empire. Their greatest library, however, is the Royal Library of Iskandar, once a modest palace library that has now grown to such a size that the locals know it mostly as the Labyrinth. It was opened to public use in 1002, and it continues to grow at shocking speed, with more and more wings being built and some areas supposedly sealed off for centuries. The place is an impossible maze of stairs and passages full of books and knowledge.

The official imperial currency is the lyra, a golden coin accepted across the Empire, although the new ones bearing Empress Safiye's face may not be appreciated in areas where she is opposed. The Crescent Empire holds merchants and trade to be an extremely worthy endeavor and places no restrictions whatsoever on foreigners doing business in their lands. Tujar, or merchants, are considered a cornerstone of Crescent society, particularly in cities, and numerous lawmakers and lawyers have written extensively on how to appropriately and honorably do business. They boil down, largely, to a focus on both quality and quantity of goods, sold at a fair price. What a fair price is, however, is up for debate, hence the long Crescent tradition of haggling. Endless, loud debates over the worth or quality of goods can be heard anywhere you go in the Imperial lands, forming a sort of background noise to life in the Empire.

Aside from near-universal education, the Crescent peasantry also have one major quality of life improvement over most Theans: near-universal healthcare. All citizens of the Empire have free access to public hospitals, which work 24 hours a day and are staffed by government-certified doctors. These hospitals are typically run by three-person boards of administrators - one non-medical manager, one dean of medicine, and one chief pharmacist. There is never any charge. This is possible due to the waaf, a donations fund run by the government. While some donations to the fund are wholly voluntary, most of its wealth comes from fines levied as punishment for various crimes, the most common form of judicial punishment in the Empire. A portion is also drawn from the piracy tax, which all pirates must pay for the right to practice their trade in Crescent waters against non-Crescent ships. This makes many successful pirates popular folk heroes.

Sports and physical culture are widespread across the Empire, and sporting events are often so important that even wars will not prevent them from happening. The Anatoli word 'zurkhaneh' refers to a gym in which martial arts and dance are practiced and taught. These practices are often somewhat spiritual. Dinists, for example, practice dance and athletics as takrar, a form of religious repetition and meditation, while Yasnvans of the cult of Mica, Angel of Contracts, have founded many famous zurkhaneh. In these facilities, athletes train their muscles by use of enormous clubs, far too heavy and large to be used practically in combat...although legend has it that the great Persic hero Rostam was so big and so strong that he wielded one of these as his primary weapon.

The dances of the Empire share many characteristics with the northern nation of Agnivarsa, and many scholar speculate that the dances of Agnivarsa, such as kathak, spread south with Agnivarsan nomads. Kathak and similar dances are performative rather than social, meant to entertain watchers. Court dance, as it is known in the Empire, uses flowing garments, elegant figures and ritualized motions that mime everyday activity such as hunting or grooming, or mimic scenes from myth and story. Line and chain dances, such as the dabke and horah of Sarmion, are common at weddings at parties, often involving dancers joining hands and performing lots of rhythmic leaping and stomping. The limited mobility from holding hands with possibly poor dancers makes it an attractive challenge for many youths. Sometimes they will form rings, but if not, the best, most egotistical or most drunk dancers will take up the end points, waving a colorful handkerchief with the free hand and showboating. The most famous dancers of the Crescent, however, are the whirling dervishes, who spin while chanting or singing hymns accompanied by tambourine, flute and bells. Their spinning sends them into a state of heightened and ecstatic awareness of al-Musawwir.

Wrestling is easily the most popular sport in the Empire. Almost every region with its own name also has its own word for wrestling and its own rules, though some forms have gained international appel. Anatol Ayh's oil wrestling is especially popular. Two wrestlers compete while nearly naked and covered in vast quantities of olive oil, which they ritually apply to each other in a show of respect before the match. An annual oil wrestling championship happens every year in Iskandar, and has not been cancelled even once in centuries - including one year when an earthquake interrupted it. While Anatol Ayh normally wins, Numanari, Vesten, Ussuran and Persic wrestlers often make strong showings. Besides this, they also consider chess to be a form of martial art, imported originally from Cathay and now often played in zurkhaneh. The words 'chess' and 'check' are derived from the Persic 'shah', the word said in the Crescent when threatening the king piece. Visiting Theans are also often surprised to learn that the bishop is known in the Empire as an elephant, and the rook is a chariot. Serious athletes may have up to two chess games a day - one before exercise when the mind is fresh, and one as a cooldown to challenge the mind with critical thought while tired.

Any sport done from horseback can be found somewhere in the Empire. One of the most popular spectator sports of the region is chogan, a Persic sport that began as a form of cavalry training during the Haxamanisiya Empire's reign. Two teams of four riders use mallets to knock balls into goals at the enemy's endo f the field. Chogan is a sport requiring significant resources to learn and to play, so while it draws huge crowds when major teams play each other, it is rarely popular to actually play among common folk, except in areas with high Khazari populations, such as Gallenia in Ussura.

Next time: Art and poetry.

The Crescent Empire - Hello Poetry

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Hello Poetry

In the Empire, poetry is extremely important. Any written word you want someone to remember - a recipe, directions, a story of a hero - is made into a poem, which is viewed as the ultimate mnemonic device. There are several styles of popular Crescent poetry. The mathnawi is originally Persic, but is now common in Anatoli and greater Katabic works as well. A mathnawi is made of rhyming couplets in which each line is made of eleven syllables (or, much more rarely, ten). Traditionally, mathnawi are written on romance, heroism and religion. An epic mathnawi will often have a frame narrative that tells the main story, interspersed with parables or anecdotes of didactic relevance, which may be told inm character in the frame or may just be interspersed without context. We also get an example of it, which I will share to show you how, ah, workmanlike the poetry is in this book.

Last Gasp posted:

Give me one instant more, dear, before we part,
ten seconds with my hand pressed over your heart.
Let me forget the space between my palm and
your skin. Let me forget I once lacked your hand
in my hair, guiding my mouth to speak prayers
into your neck. Fingers spiraling your hair
between them, trading freedom for sensation,
sensation for holy annihilation,
light for darkness, darkness for life, sharing sighs,
gasps, glances crackling like lightning between eyes.
Bite down. Taste my blood and bone between your teeth.
Draw me in with your tongue, so you know beneath
my wayward shell, that every fragment craves you.
In you, I am the holocaust thrown into
the flame which must not know any drop of blood,
the tree which fell on the cobra's guarding hook,
the chant spoken and never repeated.
One more breath, dear - yes, this was all I needed.

A piyyut is a poem, typically in Dibre or Katabic, which expresses religious sentiments. Piyyutim are often set to music and are often acrostics, with the first letter of each line spelling out a religiously significant name or word, or in some cases just the author's name. There are many and complex meters and rhyme schemes which are permited, though certain patters are popular in Katabic verse, such as the ruba'i, or four-line poem.

The Rock Climbers posted:

You brave climbers, who fear no height,
Exalt Honeycomb, sun-bleached white.
Should God chance to gaze from high Heaven
Upon us, He'll see you first, right?

Qasida is the third of the three most popular poetic forms, originating from ancient Katab. The 8th Sea Tribes originated their qasa'id as panegyrics, odes in praise of various things or petitions to a patron for a boon. Since that time, they have become quite popular in several languages, and the most popular form of the qasida is the ghazal, a poem of romantic or divine love (or both) with a rhyme that precedes a repeated refrain.

Time Passed In Darkness posted:

The city is dark. All that I am you hold here in your hand.
Every lamp's and hearth's fire dies, and you feal my fear in your hand.
No camel's or horse's hooves fall, no ox pulls the laden cart,
no beast stirs save me, burdened with care, whom you steer with your hand.
In the distance, muskets crack, cannons pound castle walls, bombs burst.
When flame comes at last, I'll burn like sacrifice, searing your hand.
Will clamor or silence cloud my mind? What last illusion waits?
Or might I dream of you sheltering my heart, dear, in your hands?
You're so far away, but while I wait, right now, you're all I feel.
The city is dark. All that I am you hold here in your hand.

Painting is fairly underdeveloped in the Empire, especially compared to Theah. It is focused primarily on mosaics and painted ceilings, or on illuminated contracts, a form of ceremonial documentation decorated with miniatures and scrollwork on their borders. These are often wedding contracts, known as a kiab in most nations or a ketubah in Sarmion, and they are often centerpieces for new households. The Sarmions have a long history painting the interor of their religious buildings and palaces, depicting the skies and particularly heavenly scenes of stars and constellations. They also often paint poems, declarations or prayers on walls, as well as mystical words. Graffiti is also common for political statements, and intricate, politically motivated public vandalism is a growing form of artistic expression.

Pottery as an art is as much a necessity as a luxury. Potters make most of the common flatware of the Empire, along with drinking vessels and religious objects. Further, because food must often be sealed away from the sand, pottery must be sturdy as well as pretty. The Orthodox of Ashur refuse to produce artistic representations of religious figures, such as the Prophets, and Ashurite pottery focuses instead on natural scenes or abstract art. However, they often use these depictions to encode messages as a way to transmit information across long distances. This is a particularly popular practice among the Assassins of Ashur.

Weaving has a long, long history in the Empire, with many traditions of complex fabrics for clothes, tapestries and carpet. Form and fasion have long fought each other, given the need for comfort in often brutal temperature. Clothing often bears tribal and family affiliation in is intricate patterns, crests and designs, while tapestries displaying family lineage are a common art piece in Sarmion and Persic houses. Fabric and textiles of the Empire are highly fashionable in Theah and Ifri as well these days. Persis, of course, is known for its carpets - the finest in all the world. These carpets bear intricate geometric patterns and weaving techniques that make them both beautiful and functional. The most basic carpets use natural and geometric patterns, similar to Persic pottery, while more advanced ones show lavish patterns in lush colors. History says that in a time before the crackdown on sorcery, Persic carpets were able to fly, crossing vast deserts. This is no longer true, and the art of making a flying carpet is long since lost, and often considered to be mere legend in the first place.

The greatest architectural feats of the Empire are, as in Theah, found primarily in religious buildings. The most famous of these are the Dinist mosques, modeled after the home of the Second Prophet. These structures vary wildly, but often have domes, minarets and prayer halls. Al-Din is the largest of the faiths in the Empire, and mosques can be found in just about any urban area. They often function as community centers, information hubs, schools and courts as well as religious buildings. The domes and minarets of the mosques mark Crescent skylines, and rather than straight beams, Crescent architects have long favored pointed arches for mosques. This better supports the heavy minarets and domes, nad allows for taller buildings with more space. The practice of arch construction dates back to classical Katabic archteciture, which Crescent architects have long studied and used to produce wonders beyond what most Thean architecture has historically been capable of. The Yachidi also produce their own religious buildings, though less numerous. These are kehillah, a word taken from a Sarmion expression about community, and are also called synagogues. They are also highly variable in design, but typically have a large main sanctuary hall, plus areas devoted to study and other areas for social and community interaction.

Secular architecture is considerably less advanced, with only palaces and military constructions being of any real note. The palaces are large and often beautiful, but differ little in construction from the average building and rarely reach the magnificence of a mosque or synagogue. Rather, they use Numanari designs and techniques, and are typically without luxuries beyond baths, audience halls and various amenities. However, the palace structure is clearly organized for defense,w ith public areas, armories, stables, kitchens and so on being arranged around the outer edge, and the inner rooms being better guarded, for personal use, sleepng areas, observatories, menageries, libraries or treasuries. Military buildings tend to be built into Katab ruins, and so often feature a mix of ancient designs and brick walls, with isolated enclosures hiding secret passages.

Next time: Religion, Part One

The Crescent Empire - One Of The Best Takes On Fantasy Faux Islam Ever

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - One Of The Best Takes On Fantasy Faux Islam Ever

It is impossible to speak about the Empire without talking about faith. The Empire is home to Dinists, Yachidi, Yasnavans and Orthodox, and many love to do little more than to learn about each other's faiths and views, especially if the person speaking to them can tell them in an intelligent way. The core belief that unites all of these faiths is the ideal of peace. While putting peace into practice is easier said than done, the concept unifies the Empire. While many with power have abused the idea of faith in order to gain more powerful, they have never gone unpunished. Faith in something greater is a force for equality in the Empire. It is also why most Crescents were and are entirely unable to accept the idea of the Third Prophet as a true prophet. His conquest of Vaticine lands and his rejection of the peaceful teachings of the Prophets before him show him, in their eyes, to be far from the Creator. This is a point on which all Alwarithli generally agree.

While most Alwarithli are religious in some sense, the Anatoli tend to be more secular than the others, focusing on a modernist view of al-Din which supports diversity and individual freedom. The 8th Sea tends to be quite devout, but in a way that is shaped by necessity and practicality about practice in a deadly desert. Persis and Sarmion are both highly religious, but neither can compare to Ashur, which many Crescents generally see as fanatically devoted. There are few Vaticines in the Empire, and while they are welcome to come, most Imperial citizens have a bias against them for their belief in the Third Prophet. This is especially true of the Inquisition. Inquisitors are as fanatical as an Ashurite, yet possess none of Ashur's egalitarian pacifism, and they are widely despised and hated within the Empire. While Inquisitors are not barred from travel, any that enters the borders of the Empire is likely to be monitored heavily, probably by a Janissary or two.

Al-Din, Katabic for "the faith", is built on the teachings of the First and Second Prophets. It is the must numerous and widespread religion on the planet, having adherents throughout Theah, Ifri, Cathay and, of course, the Empire of the Crescent Moon, where it is the official state religion, as decreed by the Caliph in Iskandar. Al-Din is primarily derived from the works and teachings of former Orthodox slave and mendicant Khalil ibn Mustafa al-Thaji. Better knwon as the Second Prophet, he rarely spoke explicitly about religion, but his followers documented his life and travels in meticulous detail, and his poems about nature and fables still survive. He referred to Theus as al-Musawwir, the Divine Artist. Creation is the blueprint for His masterpiece, and must be constantly improved through the acts of humans. At some sublime point, referred to as al-Badi`, which is misleadingly translated as Heaven or Judgment Day, al-Musawwir will finally perfect His creation and unite with it. Because art is, definitionally, imperfect, this apotheosis cannot ever actually happen.

Therefore, Dinists attempt to eliminate the metaphysical difference between self and other - that is, between you and the rest of Creation. This process is often seen, even by Dinists, as too paradoxical to be approached from an entirely serious and traditional view, and so influential scholars often view al-Din through the lens of play, treating it as a game that spans all lives, joyful and challenging in equal amounts, and always educational. The joy of play and freedom of ideas leads many Dinists to marry outside the faith. Because religion is of the world, all are free to research their own trails blazed in the pursuit of al-Badi`. The Dinsit community has over centuries built up several traditions that assist in breaching the boundary of selfness. These are referred to as the Three Duties, and are as close to strict commandments as a Dinist has.

The first of the Three Duties is Itef, Kindness. This is the most important of the Three Duties, and it states that all Dinists must help those in need. Improving the lives of others is the most direct approach to al-Badi`. Communities that lack formal schools or universities rely on Dinists practicing itef to teach children for primary or secondary education, and this is common as people like to follow the example of the followers of Khalil, whose adult followers shared the burden of teaching children. Second is Dikr, Remembrance. A dikr (plural: adkar) is a meditative chant composed by a Dinist for prayer, as a personal oath of faith. Adolescents typically choose a sentence from Dinist scripture, then modify and add to it over time. Most adkar are verbal, but some sung or danced forms are popular with some devotional orders. Last is Muthabera, Perseverance. The life of the Prophet Khalil was full of needless hardship. He was born a slave, spent most of his life on a pointless quest intended to kill him, was made homeless and was often endangered. Suffering and hardship inform every Dinist's personal journey. Thus, every year a Dinist usually chooses one month in which to take on a hardship they do not normally experience. Many communities engage in muthabera together, with fasting during daylight hours being a common form of communal muthabera, along with undertaking service to the community or engaging in public works projects, such as the building of hospitals or aqueducts. Many suyah, or Dinist teachers, absolve those who are physically or mentally disabled from needing to participate in muthabera.

Dinists are responsible for their own practice and have few if any laws set down in stone. However, al-Din does not absolve its followers of blame if they cause others to suffer. Some taboos exist among them, however, and while they are not immutable or universal, they are common to most Dinists. Revealing the head or sometimes even the face is considered to be gauche among Crescent Dinists. Wearing a head covering spritiually represents the insignifiance of selfness in general and one's physical features (like hair) in particular. Most Dinists wear hats or head coverings, though it is growing less popular these days. North Ifrian Amazigh and 8th Sea Tribes often also wear an additional veil or mask, a practice which has been taken up in some other places as well. This shows devotion to the divine, and is also a practical way to avoid getting sand in your mouth in high winds. Mind-altering substances, such as kaffee, wine or tea, feature prominently in some Dinist practice and especially in Dinist poetry, but al-Din frowns heavily on addiction, which is seen to lock the self in the body and prevent connection to al-Musawwir. Sorcery is not, technically, an affront to al-Musawwir, but al-Din treats it in a similar way to violence: it is something that should only be used in the service of the Creator or to help those in need. Many sorceries within the Empire or in nearby Sarmatia are granted by entities that al-Din considers demonic. Even the Yasnavan ahuras are seen as suspect, because many Alwarithli who aren't themselves Yasnavan consider them to be similar to jinn.

So, history! Khalil ibn Mustafa al-Thaji was a slave in service to Rauf, sorcerer-king of the state of Thaj, a small Katabic-speaking nation on the borders of Persis and Anatol Ayh. He cared fpr the menagerie of birds owned by Emir Rauf and his court, and he was renowned for his knowledge of and skill at caring for these animals, whom he seemed able to speak to. The emir's daughter, Shahnaz, resented her father's affection for Khalil, and one day, when the emir was away on business and she was left in charge, she summoned Khalil and his birds. She ordered him to capture a simurgh and bring it to the court, leaving his family behind as insurance in case of his failure. If he were to return without it, he would die. The simurgh, of course, was a legend - the ruler of all things that flew. A mortal would never find one if it even existed. And so, Khalil wandered aimlessly, the birds being his only companions at first. Eventually, however, he began to gather followers, primarily the poor, mendicant, gyrovagues and others with nothing to lose, who were inspired by his cheer in the face of a suicide mission. He practiced poetry, song, storytelling, dance and the teachings he learned from his Orthodox and Yachidi traveling companions to cope with the dangers of the journey.

Eventually, Khalil became famous. Princess Shahnaz was infuriated that banishing Khalil had not killed him, but made him powerful. Khalil decided, meanwhile, to search Theah. His companions warned him not to, for Theah was full of wicked sorcerers, but he went anyway. In Curonia, he met a diabolist that attempted to destroy him, but the flames that the sorcerer hurled were unable to touch Khalil, even though he wielded only his staff for protection. When the smpke cleared, she fell to her knees and begged mercy, and Khalil invited her to join his caravan. Years later, he returned to Thaj with a wife and children, and thousands of followers. He still had no simurgh, and he knew he would be executed. By then, he and his followers had made an expansive canon of artwork, stories and religious ideas, which became the foundation for al-Din after the Prophet's death. Khalil did not care that he would die, for he had learned that there was no difference between himself and the world, that he was nothing, and therefore everything. Shahnaz attacked him on sight, and he set down his staff and allowed her magic to destroy him. As his body burned, a great simurgh emerged from the fire and flew away.

Al-Din is sometimes called the world's most disorganized organized religion. It is auto-iconoclastic and self-contradictory - purposefully so - and draws on many different sources. It is not a map telling you where to end up and how to get there, but a compass. It tells you which way to go, but not what happens once you arrive - or where to arrive. The main 'priests' are the mudarris al-Din, or just mudarris (or suyah), translate as 'teachers of al-Din', those who lead others in practice. They are the only authority figure present in every kind of Dinist sect, and often the only ones present at all. A mudarris may operate a mosque, scheduling prayer and scripture study at certain times of day, which are called out from the minaret tower. The mudarris carries a decorated staff to signify their office, identify as priests and are often users of the Art of the Second Prophet. Dervishes are Dinist monks that take a vow of poverty, spending most of their time practicing takrar. While this originally meant just repetition of a dikr for meditation, it now covers any faith-focused devotional art performed in repetition, from dance and song to calligraphy to self-mortification to martial arts. Non-dervishes may practice takrar as well, of course. Most dervish orders focus on a specific craft or art for their takrar, both devotionally and to service the communities they pass through, whom they rely on for food and housing. Al-Din also adopted the Yachidist academic tradition, to the point that rebbeim and mudarris often found academic groups together. At first the stereotype was that Yachidi taught natural philosophy and math, while the Dinists handled history and humanities, and they both argued philosophy, but such divisions are ancient history these days. Dinists scholars, especially those that treat scholarship as takrar, sometimes treat the hierarchy of academia as a surrogate for a religious hierarchy. This is not the most controversial religious authority, however - that'd be the Caliph, currently Empress Safiye. The Caliphate originally formed after Khalil's death, to serve as spiritual leader in his place and protect his followers. The Caliph worries about administration, self-defense and so on as itef to the entire community of Dinists. Many Dinists from outside the Empire, however, have pointed out that Khalil's philosophy and most Dinist commentary imply that a Caliph or anything like it are anathema to the religion. Still, the Caliphate is as old as the faith itself, nearly, and many Dinists reason that if someone must rule them by fire and force, that ruler may as well be a Dinist.

The Anashid deserve special mention - they are a heretical sect of al-Din, unrecognized by most of the faith because of their belief in a Third Prophet, Irshad bint Jamila, whom they say was Khalil's daughter. Most Dinists reject this - firstly, because there is no proof whatsoever that she was, secondly because she supported violent measures to liberate Ashur from the Empire, and lastly because many of Irshad's laws are apparently known only to the Guardian of the First Garden, who seems to quote them whenever he needs to give justification for the actions of the Assassins to one of his followers. While in modern times, the Anashid are peaceful to the point of near pacifism, they are proud of their religious heritage. Besides this doctrinal difference (and those discussed in the Sarmatian Commonwealth stuff) there is relatively little difference in the practices and life of Anashid and mainstream Dinists.

Next time: Ahurayasna

The Crescent Empire - The Fire Within

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - The Fire Within

Ahurayasna is the ancestral faith of Persis and the 8th Sea, dating back to the prehistory of the Crescent, haunted by jinn. It is inextricably tied to the Persic state, and yet despiet this, it is persecuted today within Persis. The faith says that all exists in a cosmic struggle between good and evil. In the conceptual space that exists beyond mortal time and space, Good and Evil are personified by Zenea (or God) and Namirha (or the Devil) respectively. Zenea and Namirha each gave birth to a host of creatures that mix conceptual and mortal, known as ahuras and daevas, or angels and devils, or even jinn - though Yasnavans, as the faithful are known, find 'jinn' an extremely disrespectful term if applied to an angel. The mortal world serves as the proxy battleground for Good and Evil, via the creatures living there. Good and Evil are each contained within every human, and each ultimately leans to one or the other. A good person, who is a follower of Right, love and civilization, is known as asavan. A bad person, who has been influenced by demons or their own worse nature, is known as dragvani - deceiver, literally, though it covers a multitude of sins. There is not considered to be any middle ground between absolute Good and absolute Evil. Besides Zenea, there are considered to be twelve primary ahura: Arsalan, Dawna, Farzaneh, Nazanin, Omideh, Parshand, Salar, Shamisa, Shayesta, Utabar, Vafa and Zharfa. Some speak of a 13th asura, Hediyeh, who was cast out by the others, but most dismiss her as pure rumor. These mightiest of angels sang to the Prophet Zohreh, giving a set of holy precepts that describe the proper behavior of an asavan.

Zenea's Law is this: Meditate on the Divine. Zenea is the Divine Parent, the Supreme Being, mother and father of all ahuras, personification of all consciousness. By purifying your consciousness of evil, you defend Zenea against Namirha. Some Yasnavans believe that al-Musawwir of al-Din and Zenea are the same being from different perspectives, but the conflict between al-Din and Ahurayasna in Persis means this view is rare there.

quote:

Imbue us, O Zenea, with Thine own nature, now as Thou didst when the first Sun rose over the young world.
As the herder guards the lfock, let us guard the sacred mind against Namirha's depredations, the serpents at our heels.

Shamisa's Law is this: Do Not Lie. Shamisa is the Angel of Light and Truth, personification of the sun, fire and understanding. The term Shamisa refers both to righteousness and to truth and to the principle of goodness. Shamisa is the one that taught humanity how to divide asavans from dragvants. Lying to other Yasnavans is considered entirely unacceptable, though it is permitted to decline to speak about something. Lying to non-Yasnavans is a matter under debate even now. Some say that non-Yasnavans exist outside the Yasnavan social contract and so do not require total honesty, while others say that picking and choosing those you must be honest with is hypocrisy. The prohibition against theft is part of this law as well, for theft is considered a form of lying about property.

quote:

O Shamisa, light the flame of honesty, on which we build the sacrament of civilization.
Let us speak plainly to one another, for lies are the purest of all evils.

Arsalan's Law is this: Respect All Living Creatures. Arsalan is the Angel of Animals and Judgment, ruler of all beasts. Animals are fundamentally good in their instincts, even if they lack human intellect. By lessons and parables of the animal world, Arsalan teaches the Yasnavans to make prudent, virtuous decisions. Early Yasnavan herders had to constantly guard against livestock theft, and they banded together against the daeva-worshippers, whose rituals deeply involved fire and sacrifice. Yasnavans even now reject all animal cruelty. They do not overhunt, and they are not permitted to eat cows, dogs or carrion birds. Most 8th Sea tribes add other animals to this list, based on their tutelary angels' favored species.

quote:

How shall the herd follow an unrighteous drover?
How shall the human survive without Nature's aid?
We reject the one who sacrifices your gifts in vain, disparaging you, Arsalan.

Vafa's Law is this: Take Refuge in Faith. Vafa, the Angel of the Earth and Piety, represents the ground and earth beneath us and the faith that should lie beneath all thoughts. Vafa shaped human views of self, architecture and creation, and defined the position of the magi as spiritual leaders as well as how to build the Temple of Hymn properly and the daxdana. More on those in a bit.

quote:

The arguments of the unjust and the deceivers melt away in the face of your reason, O Vafa.
Let the congregants surround the heart and the undertakers maintain the lime-pit.

Salar's Law is this: Obey Righteous Kings, Cast Down Tyrants. The divine right of kings and the rule of law flow from Salar, Angel of Metal and Rulership. He is thje master of all things metal, the bringer of the crown and the mace, and he taught humans to obey their rightful leaders. Shalar and Shamisa imbue the true kings and queens with farr, the luminescence that shines from the face of a worthy ruler. This is the law that keeps both the elders of the 8th Sea and the Persic shah in charge. Yasnavans have a religious duty to support and obey a rightful ruler...and to raise arms against an unjust one.

quote:

Grant us, Salar, the eye of judgment that sees the divine farr on the righteous monarch's face.
May the royal laws dleiver us from tyrants who serve unrighteous spirits, devils and foul Namirha.

It should be noted that Namirha is not the true name of Evil. The true name of this being is never written or spoken save in spells to repel or bind him. Namirha means 'Destructive Mind', as Namirha represents consciousness twisted towards evil. However, his deadliest scheme is also his undoing. He manifested in the mind of Azdaha, the Devil-King of Serpents, who established the Persic throne. However, the first Yasnavans, under the guidance of Ziba the Beloved, defeated Namirha and Azdaha, binding the serpent king beneath a mountain in a trap. Namirha now remains trapped in Azdaha's mind and lineage, though his curse on the throne has imbued every shah with a splinter of Namirha's nature.

Which brings us to the history of the religion. In ancient times, the Crescent was a dangerous place. Mighty rulers sought the advice of spirits, who primised them power and success if they were obeyed and worshipped. The forst of the Yasnavan prophets was Zohreh, a cowherd on the border of modern Persis and the 8th Sea. While she was lost in the wilds, she received a vision from holy beings that had the wings of vultures, who gave her the laws of civilization. Her hymns to and about these angels spread through Persis and the 8th Sea, until nearly every tribe worshipped them in addition to local spirits. After Zohreh, Siba and Azdaha, more on whom in the Persis chapter, the religion of Ahurayasna solidified into the 8th Sea traditionalist sect and the Persic clerical theocracy. Ziba taught her children and the magi to summon and bind demons, and the descendants of Ziba and Azdaha have fought ever since to control the throne.

Ideological tension between Ahurayasna and al-Din is central to the fights between the shahs of Persis and the Caliphs of Anatol Ayh. Yasnavans see al-Din as impractical, undisciplined, confusing and devoid of the absolute truth and straightforward laws that structure all good things. Dinists, on the other hand, consider Ahurayasna naive, unforgiving and overly simple, too quick to judge people with moral absolutes and offering most people no chance to improve themselves. Both religions believe in kindness to others, but Yasnavans believe it is expressed through the state and obedience, while Dinists distrust such hierarchy and focus more on educational relationships. It is often said that Ahurayasna is all ends, no means, and al-Din is all means, no ends. However, the two need not be entirely in conflict. Dinists who quest to end the division of self and other deeply respect Yasnavan funeral traditions, which literally return the body to nature. Yasnavans also believe that the Prophet Khalil's rapport with birds is inherently holy. There are many mixed Yasnavan/Dinist families, as neither religion discourages intermarriage with other monotheists (or at least borderline monotheists). Persic poetry has often cross-pollinated the two faiths' ideas, with poor dervishes punishing the haughty and rewarding the good, mighty Yasnavan sorcerer-kings and the simurgh appearing as stock figures in both religions' poetic literature.

Yasnavans do believe in the Divine Right of Kings; however, they also hold their monarchs to a much higher standard of good and evil than others, because their actions prove whether they rule by divine right or evil tyranny. In the 8th Sea, the eldest of each tribe claims this right, while in Persis, it is claimed by the shah, and symbolized in the shah's ox-headed mace, which is a holy weapon representing Zenea's blessings, as well as the herds and the people of Persis. It is said that a truly rtighteous ruler, strong and good, glows from within with farr, a sort of divine radiance that is visible in the beauty of their facial features. Shah Jalil is the first Persic ruler after Khata'i to reject the Yasnavan faith, despite paradoxically claiming he still has divine right. Second to the ruler is the archmaga, the highest religious authority. In the 8th Sea, an archmaga is an elder maga rather than any established authority, while in Persis, the shah appoints an archmaga. Below the archamaga are the magi, the priests that maintain the Temple of Hymn and the daxdanas, tend to the flocks and care for the animals that make up most of the religious treasury of the Magistry. The current Persic archmaga is Sivan, and he's basically had to do everything related to running Ahurayasna as a faith in light of Jalil's outright oppression of the Yasnavans. Sivan maintains the Palace of Hymn near Siphon, a huge structure with a towering daxdana on the roof and an eternal flame. Sivan is old and related to a number of Dinists, and is a master of cooperating with the Shah and the Dinist government. So much so, in fact, that no one suspects him of working with the rebel forces in secret, even though he's been doing so for years.

8th Sea Ahurayasna is closer to its origins than in Persis, focused on a tribal level and with different groups venerating different choirs of angels, who may not match up with the five ahuras that gave the law. These local groups generally add one to three tutelary spirits associated with a natural feature, like a species or river, and may grant some additional law or duty on top of the normal five, such as 'preserve trees in this valley' or 'do not harm the rock hyrax, which is sacred to me.' 8th Sea Yasnavans do not expect those of Persis or other tribes to obey their own laws unless they are guests in the tribe's territory, but they also refuse to recognize the authority of either the Persic archmaga or the shah.

The primary holy sites of the faith are the Temples of Hymn, Yasnavan places of worship foscued around the hearth, in which Shamisa's flame is tended by the magi and burns eternally. Yasnavans revere fire so deeply that they never allow it to touch the dead flesh of creature, even when cooking, and they consider cremation to be especially unholy. At dawn and dusk each day, magi lead the congregation in hymns, typically odes to angels, fables and new songs made by the magi or the locals. The faithful will often decorate the Temple walls with calligraphic poetry and illustrations of rulers, heroes and angels. Most major oases in the 8th Sea have a Temple of Hymn for use by any visitor. Because it's taboo to burn the dead, as was done by the evil sacrificial cults of the ancient past, Yasnavans use sky burial atop the daxdanas. These are circular towers, typically built on a hill or mountain near a river, to expose the dead to carrion birds. Daxdanas have a raised outer wall and a flat roof with concentric rings - the outer ring for adults, the inner for children. After the bodies are fully eaten, the skeletons rull into the central lime pit, disintegrate, and flow out with rainwater through coal and sand filters into the nearby river. Only specially trained pallbearer-magi, trained to manipulate the bones without compromising ritual purity, may enter daxdanas and do maintenance.

Next time: The Orthodox

The Crescent Empire - The Orthodoxy

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - The Orthodoxy

The basic doctrine of the Orthodoxy states that Heaven is Elohah (another name for Theus), and Elohah is Heaven. Elohah-who-is-Heaven is best described as a city, a forest, a living land and also every person within that forest-city-land, in a collective of infinite complexity. And also a Cathedral to the human spirit. In the beginning of time, all of the world was Elohah (and thus Heaven), but then came the Sundering. Some say this was caused by a great evil, some that it came from Elohah contemplating the existence of worlds outside itself. Either way, part of Heaven broke away from the rest. Now, all shards of Heaven wish to rejoin the great body of Elohah, and this is a thing that is right and good. Every shard that manages it brings something strange and complex and beautiful back to Heaven, making Elohah ever greater. Members of the Church, known as Disciples, seek to rejoin Elohah. To do this, they must love and honor the world and all in it, much as they love and honor themselves. Every person is divine, glorious, broken, strange and unique. Perfection cannot be achieved, because perfection would be Elohah, and all people exist as shards destined, someday, to rejoin Elohah. The First Prophet, Yesu, compared people to gardens - infinitely complex, intricate and beautiful, yet also wild, scary, flawed and different. Every person, Yesu said, was made by and beloved of Elohah. No one, even the strangest, most incomprehensible or most frightening, deserved to be discarded.

Yesu taught that all evil was that which separated the self from Elohah. Evil was jealousy, the desire to deny joy to others or failing to recognize or care for their complexity. Evil was selfishness, both for material things and the selfishness of believing that one was more inherently worthy than another, more important or better. To Elohah, all humans are beautiful and intricate, infinite yet small, and to rejoin Elohah, they had to learn to understand that view and the terrifying vastness of the universe. For the world to once again become Heaven, Yesu taught, it must be a "Heaven here below" - a place in which nothing was culled, where all souls loved the world and everything in it as they loved themselves. When a Disciple speaks of the End of the World, they refer to the entire world rejoining Elohah-who-is-Heaven, which is considered a good thing and a goal to work towards. As to how this is achieved, well, that's a matter of debate and controversy among the Orthodox. In life, Yesu hated any attempt to create a hierarchy among his Disciples. Even after his death, his Disciples respected his wishes and attempted no hierarchy, instead remaining friends but parting ways, each determined to start their own Church and bring Yesu's message to a different part of the world. Thus, many Orthodox sects were created, all of which claim Yesu as teacher and preach his basic doctrine, but differ in most other respects.

Typically speaking, most Orthodox sects share a few similarities which, while doctrinally based, are not strictly part of Yesu's doctrine. Firstly, they tend to be committed to pacifism and some amount of anti-materialism. They often have a disdain for hierarchy and a push for collectivism, to varying degrees. They usually revere nature (as a whole) and trees (specifically). They tend to focus on the concept of universal love over romantic love or familial love. Perhaps their most controversial piece of doctrine, however, is the belief that Yesu was the incarnation of Elohah on Terra, rather than just a Prophet. This puts them at odds with the al-Din and Vaticine successor traditions, which revere Yesu but believe him to be only the first of the messengers of Elohah/Theus/al-Musawwir.

Yesu was born a bastard and had no father. His mother was a Yachidi slave from Sarmion, Maryam bat Yakob, who worked a Numanari orchard plantation. Depending on how one interprets the text of the Orthodox, Yesu was either intersex ('both male and female') or neuter ('neither male nor female'), but his mother had to register him as either male or female under Numanari law, so she assigned him male in order to prevent him from being forced to bear children by the slave owners. He never took issue with this and, as we see, is referred to with male pronouns. Yesu was a grave, serious child who tended the trees alongside his mother. Every Sabbath, a traveling rebbe would come to lead services for the slaves, and every time, after the service, Yesu would approach the rebbe and beg to learn more of Elohah. One day, she asked him why. Yesu's reply was blasphemy: "I think I am them." The rebbe was horrified at first, but rather than striking the young Yesu, she sat beneath the fig tree with him and they spoke for seven hours straight. None can say what was said that day, but when the sun set, she was his first Disciple.

Many stories exist of Yesu's life, of his recruiting of four fishers, a shepherd and a tax collector, how he endured bloody beatings before he converted the family that owned the plantation, how he did many miracles, how he refused to cut down any tree or even strike any other person, though he died by violence. He was peacemaker, blasphemer and troublemaker, and by the end of his life, those who did not forswear him had to escape into the mountains, carrying his ravaged body. They wandered there for five days, water dripping from the corpse's mouth, and they followed the sun until they found the green and fruitful land where they founded the city of Ashur. After the founding of Ashur, the Disciples split, each determined to bring Yesu's message to the world. The evangelicals among them made their own churches, and all of them wrote accounts of Yesu's life as they had known it. These were bound up to form the Book of Yesu, the holy text of the Orthodoxy. However, since the death of the Second Prophet, the Orthodoxy has been slowly losing adherents. In the modern Crescent, only Ashur remains majority Orthodox, a patchwork of various Cathedrals made into a country that remains independent primarily by the aid of the Anashid Dinists. In Theah, only Ussura remains majority Orthodox, though many Ashurites find the Ussuran Orthodox Church to be uncomfortably Vaticine.

Before the rise of the Vaticine and al-Din, the Orthodox Church was simply the Church of the Prophet. Currently, any who follow Yesu exclusively refer to themselves as members of the Orthodox Church of the Prophet, or Orthodox for short, but historically this remains a relatively new thing. The form title for a priest among the Orthodox is 'Reverend.' Elohim and Abnegant Orthodox use the term rarely, as most of their doctrinal decisions are made by a consensus of a Council. Enclavests have as many types of rules as there are Enclaves, and these govern themselves individually. After Yesu's death, nine of his Disciples founded their own Churches, each spreading their own interpretation of his teachings. Not all of these churches survived to the present, and none are unchanged by time. The sects we'll be discussing are what exist now, not what existed originally.

Elohim Orthodox belive that the ideal life of a Disciple is to be as strictly imitative of Yesu as possible. To this end, they live in tribes of, on average, 50 people (supposedly to mimic the 50 Disciples that founded Ashur), and practice a government of consensus within the tribe. They are pacifist, vegetarian, own no property and refuse to chop down trees or handle money. Abnegant Orthodox are an extreme form of the Elohim, believing that imitation of Yesu involves cherishing the world even as a slave. Thus, they declare themselves "slaves of the city," service workers who can be called on for labor by any resident of Ashur, for no price but food and a place to sleep. Enclavest Orthodox believe that creation of "Heaven Here Below" is required, a glorious place on Terra for the children of Elohah to thrive. They are, as the Elohim, suspicious of large-scale hierarchy of power, and believe that any attempt to institutionally impose a better world is clumsy at best and inhumane at worst. Instead, they concentrate on the creation of "Enclaves," small paradises for their own tribes. They believe that once each person has their own Enclave, Heaven and Terra will unite as one. Ussuran Orthodox are the largest of any individual Orthodox sect, and descend from the Disciple Arseniy. They take the opposite position to the Enclavests, believing that in pursuit of the perfect world, even permanent hierarchy or even aggressive violence can be justified. Of all Orthodox Churches, they remain the most controversial, and a document co-written by four of Yesu's other Disciples declared it 'barely Orthodoxy,' accusing Arseniy of designing the religion to benefit affluent Numanari. Whatever the case, however, the Ussuran Orthodoxy must be credited with spreading Yesu's faith across Theah.

The ritual life of the Orthodox is honestly quite similar to the Vaticine, and that is deliberate. The Third Prophet patterned the Vaticine sacraments on those of the early Orthodox churches. However, they differ in some specifics. Orthodox baptism does not require an examination, just a profession of faith. Orthodox ordainment does require an examination but has no three-year deferment on failure. Orthodox marriage oaths are simpler than Vaticine ones, and Orthodox funerals are generally far more elaborate. The last rites are themselves considered a sacrament by the Orthodox. Orthodox Mass, while sharing the same name as the Vaticine service, is very different. There are no sermons or homilies. Instead, calendrical liturgy determines the subject of the Mass. The Book of Yesu has 365 chapters, and each day Disciples read a different chapter, with different hymns and prayers. These services are predetermined and so do not need to be led by clergy. The Book of Yesu specifically encourages lay folk to alternate amongst themselves to lead services, so that all may learn the Gospel. In theory, an Orthodox community holds Mass every day, though in practice most merely gather on Sundays and abridge the liturgy of the preceding week.

Orthodoxy considers plants, land and growth to be sacred. Indeed, scholars have often noted that Ussura and Ashur both seem to have preternatural connections to the land, and believe this may be part of why Orthodoxy is so popular there. The Gospels state that Yesu converted his first Disciple under a fig tree and was crucified on a cherry tree, and so both of these plants are considered especially holy. The fig is associated with new life, rebirth and wisdom, and it features prominently in coming-of-age ceremonies. Disciples identify the cherry tree with blood, beauty and mourning, and the stylized outline of the cherry bough is the near-universal symbol of the Orthodoxy. Live or paper cherry boughs are traditionally given as funeral gifts.

Next time: Fantasy Jews

The Crescent Empire - I Love These Guys

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - I Love These Guys

The Yachidi have existed for so long that it is actually impossible to say when they first showed up. Their ancient texts claim to predate the Katab, when their tribes wandered the deserts of Sarmion and fought their neighbors in the name of ancient spirits. The originators of their faith, united in the blessing of Elohah, made their religion b'yachad - together. Yachidi beliefs are deeply rooted in tradition, as they are one of the single oldest religions on Terra. While some of their tenets may have shifted and modernized, some things have remained constant. Firstly, Adon Hu - 'Master is He.' This simple rule is a fundamental difference between the Yachidi and other faiths. All Yachidi believe Elohah is the one true Creator and master of the world, creating all other spirits and beings worshipped as gods elsewhere. Other nations may worship other beings, but for the Yachidi, it is assur, 'religiously forbidden,' to recognize any deity above Elohah. Second, Lishmor V'Lahegan - 'Preserve and Protect.' The first Yachidi heard the message of Elohah through Abram and his wife Saraya, but it was not until the Covenant of the Longest Night and their full rededication to Elohah that they got His full message, at the foot of Mount Moriah. They were told there that their true purpose was lishmor v'lehagen haolam b'yachad - Preserve and protect the world, together. This charges the Yachidi to be the caretakers of Terra forever, to seek peace and better the world on small and large scale. The term 'b'yachad' was chosen to represent the faith and its people as a result.

Thirdly: Koach B'Ruach V'Neshek - 'Strength of Spirit and Arms.' The Yachidi teachings say that Elohah called on the people to bring peace and protection to the world. Ideally, this would be via diplomacy, communication and kindness, but the Yachidi are not pacifists at all. They understand that life must often be protected by force of arms as well as the strength of the spirit. Yachidi rules of engagement say that one may act with violence only in defense of one's life or the lives of others. This is known as milchamat tzadik, 'righteous war,' and they do not call on violence lightly. However, once they begin to fight, the Yachidi are expected to be ferocious chayalim, or soldiers, for what is right. Fifth, Kol Haolam HaKodesh - 'The Whole World is Sacred.' Because Elohah made the world, the Yachidi believe that everything in it is sacred and interconnected. They believe that all people have two parts - the guph, or material body, and the nephesh, or spiritual being. This spiritual understanding allows people to see the unseen supernatural forces of the world, which to the Yachidi are just part of the spiritual world and therefore natural.

Sixth, Kesem, Lo Tishkach - "Do Not Forget Magic." This reminds the Yachidi that magic is natural and has a place in the world, and also reminds them that it is dangerous if misused. Because spiritual power is, to the Yachidi, just as sacred and natural as any other force, they view sorcery as entirely normal. They believe that fear and hatred of magic has done far more damage to the world than magic itself, seeking instead to fully understand sorcerous power. However, with that understanding comes the warning not to overuse magic or use it for selfish or evil reasons. The Yachidi are forbidden to create life with magic, or to animate the inanimate or the dead, as power over life and death is far too great a burden for any human and should be left to Elohah. (Despite this, their sorcery is capable of doing it - they just believe it is a very, very bad idea.) Seventh, Atta V'Ani, B'Yachad - "You and I, Together." The Yachidi believe that all religions and groups have a place in the grand design. Therefore, they believe it is their duty to respect all religious practices and faiths. It is absolutely assur to proselytize and attempt to convert people to Yachidism. Any who wish to convert must do so of their own will, by their own choice, and the religious teachers of the Yachidi must attempt to dissuade them three times, teaching them of the immense responsibility of service to the world that comes with the faith. Once a person does convert, however, the Yachidi embrace them as new family.

Finally, Tariyag - the Six Hundred and Thirteen. If a person does become Yachidi, by birth or by conversion, they learn the 613 laws that regulate everything about Yachidi life, from how they dress to what they eat to when they pray. These laws are designed to keep the Yachidi in a balance between spirit and flesh, in constant and joyous remembrance of Elohah's place in their lives. The laws considered assur are the most severe, codified by Moesh ben Amram after he led the Yachidi who had been enslaved by the Numanari during the First Invasion back to Sarmion. These are the Stone Commandments, written on heavy tablets, and are the most serious rules of the faith. They include things like recognizing only Elohah as God, worshipping no false gods, and keeping the last day of each week as a Sabbath to reconnect with the community and with Elohah. Those that breach the Tariyag must undergo ritual atonement, called teshuva. Once this period of atoning is done, they must seek not only to fix any damages they caused, but must also take pilgrimage to the High Temple in Salemoria, to offer up an animal sacrifice before the new year celebration. The animal's death symbolically atones for the sin, and the meat feeds the priests and the poor of Salemoria.

Yachidi history and Sarmion history are largely intertwined. Their religion is centuries older than the First Prophet, dating back a time of bloody religious conflict between warring tribes and the spirits they worshipped as gods. These battles might have depopulated Sarmion entirely, had not a pair of leaders appeared. Abram and his wife Saraya, a wealthy couple from the Tahor tribe, were worshippers of the goddess Naana-Astarte. They had seen decades of battle under her bloody reign and wanted peace deeply. So, when both began to dream of a voice calling them to the southern desert of Gilead, they left their tribe with their servants, spouses and children, seeking a new path. In the desert, Abram and Saraya are said to have heard the voice of Elohah, Creator of All. Elohah told them that if they and their descendants dedicated themselves to service to the world as protectors and guardians of peace, they would bring forth a nation that would impact the entire world. Abram and Saraya emerged from the desert, teaching this message to their household. Soon, others flocked to them to hear of the message, and a new religion was born.

The Covenant of the Longest Night was both a religious battle and a war to control Sarmion. The old gods of the land resented the new ideas of Elohah's people, and they drove their followers to attack the Yachidi en masse in the time when Abram was 120. His eldest son by Saraya, named Isaak, and his son by his second wife Hagar, called Ishamal, led their people to defeat the alliance of tribes against them, binding the spirit-gods until a covenant could be formed. Ishamal and Isaak parted in the dawn the next day, having established the Covenant of the Longest Night. No longer would they be enemies, but brothers, a bond that still ties the Yachidi to the worshippers of the old gods that live in their lands. The followers of the old gods took the name Ishamali, in reverence for the brother that had saved them and led them to a new life, continuing their ways in peace.

In the years that followed, the Yachidi followed Isaak and his prophetic visions, bringing their new faith and nation of Sarmion to prosperity. It was Isaak's son, Yakob, who led them to settle in the abandoned city Salemoria, on the summit of Mount Moriah. The Yachidi built not only a government for Sarmion, but also a codified set of practices that would eventually become the Tariyag. Yedhu was named King of Sarmion and served as a secular leader, while Levis, a pious daughter of Yakob who had inherited the gift of prophecy, became the first high priestess. Together, the siblings promised to build a High Temple in Salemoria, a spiritual center for the Yachidi to bring atonement sacrifices to, celebrate holy days and contemplate spiritual knowledge. However, the plans had to be paused when the Numanari first invaded and slew Yedhu. The more recent destruction of the High Temple in 1665 by the Numanari has caused some problems. The Sanhedrin, the high religious court, are forbidden by law to vote on any new religious laws until a High Temple can oversee their cases. When Numa burned the High Temple, it essentially froze the Yachidi religion entirely, with laws now unable to change at all. The Yachidi fear that their laws may now become static in the face of a changing world.

The Yachidi religious hierarchy has two main branches - the Priesthood of the Temple and the Teachers of the Land. A priest, called leviat, is born from the tribe of Levis and raised from an early age to serve the High Temple. They lead prayers there, light the holy menorah (an eight-branch candelabra that symbolizes the light of Elohah across the eight great seas of the world) and use their prophetic abilities and magic to help those who come seeking aid. Only members of the tribe of Levis can become leviats, and those that choose not to instead are the lay folk that care for the priests and temple. The High Temple is the spiritual center of Yachidi faith, and all Yachidi must make a pilgrimage there once a year on the new year, to make sacrifices of atonement and celebrate Elohah's blessings. However, with Yachidi spreading well beyond the borders of Sarmion, it become far too impractical to expect constant pilgrimage. Thus, the Yachidi established the rebbeim, the Teachers.

Rebbeim study the Yachidi laws and traditions, traveling the land and settling in Yachidi communities to offer counsel and guidance. Every rebbe follows the edicts set down by the leviats, but are encouraged to question and explore various ideas and ethical quandaries, with entire new schools of thought coming out of rebbeim who challenged old laws and considered new ways of serving Elohah. Any decision on religious law for the entire nation must go before the Sanhedrin, a body of the nation's greatest rebbeim. They are appointed for life, but must be at least 40 before they can be considered for the council. The Sanhedrin spend their time pondering deep religious questions, updating the law as new scientific discoveries or technologies become available, to keep the Yachidi practices as a living, evolving body of faith. Well, until the last Sanhedrin was slaughtered by the Numanari and the Temple burned; the group has yet to be reconvened.

The Chavra exist as both a militia and a religious order of defense, initially made by Princess Ruth and her general Barak M'Shevat Raam in their attempt to overthrow a Numanari invasion. Ruth's mother, Queen Elisheva, fought the Numanari from the fortress Haritza in Gilead, and Ruth was liberated from slavery during the fighting and smuggled back into Sarmion. She and Barak formed the militant arm of the Yachidi faith, a warrior force that would defend the Yachidi (and by extension Sarmion) from any threat. Ruth and Barak formed the template for the Chavra leadership, with Ruth serving as tactical mastermind and Barak as war leader. They brought in a third to help lead, the legal and religious scholar Dvora bat Hana M'Shevet Ben-Ephraya, to act as spiritual counsel. These three roles have been maintained ever since, with the Chavra always led by a triumvirate of tactician, warrior general and spiritual guide and arbiter. The three make all decisions for the Chavra and determine their missions. In the years since the First Invasion, the Chavra have grown from a small rebel force to the elite guardians of Sarmion. They are warriors, investigators and bodyguards, watching for danger to the Yachidi both in the Empire and beyond. They often travel in disguise as simple wanderers, hiding their skills until the time to act. They are thus excellent spies and detectives, though they often repent the need for lies and subterfuge. They do it to protect their people. Because of their fearsome reputation, the Chavra are often employed by the royal family of the Empire as bodyguards. The old emperor had an entire Chavra contingent of guards in his employ before his death, and Istani kept them as hostages in his court, depriving Sarmion of their power during the last Numanari invasion. The last of the Chavra, sent to aid Princess Batya by King Josiah, helped Empress Safiye retake her throne. However, their absence left Josiah and Sarmion unprotected against the Numanari, and his death remains a painful stain on their honor, which many Chavra feel must be atoned for.

The rest of Yachidi history is essentially the history of Sarmion and its constant cycle of destruction and rebuilding at the hands of its ancient foes, the Numanari. They have ravaged the land many times, occupying it and taking slaves. Every time, the Yachidi remain stalwart, embracing their duty to better the world. This leads many Yachidi to leave Sarmion and even the Empire, to explore new communities. They settle into the local population and eagerly work to learn and share ideas openly, though this often has mixed results, ranging from open appreciation to distrust or violence. The Yachidi acceptance of magic can put them at odds with the Vaticine or Dinists, especially those fanatical about the need to control or destroy sorcery, such as the Inquisition. Yachidi see any effort to destroy magic as an affront to Elohah, and many have become involved in rescuing persecuted sorcerers in places like Persis or Vodacce, helping to smuggle them to safety in Sarmion or other Yachidi communities throughout the world.

Next time: Imperial governance.

The Crescent Empire - To Provide For The Common Defense

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - To Provide For The Common Defense

Every nation in the Empire and every people are distinct, with their own governments or customs, but all rally to the Empress in times of trouble and for common defense against invasion. While individual nations or tribes may disagree with her policies, she has final say on all matters that concern the empire as a whole. The ultimate goal of Imperial governance is the 'Circle of Equity,' also called the sacred balance, between the government and its peoples. The idea of the Circle is as old as the Empire, and is written in gold on the floor of every government building. It is eight simple rules.

quote:

The good garden lives, but with the grace of the bugs
Meaning: There can be no imperial authority without the military.
Feeding upon the leaves,
Meaning: There can be no military without taxes.
Fell from a great tree, one with the ground.
Meaning: Taxes are generated by the people.
The good gardener tends his bed carefully,
Meaning: The ruler protects the people by ensuring justice.
Not to trample the earth's bounty underfoot,
Meaning: Justice requires a harmonious society.
Aware of the world just beyond his walls.
Meaning: A harmonious society is a garden; its walls are the state.
The good sun shines upon the garden,
Meaning: The state is sustained by religion.
And the good gardener basks in its glory.
Meaning: Religion is supported by imperial authority.

Empress Safiye is the most powerful woman in the Empire, and all imperial law flows from her. She is the supreme Dinist religious authority (in theory), and the commander-in-chief of the Imperial armed forces. She's also been very, very busy lately. She has abolished the strict caste system, dismantled the registry of sorcerers, discontinued the law of fratricide, initiated wide-scale civic and military reforms, and has taken a much more public role in running things than her predecessors, which makes many traditionalists unhappy. She has given her subject nations ten years to implement her new decrees. Traditionally, the empress or emperor rules from deep within the palace complex, out of the Fatih Sarayi, or Conqueror's Palace, full of ceremony and mystery. Safiye has chosen instead to be much more accessible.

She is served by the Imperial Divan, an eleven-member cabinet of very important and influential people, led by the Grand Vizier. They meet four times a week in the Vizier's palace of government in Iskandar, where they discuss matters of state and policy. These discussions and decisions are recorded and presented to the Empress by the Vizier for approval. While she is not bound by them, it is unwise to casually dismiss their advice. Lately, the Empress has been taking much interest in the day to day and even chairing the Divan's meetings personally, which is not making the Grand Vizier happy, either.

The Imperial Harem is one of the parts of the government that is quintessentially Crescent. Many poets have given lurid description to its decadence and the beauties within. Certainly, the pleasures of the harem are restricted (on pain of potential death at the hands of the eunuch guards) to all but the Empress. However, the poetry misses one important aspect: family. The harem is, above all else, a place for the partners of the Empress, their children and their servants. The harem is built on family as well as romance, and it serves the vital purpose of continuing the dynasty, as well as being a place where a lot of politics happen. There are technically two harems, divided by the color of their veils. The Black Harem is for women, the White Harem for men. No tradition bars the Empress from taking lovers from both, but the ascendant harem is always the one opposite the present ruler's gender, to emphasize the importance of maintaining the line. The Black Harem is run by the Harem Stewardess, and the White Harem by the so-called White Eunuch, each easily recognized by their fur-lined robes, jeweled headdress and silver mace. The leader of the ascendant harem is the Chief of the Harems and sits on the Imperial Divan. At present, that'd be the White Eunuch, Bomani Chike, a massive Ifrian man of great patience and cunning. He is a staunch supporter of Empress Safiye and always on the lookout for treachery.

However, even the Chief Eunuch's power pales before the Valide Sultan, that is, the empress' mother. She is a master of the Art of the Second Prophet, lives in apartments at the heart of the harem and has influence far beyond her official rank. It is said that the Valide Sultan's loyalties are split between Safiye and her son Istani. Few can predict which side she will eventually fall on, but when she chooses, it will shake the world itself. Beyond these two, the children of the ruler are kept in different parts of the harem, to prevent overenthusiastic parents from arraging "accidents" on the children of their rivals. Rumor has it that some turn even to charms or necromancy to defend their child's claim to the throne. On the best of days, the harem is rife with intrigue, though since the abandonment of the Law of Fratricide, outright murder has been rare.

The Grand Vizier is second only to the Empress in authority. Their powers include appointment of military personnel and bureaucrats, maintaining the civic order of Iskandar and commanding the military while the Empress chooses not to. They also receive all foreign ambassadors and chair the Divan when the Empress doesn't. That said, the job's never really a safe one, as they live at the Empress' whim. The present Vizier, Mehmed al Pasha, hopes to reverse this, having survived the Empress' father and brother so far. He is a keen mind and a razor wit, who spends most of his leisure time on chess and birdwatching, though his foes whisper of an unnatural fascination with Syrneth artifacts. Mehmed is a staunch traditionalist, and he fears the Empress' new liberal reforms may destroy the Empire. He is deeply loyal to the people and his position, so he has done little but contemplate this...until recently, anyway. He has begun hunting the 8th Sea to see if Istani survived and, if so, if he might be able to overthrow his sister.

The Vizier receives foreign ambassadors to the court. These ambassadors generally come seeking trade treaties, reduced tax on their goods and protection from the Empire's privateers. Competition between ambassadors is very common, and the foreign quarter is always full of intrigue. Every Thean nation has representatives in Iskandar, though the most prestigious is easily Ludovico Attendolo Bernoulli of Vodacce (and his young wife, the witch Lucia). He is a wealthy, cunning man who wields words and poison with equal skill to maintain Vodacce's position of favor with the Empire. His greatest rival is Comtesse Amandine Gautier of Montaigne, a cunning libertine who absolutely adores Crescent men. She wants Montaigne to gain the favor Vodacce currently holds in order to launch a join invasion of Castille. Her greatest foe (besides Ludovico) is the Castillian ambassador, Esteban dela Rosa de Odiseo, a staunch Vaticine whose unbreakable honor and skill with a blade have earned him several allies in court. He'd give his life for Castille...something Amandine would very much like to make happen. He is allied to Sir Jack Harding of Avalon, a trusted knight of Elaine who is quite well-liked in the Imperial court. He despised Istani, thanks to his strong sense of morality, and helped to smuggle the Empress' Chavra guards into the palace just before the coup. Jack would dearly love to help Esteban keep Castille safe, but must find a way to do it without implicating Avalon in anything dangerous.

Below the Divan are the branches of the Imperial government - the Imperial Bureaucracy, the Imperial Military and the Imperial Judiciary. The Imperial Bureaucracy is a massive group of scribes, accountants and administrators who oversee the day-to-day functions of the Empire. They are broadly divided between the Imperial Administration and the Financial Officers, but no aspect of life is outside their influence. The Administration are mainly bureaucrats who keep the state moving, while the Financial Officers handle taxes. While the Empire may overlook many crimes if it suits their purpose, tax evasion is not one of them.

The Imperial Military is no smaller, and if its full power is marshalled, it is more than able to rival the best Thean forces. The military is divided into three main groups. First, the Palace Guard, also known as the bostanci, or gardeners. They are led by the bostancibasi, and manage the security of the Imperial palace, the maintenance of its grounds and the defense of the Empress and her family. Their reputation for ferocity is legend, and their current bostancibasi is Altan Demir Pasha, a Sarmion Chavra warrior of immense skill. Second, the Standing Army, a force of both cavalry and infantry. The cavalry, called pala, are four divisions of extremely well-equipped horse riders from elite families, who fight with fanatical zeal. They are quite proud of their record of total loyalty to the throne, and are often rivals of the less loyal Janissaries. The Janissaries are the infantry division, renowned for their accuracy and discipline under fire and for their white hats and lavish uniforms. They are typically war orphans or children sold into indentured servitude to escape poverty, trained in the schools of Iskandar and promoted by merit. They are an extremely disciplined force, with a full host of support staff and artillery. Their guns are better in both range and accuracy than their Thean counterparts, and may in fact be rifles. (Single shot, if so, but still. The game is not entirely clear.) Traditionally, the Janissaries are disciplined to the point of brutality and forbidden to marry, participate in any trade or take part in any vice. Safiye has eased these restrictions and opened Janissary recruitment to anyone who volunteers and can handle the training. Traditionalists in the army question the wisdom of this, and only time will tell if they become less loyal. Further, the empress may supplement the army by levying naval units, pirate mercenaries or the warriors of any nation in the Empire. Last, the Provincial Administration maintains the network of imperial provinces of taxation and administration, called eyalets. Each province has a bey assigned to it, who runs the local administrators and functionaries to maintain accurate tax records and commands a garrison of Janissaries. While the bey technicalls has the Empress' authority behind them, they always allow the subject nations to run their own affairs as long as the taxes get paid on time and they come when called for war.

The Imperial Judiciary is composed of qada, judges, who administer law and jurisprudence. Every qadi gets an extremely good education in Iskandar's law schools, covering religious, secular and tribal law from across the empire. Bribery and corruption do exist, but frequent rotations and the threat of public disgrace (and death) keep things reasonably impartial. Qada make their decisions based on local law whenever possible, though conflicts between local custom and imperial law are always resolved in favor of the imperial court. Every qadi is paired with a mufti, a religious advisor that ensures all decisions are within the tenets of al-Din. In theory this system of checks and balances works well, but has led to occasional, sometimes legendary disputes between qada and mufti, such as the one between the qadi Tadashi ibn Barris and the mufti Asil Mansoorzadeh. Tadashi is loyal to Empress Sadiye's vision, while Asil is a staunch Persic traditionalist loyal to the shah. Their courtroom arguments are the stuff of legend, with rumor saying that Asil has called Tadashi a, quote, "backwards devil beast birthed of an inbred goat," and that it will be only time before they come to a physical altercation. While the system is as fast as it can be, appeals, failures of witnesses to appear, backlogs and bureaucracy can tie complex cases up for months or even years. In these cases, either side may call for the "judgment of al-Musawwir" and demand a trial by combat. Further, in addition to the imperial courts, the judiciary recognizes a set of local courts for non-Dinist communities. Vaticine, Orthodox, Yasnavan and Yachidi courts are all recognized, and may render judgments within their own communities so long as they pay a jizya, or worship tax, proportional to their wealth. Their decisions and appeals are recognized by the judiciary and may be processed upwards through the imperial system, which renders any new verdicts using the law of the individual community as the courts understand it.

Next time: Imperial law.

The Crescent Empire - THE CODE OF SHAMASH-TAL

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - THE CODE OF SHAMASH-TAL

The Imperial legal system is legendarily both equal and brutal, made from a mix of al-Din religious tenets, secular laws of the imperial founders and the inherited sacred codes of the ancient king Shamash-tal. Equality is the central pillar of Crescent law, which is administered by a truly impressive and labyrinthine bureaucracy designed to treat all equally, and to grant special attention to the poor and children, who have special legal protections. Civil law draws off an elaborate body of laws and precedents that most Theans would be deeply confused by without aid of a trained attorney. Contracts can be made for practically any purpose, and breach of contract requires payment in kind for whatever was lost. Lawsuits can be called for any reason, though frivolous suits can result in fines or loss of honor. The greatest possible penalty under civil law is indentured servitude for failure to pay debts. There are no debtors' prisons, so this allows the indenture to survive under their new master's roof and work productively...in theory. Slavery is illegal in the Empire under penalty of death, but indentured service is, as you see, fine. Citizens may sell their children into indentured service, which may well be a way to a better life for the ultra-poor if sold to a wealthy person or the Janissaries. All contracts of indentured service must be formally recognized, notified and certified by a qadi, and the Empire takes a fifth of the price of the contract. Abuse of indentured servants is strictly penalized, and all indentured servants go free on the fulfillment of their contract or the death of their master, whichever comes first.

Criminal law in the Empire is almost uniquely harsh in its punishments. Minor offenses often get sentenced to public humiliation, such as having to swallow a stone on a string, which is then yanked out at speed. The vomiting this causes is always viewed with much scorn. False witnesses are placed on donkeys, coated in bull's blood and paraded through the market, and dishonest merchants have their ears nailed to their market stalls. There are equally creative punishments for things like theft, such as beating until the thief can't walk, cutting off hands or even plucking out eyes. More serious crimes, such as adultery, burglary, treason, rape and murder are all sentenced to death. Piracy of an Imperial vessel is also punishable by death, but you can purchase the right to pirate non-Imperial ships for a small fee and 10% of any goods seized. Treaties with the Empire may stipulate immunity from these pirates, but typically require payment of an anti-piracy free annually. While Empress Safiye has dismantled the registry of sorcerers that Istani set up, using magic for evil purposes remains a capital crime in the Empire, with the execution method being burning alive at dawn and seeing one's family name blackened to the tenth generation.

Under Crescent law, citizens may have up to four spouses, though typically multiple spouses are something only the wealthy can afford outside of the 8th Sea Tribes. A licensed marriage scout, called a gorucu, is often hired to find a potential spouse in the bazaars, baths and other social gatherings prior to the initiation of courtship and marriage rituals. The state takes a relatively small role in marriage itself, but does require a family to ask permission from a qadi as well as recording their names and any dowry paid, largely to set tax brackets. Imperial law permits divorce if a declaration is made and the couple does not have sex for three months, at which point the divorce cannot be revoked. Grounds for divorce include failure to provide for a spouse financially, neglect, mutual consent or if the right was specified in the marriage contract.

Dishonor is not illegal - but it's a huge fucking deal. Kindness and hospitality are essentially religious duties for most of the Empire's faiths. Offering room and board to a stranger is to grant rest and relief from the road, to offer protection, and this is your duty. This carries obligations to both host and guest. A guest that violates such obligations hugely insults the host and ends all duties of protection. Fortunately, foreigners are generally given leeway due to their ignorance of local custom. Hosts typically intervene and calm offended locals with reminders of that ignorance, explaining the faux pas to their guest and suggesting ways to make amends. Hosts that violate their duties, meanwhile, suffer a huge loss of respect. A poor host may insult their guest, but if the guest is patient and does not strike back, the guest gains a lot of honor and the host loses face. These obligations extend to public life, and those with responsibility over others must consider the laws of hospitality to apply to them, whether that means their employees or their servants. No matter where you are, a host is expected to greet a guest with a traditional blessing of peace, called a salaam in Katabic: 'Salaam. Peace be upon you as you rest under this roof.' It is also considered exceptionally rude to intentionally exclude another Crescent from conversation by shifting to a language they don't know. Excluding foreigners is not nearly as impolite, in part because many foreigners just don't share language with the Crescent Empire at all, or even speak Katabic. Many Crescents generally expect some level of rudeness from Theans in general.

Respect and family are vital to the Empire's peoples. Everyone is owed respect according to the way of the Second Prophet, because everyone is of one tribe. Family may argue, but you never allow an outsider to raise their hand or voice against your family. Those who hold authority are granted the respect due to a parent, as parents are the first authority figures of all Crescents. When seeking expert advice, one grants the respect due an uncle or aunt, whose wisdom is cherished and only questioned privately and with respect. Peers and friends are given the respect due to a sibling - honesty and mutual respect. You sing their praises, rather than your own, and they sing yours. Honesty and respect need to be balanced. To call your friend a liar in public or to comment lewdly about their sex life, even as a joke, calls their integrity into question to any listening. Doing so in private is perfectly fine, however. Among lesser friends and acquaintances, one must take care, and rather than a direct accusation of lying, it is common to imply a mistake - 'I must have misheard you' or 'perhaps you are confusing that with something else?' To accuse someone openly of lying, villainy or impropriety can lead to a duel - or worse, a poetry duel.

The actual nuclear family is the closest bond there is in the Empire. This is why most Crescent nations have traditions in which the child takes on a surname based on one or both of their parents' names. Extended family is considered equally sacred, if in a different way. Family is part of you, it is where you come from and what you become. Insulting someone's family is an insult to that person as well, for their family is part of them. Questioning someone's modesty, particularly a woman's, questions the integrity of the entire family, especially as it brings the relation of her children to the extended family into doubt. Doing any of these things is likely to be taken as a mortal insult.

Honor is, as mentioned, a huge deal. While western Duelists and heroes often know honor, it can be hard to understand that in the Empire, it is often worth more than money, and it can be lost quickly. Something said without thought or done without care can ruin your good name and that of your family. Those of good reputation are given extra weight in court. A merchant in good standing that accuses someone of evil acts often means that person has to prove their honor before they can even begin proving their innocence. Those of the most social standing and honor are given the best wares at market, while a disreputable client may not be able to buy anything at all. 'My shop holds nothing worthy to your name' is one of the classic Crescent insults. Of course, honor comes as quickly as it can be lost. Honesty, cleverness, courage, prudence, generosity and moderation all bring honor to your name. These can erase any shame, if practiced properly. A dishonest man is not trusted, a woman without wits is not taken seriously. If you can show both honesty and wit, navigating the schemes of your foes, than you are deeply respected and all will know you are honorable. Likewise, the Alwarithli hate a coward who will not stand against adversity, as well as a fool who rushes headlong into danger for no reason. Those who stand in spite of fear and who temper their passion with sense are respected. However, it should be noted that each nation has its own ideas on what is and is not the correct method of comporting yourself.

In Anatol Ayh, equality and egalitarianism are paramount. To accuse or imply that someone abuses their authority or position is the highest insult you can give to an Anatoli. These accusations, even in private, can be very dangerous, as both duels and litigation in the mufti courts can bring punishment down on slanderers. However, exposing the abuses of power is a duty of all true believers in law. Religion and faith are also deeply tied to Anatoli ideas of honor, particularly the Dinist concept of al-Badi`, the moment of divine union with the Creator and the artistic masterpiece. Artistic skill brings a lot of respect, as does appreciation and protection of art. An adventurer that heads back into a burning building to rescue artistic masterpieces (after, of course, rescuing the actual people) is something that all Anatoli will praise.

Ashur is a nation of farmers and Assassins, and while this may seem a contradiction, given the pacifism of the Orthodoxy and most Anashid, it works. Mostly. However, using violence without absolute need or as a first resort is considered to be intensely disrespectful of Elohah's great gift of life, and also is likely to draw swift action by Anashid or even Assassins looking to end fights. Accusing an Ashurite of cowardice for not fighting is extremely ignorant and dishonorable. You can earn respect by showing reverence for the great trees of the nation, and by imitating the qualities of trees - the ability to be strong and firm, yet bend so as not to break.

Persis is a bit of a Byzantine mess of rules, thanks to its strict laws abou class and about magic. The rivalry with Anatol Ayh is especially deep in the ruling class, and mentioning the Empress' ten year time limit on ridding the land of class systems or magic divisions is likely to annoy people at best or enrage them at worst. Despite this, the Persics have as grand an artistic traidtion as the Anatoli, particularly with calligraphy, and skill or appreciation of art is equally able to earn honor and respect in their eyes.

Sarmion is a land of scholars, and knowledge is respected there in a way that goes beyond almost anywhere else. Risking your life to protect knowledge is an easy, if dangerous, way to earn the respect of any Sarmion. They also prize skill in academic or theological debate. Knowledge must be understood, after all, not just learned by rote. The ability to consider and understand another's argument while offering your own views is seen as a beautiful act, similar to the creation of a shared poem. A quick mind and gifted tongue are much respected. They are also a nation that is deeply supportive of the Empress, and showing disrespect to her is a good way to piss them off.

In the 8th Sea, even more than in the rest of the Empire, family is paramount. An insult to an 8th Sea tribesperson's family, living or dead, will draw even more vehement rage than elsewhere. It's not just human family, either, but also the herds. The reputation of a tribe's horses and camels is vital to the 8th Sea Tribes, and they see themselves as owing their lives to these beasts. To call a Tribesman's horse poorly bred will instantly bring them to the beast's defense - by word, sword or contest, because to let an insult go unanswered is to say it is true.

Next time: Jinn

The Crescent Empire - How 2 Jinn

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - How 2 Jinn

There are a ton of weird critters throughout the Crescent. Thejinn, in particular, can be found throughout the area. The Persic call them angels or demons, the Sarmions say they are the old gods, and in the 8th Sea, they are still often worshipped as angels or gods. They are strange creatures, who organize themselves in their own way and have their own customs. While they may demand tribute or scheme over mortal worshippers, they consider their own internal struggles far more important, and many humans understand very little of them. Jinn have existed long before humans, and are believed by Alwarithli scholars to have been the first and original inhabitants of Terra, made from samum, the smokeless fire. The term 'jinn' is something of a catchall for any spirit with otherworldly power, though. Scholars often assume that many different jinn species exist and that they can become something more. This is why they are often called angels, demons or old gods. All angels are jinn, but not all jinn can be angels.

A few things are common to all jinn. First, they occupy a part of the world that is largely invisible to humans. The word 'jinn' actually means 'one that is is hidden or concealed.' The jinn are immaterial beings, and they can move freely though any object, with one exception: pure iron. Even in their immaterial form, they cannot pass through pure iron, and may be wounded by weapons or other items made from pure iron. Pure iron tools and weapons are exceptionally rare and extremely valued in the Crescent as a result. Samum, the smokeless fire, is the substance that makes up the jinn and it makes them extremely fast - so much so that they can move great distances at a speed that appears to be teleportation. Beyond this, they may assume any shape or form they choose in the material world, though they typically prefer either human or animal shapes, and of animals prefer dogs and snakes. The transformation is never perfect, however, with small details always revealing them, such as unnaturally bright eyes, being too slender in their features or having movements that seem wrong and over-forceful. All jinn have the Immaterial, Shapeshifting, Swift and Teleporting Qualities, regardless of any other traits.

There are at least five types of jinn that universally are agreed on to exist, despite regional idiosyncracies and beliefs. Ginnaye are the oldest and once the strongest of all jinn. They were originally the tutelary gods of the 8th Sea, and they are often still woershipped by the Yasnavans there. In ancient times, a ginnaya was often worshipped as a god, earning this faith by ferociously defending their people, for travel through the desert was extremely dangerous and prone to banditry, which rarely struck the Tribes due to their caravans being protected by mystic luck from the ginnaye. Once, the Tribes knew how to forge binding contracts with the ginnaye, which granted protection to a specific item or person. This, plus their art of appeasing Gocihr, caused them to be the supreme power within the 8th Sea. Stories tell of ginnaye stored inside objects that could call down massive earthquakes and sandstorms that would murder a band of thieves while leaving the caravan unharmed. However, most scholars believe the rise of al-Din and other religions caused the ginnaye to lose much of their power and leave the lands that had forgotten them. Now, they are largely restricted to the 8th Sea, where the Tribal practices strengthen them, for the ginnaye feed on reverence and worship. The secrets of how individual humans could employ their powers is long since lost, though some believe tha certain among the Tribes still remember it and can do it, for a price. Besides the qualities of all jinn, ginnaye are Strength 15 and Guarding.

Afarit are giant, winged creatures of fire. There are tales of them throughout the empire, and they are currently the most powerful of the jinn known to exist, and any ifrit is widely feared. While their power and physique is great, their real terror comes from their ability to turn any creature they meet into any other creature. It is said that once, two women were kidnapped by an ifrit and fell in love with each other, and when one of them managed to fight the ifrit to a standstill, he turned her eternally into a frog. Fortunately, afarit appear to prefer to live in deep underground caves and in ruined buildings. Some believe this is why the Alwarithli architects excel at constructing resilient buildings - no one wants to unwittingly invite in an ifrit due to a collapsing structure. Knowledge of how to call on afarit is forbidden within the Empire, one of the few secrets whose knowledge is considered to be a crime. Legend has it that these creatures are extremely dangerous to their summoners, and that the act of summoning often requires human sacrifice. Afarit range from Strength 10 to 15, and on top of the normal jinn qualities, they are Elemental (Fire), Metamorpher, Powerful and Winged.

Qurana are probably the most frequently encountered of all jinn. While others are spoken of in many stories, the average person will never meet them. A qarin, on the other hand, can be found fairly easily. They are 'constant companions,' whose existence draws much speculation in the Empire ,especially when discussing current Persic policies. It is actually illegal to gossip about Shah Jalil's qarin, Araska, in Persis. Everyone knows, however, that she still influences him, whispering in his ear. How the shahs of Persis allowed themselves to be influenced by such beings is a subject of much debate, but the truth is that they are and have been for some time. Legend says that every qarin is born from the heart of its mortal companion. A good ruler produces an evil qarin, and an evil ruler would produce a good one, in theory. Jalil freed Araska right after Istani was disposed, and rumor has it she gave him the power to place a terrible curse. This is because of the great power of the qurana: supernatural seduction. Any who hears the voice of a qarin, no amtter the consequences, feels a deep instinct to obey. Stories tell of qurana assuming the shape of trusted advisors and pushing people to commit terrible acts, such as when the shah Zumurrud sacrificed her children to end a plague at the urging of a qarin. She was told to only sacrifice two, but the evil whispers of the qarin convinced her that if two would end the plague, surely the jinn would reward her for all. The plague did end - but so did her dynasty. Qurana are Strength 15-20 and Compelling, on top of the normal jinn stuff.

Ghilan are unlike most jinn; the normal jinn are feared for their potential to harm. Ghilan do not have that potential - they kill most they meet, and harm all. They lack the sheer might of the ginnaye, the magical power of the afarit or the commanding presence of the qurana. However, a ghul has the power to deceive and lure its victims. They are hunters, going after the weakest, most accessible prey. They do not fight fair, preferring to ambush and slaughter their victims. They are often associated with cemetaries and dangerous places, and they enjoy eating human flesh. The ghilan will use any and all of their abilities to ambush their prey, often shapeshifting into hyenas or their former victims to lure in more. They, laone among jinn, have nearly flawless disguises, difficult to pierce for anyone that did not know the dead victim closely. They are Strength 10 and Ambushing, as well as the normal qualities.

Perian are the weakest and youngest of the jinn, only recently appeared in story. A peri is a tiny creature with elegant and long hair, and wings the size of the rest of their bodies. The perian appear weak and fragile, but are actually quite resilient. They are seen more often than any other type of jinn, and they continually quest to find something - a particular emotion, an heirloom, sometimes a piece of junk. They are beautiful creatures, and their endless quest is due to their origins. They have no great powers, and seek something they will defend them against the divs. While the items or feelings or things they take seem trivial to humans, the perian have found a way to harness these things and preserve their power. They often bless those they steal from, and using their stolen things, they are able to fight and defeat the divs effectively. Divs are foul, tiny jinn, so weak and so far removed from the others that they, alone among jinn, are immune to iron. They attempt to lock perian in iron cages, imprisoning them forever. This is because the divs are not recognized as true jinn by their peers, and so hope to eventually overtake the race of perian and replace them in the jinn hierarchy. A single peri is a Strength 5 creature with no special abilities beyond the normal jinn ones. A div is presumably similar, or even weaker.

The book presents the following new Monstrous Qualities:
Ambushing: The creature is good at hiding or waiting for the unwary in disguise. It may spend a Danger Point to double the number of wounds it deals on its first successful attack in a Sequence, as long as it goes unseen.
Compelling: The creature can alter human perceptions, desires and even motivations. At any time, it can tell a PC to do something. If the PC does, they gain 1 Hero Point. If the PC does not, the GM gains 1 Danger Point. This does not allow control of the compelled PC - it just means any suggestion it makes will be viewed as favorably as possible. It can't make you kill yourself, but it is generally more than able to convince you to attack someone for reasons it makes up, even if that puts you at risk.
Guarding: The creature is bound to a place, object or person. The method varies, but it must defend that thing by any means necessary. If the Monster is a Villain, it gets 5 more dice on any Risk it takes while performing this duty. If it is a Monster Squad, it instead deals double Wounds when doing this duty.
Immaterial: The creature is invisible to all human senses, though its location may be deduced by other means, such as light it puts off or the reaction of nearby animals. It cannot be harmed by any material means, save under very specific circumstances, such as a difficult to obtain material such as pure iron or silver, magic, or other unlikely circumstances. It may take on physical form for as long as it likes, but while it is in a physical form it loses all Immaterial immunities.
Metamorpher: It can turn any creature into another creature. This gives the target all characteristics of the new form, but leaves the victim with their mind and will. Only a powerful magic can return a victim to their own form, and over time, victims may begin to lose a sense of self. It costs 1 Danger Point to transform someone, and a PC targeted by this may spend a Hero Point to retain a single aspect of their original form, such as the ability to speak.
Obsessed: The creature is looking for some specific thing or person that represents the goal of its quest. If the monster is a Villain, it rolls 5 additional dice in any Risk it takes while trying to obtain its goal. If it is a Monster Squad, it deals double Wounds when trying to obtain its goal.

We then get some non-jinn monsters. The bakhtak is rarely seen, though its effects are often felt. They strike at sleeping victims, giving terrible nightmares. The creature crawls onto its victim's chest, breathing a noxious breath into the nose and mouth that causes these terrifying dreams. Bakhtaks are born when someone curses another person with so much malice that the curse takes substance. They are only half the size of an average person, and seem smaller because they are always slightly hunched. They have a large, crooked nose and bulbous, protruding eyes. They are covered in patchy brown fur and have two large canine teeth that protrude over their lips. Once they find a victim, they continue their nightly assaults until the nightmares grow so terrible that they kill the victim. At that point, the bakhtak drinks in the victim's soul as it flees out their mouth, preventing them from passing to the afterlife. However, it is possible to defeat the bakhtak by sleeping with a knife under the pillow. This allows the dreamer to appear in the dream armed, to drive it off. Bakhtaks are Strength 5, Nocturnal and Shadowy.

Dybbukim are the reborn spirits of those who died with unfinished business. They live side by side with an unborn child, nurturing and creating a bond with the child-to-be until, moments before birth, they enter the newborn's body and meld with their soul. When the child is born, there are no signs of the dybbuk's presence. RAther, as they grow, memories of the dybbuk's own life and memories of their normal life begin to conflict. What seem at first to be momentary lapses or daydreams begin to blur the two sets of memories together. The dybbuk's unfinished business must be resolved for it to rest in peace. If this happens, the dybbuk will pass on peacefully, often leaving a gift of wisdom for the host. Any other attempt to treat the creature, by sorcery or religious means, merely enrages it, sending it into a frenzy in which it uses the host's body to attack the would-be exorcist. Dybbuks have no stats of their own; they use those of the host body.

The Karkadann is a gentle but ferocious-looking creature. It has a thick hide that looks like leather armor, with the pieces overlapping like scales. It has low-set, brown beady eyes, short yet strong legs, a permanent scowl and a long, elegant horn in the middle of its head, which curves up and back. The karkadanns used to roam Persis in small groups, but are rare now and generally attack humans on sight. They have come to distrust and hate people because they were hunted to near extinction for their horn. The horn of the karkadann has miraculous properties as a medicine, able to heal any illness if grouind toa powder and swallowed. The karkadann is able to sense innocense, and if it finds an innocent, it will lay its head in their lap and weep for its lost companions. The tears of a karkadann become priceless jewels when held up to the light of the moon, but no true innocent would abuse the beast's trust just to catch its tears. The karkadann is Strength 15 and Powerful.

Gocihr is also known as the Sovereign of the Desert and the Terror of the 8th Sea. It is a gigantic serpent, said to once have lived in the sky. IT wanted to eat the sun, so that it would be warm forever, but just when it was about to swallow the sun, it felt a warmth at its tale. It looked down and found that a tribe of tiny people had built a bonfire the size of a mountain beneath it. Bemused, it asked them why they would interfere with its great power. They all started to tear at their clothes and hair, wailing in anguish and begging Gocihr not to eat the sun. Gocihr was pitiless, however, and asked how they might hope to persuade one so great as itself. They begged it to live in their desert, where it might bask in the sun by day and shelter under the sand by night. They promised that every year, on the longest night, they would remind it of the desert comforts with a sacrifice to sate its hunger and its desire for warmth. Gocihr agreed - it could always eat the sun later if it decided to. An so, it told the Tribes of the 8th Sea ot carry with them the 'flowers of the desert,' to hang these but their tents and put them in the feed of their cattle, so that it would recognize them and not harm them. Occasionally, in the 8th Sea, a caravan just...vanishes. The Tribes are glad it is never one of theirs, for these caravans are eaten by Gocihr. Members of the Tribes or those under their protection are never attacked by Gocihr, and every year, they hold a Feast of Sacrifice to ensure that Gocihr continues to not eat the sun. It is said to be a sand serpent so large that when it opens its mouth, a sinkhole forms, devouring everything near it. Entire camps or small settlements might vanish entirely. No one has ever seen Gocihr in its entirety, but tales have been told of it. They say that the sand moves under their feet, or swear they saw snake scales shimmering in the desert sun. The tribes say that the sandstorms are caused by Gocihr sneezing. Gocihr does not have stats; it is far too powerful to be defeated in battle without an entire plotline surrounding such an effort rather than relying on dice.

However, while Gocihr is the only sand serpent of its size to exist in the 8th Sea (as far as anyone can tell), smaller serpents - up to 50 feet from head to tail - are called the Offspring of Gocihr and attack travelers. They are the color of the sands, and so blend well with the envrionment to ambush anyone they meet. The Tribes are frequently victim to their attacks, such that many warriros have built up a natural resistance to their snake venom over time. The bite still amkes them sick, but it may not always kill them. The venom is so potent, however, that a weapon coated in it will kill with just a scratch. Harvesting Offspring venom is extremely dangerous, and few ever dare to try it, so the stuff is extremely rare and precious. It is unclear if the snakes are actually Gocihr's offspring. If so, that suggests either it has a mate or it can reproduce without one, neither of which is very comforting. Offspring of Gocihr are usually Strength 20, Chitinous, Fearsome, Powerful, Relentless and Venomous.

Lamassu are terrifying beasts of Ashur. They have been there forevfer. The statues that are the lamassu were said to have been discovered when Yesu's followers settled the land, and they stand at the entrance of every city and every village that can afford them. By day, they appear as 15-foot statues that show a creature with a human head, an ox or lion body, and giant bird wings. They have five legs rather than four. In their pesence, everyone feels as if they are being watched, regardless of where the head actually faces. At night, however, rumor has it that the creatures awaken from their dreams of stone to protect people. For a small offering of blood, they will listen to any man, woman or child, and defend the truly suffering. The fifth leg represents their ability to move between the seen and unseen worlds. By night, they may travel vast distances in the blink of an eye, hunting down villains and criminals on the other side of the world if they must. They are always bound to retyurn to their statue form and its place by sunrise, and they typically act only within the areas around Ashurite cities and palaces. If a dishonest person attempts to gain their favor, they are unhesitating in killing such people. This is why most Ashurites and indeed most Alwarithli fear them, seeking their aid only when they are at their most desperate. However, if one approaches with pure intention, they c an be extremely powerful allies. Lamassu are Strength 17, Relentless, Shapeshifting, Teleporting and Winged. No matter what form they take, they are stone.

The rukk is a gigantic bird of prey, walnut brown in color. At a high enough altitude it might be mistaken for an eagle, but at close range its terrifying size is obvious. When it strikes, it excretes a strong odor from scent glands at the base of its neck, evoking a primal fear response. Story says that even a whiff of this scent can reduce the mightiest hero to a coward in seconds. Rukk nests are built on high cliffs near the ocean. Their eggs are as big as a person, and a rukk chick is a dangerous foe even though it can't yet fly. When rukks nest near a port or populous area, they wreak so much havoc that, if not driven off, they can decimate a town in weeks. Sometimes, a rukk will move if its nest is destroyed, but finding someone who is brave enough to climb the cliff and face an eagle large enough to attack entire ships is not easy. Rukks are Strength 15 and Winged. (Surprisingly, not Fearsome.)

Next time: Anatol Ayh

The Crescent Empire - What If Baghdad But Also Turkey

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - What If Baghdad But Also Turkey

The Caliphate of Anatol Ayh is in the middle of a massive change. The empire has always been a place of tradition. The House of Chaghri has ruled Iskandar since they defeated the Numanari, and they have always led the Empire as a whole. But now, Sultana Safiye has abolished the laws of many of her predecessors. She has declared magic users to be free citizens, abolished class, enacted sweeping populist reforms. However, the wealthy Anatoli opposed her. Even now, tradition still holds power. Iskandar, the heart of both the Empire and the nation of Anatol Ayh, remains a place of deep tradition. Every day begins with the call to dawn prayer, is filled with the sounds of merchants dealing in dozens of languages...but it changes, too.

Saifye has had to deal with opposition forces that seek to make her abdicate or overthrow her. The traditional feudal aristocrats dislike her centralizing power in Iskandar, and because their duty is to support her with both tax and military forces, their opposition weakens the Empress both economically and militarily. The worst blow is from Koray ibn Mazhar, who withdrew his troops from the capital when Safiye retook the throne. While most of the feudal lords eventually rallied under the sultana, Koray has remained loyal to Istani and even now campaigns in secret to convince others to join him in seeking the lost emperor. He is certain Istani still lives, and that if he is found, they can gather a sufficient force to attack Safiye. The Sultana's response to the nobles withdrawing support has been to expand the Janissary Corps, as the noble cavalry shrink. Her invitation for anyone, of any faith or perceived class, to join the Janissaries has won her much favor. Her younger brother Vedat has been put in charge of the corps; he had been so far removed from inheritance that no one ever bothered to kill him, and Istani kept him around to abuse. Vedat is fiercely loyal to his sister, and his years of subjugation by Istani have left him very able to understand the people who work under him. The unhappy nobles are less of an issue, though, than the fierce and determined traditionalists from the far eastern provinces. They name themselves Kurtanoglu, in reference to ancient Anatoli myth, and believe that Anatol Ayh's greatness must be restored via bloody conquest, not peace. They believe Safiye's attempts to preserve the peace of the Empire are weakness.

The origins of the House of Chaghri are largely lost. Apocryphal claims say they trace back to a band of nomadic horse riders who conquered Persis and the petty despots along the Igiglat and Buranun Rivers before turning towards Anatol Ayh. The 8th Sea Tribes claim that the House of Chaghri was one of theirs, a lost family of the al-Hisan whose righteousness let them unite the Anatoli in preparation for the coming of the Second Prophet. The shah of Persis points to the many Persic turms, customs and poetic forms used by the Anatoli to claim that the House of Chaghri originated in Persis (and further should be subordinate to it, because Shah Jalil). Whatever the truth, the House of Chaghri certainly does blend Persic and 8th Sea traditions along with knowledge salvaged from the Old Numanari Empire, making something more than the sum of its parts. The history of the Chaghri is largely known only from the fall of the Numanari.

In the seventh century, during the final battles between the failing Numanari and the rising Anatoli Sultan, Mehmet I (called the Heroic Lion), a young man of humble appearance began to preach in Iskandar. Mehmet raised the walls of Fatih Sarayi to celebrate his triumphs at the same time that Khalil ibn Mustafa urged humility and ecstatic devotion to al-Musawwir. Mehmet did not like this message of submission to a higher power, and he commanded Khalil to attend him while he crushed a rebelling Persic bey. The Second Prophet arrived in the aftermath of the battle, making his way to the sultan's tent through a field of corpses. On arrival, the sultan demanded he explain what right Khalil had to urge his subjects to serve smething beyond their ruler. The Prophet's only reply was this: "I urge no such thing, only that your people create so that they might know the struggle of al-Musawwir, the Shaper, who molded this land and all its people. But I tell you truly that wanton butchery offends the eyes of al-Musawwir, the Merciful One, and it is not his will that such acts go unpunished."

Hearing this, the bey took courage and drew her dagger, charging at Mehmet. Mehmet, a famous archer, dismissed his Silahdar Agha, his chief weapon bearer, and slew the bey with a single shot, twisting aside from her blade. However, his foot slipped, and he was mortally wounded. As the Sultan lay dying, the Prophet spoke again: "So al-Musawwir, whose justice is infinite, has punished them: one for the crime of rebellion, the other for the crime of barbarism." And so Jalal, the sultan's son, embraced the Prophet as a brother, saying: "I take al-Musawwir, the Expediter of Fortunes, as my God, and accept you as his messenger. What you deem holy, I will guard, and what you deem sinful, I will cast out."

The Prophet told Jalal that all he must do is struggle to build, as the Creator built, and to bring forth wonders, as the Creator had. Jalal swore this would be so, and for this and many other grat deeds, he is called the King of Kings. In honor of his pledge, the Anatoli monarchy became not just temporal rulers, but also the guardians of al-Din, protectors of the holy places and swords of the faith. This is not the end of Anatoli history, however - later, in 819, the Fetret Devri occured. It was a period of civil war fulling the death Sultan Selim I, the Cursed. Two twin sisters, Aisha and Melike, fought for the throne. Aisha won, at the cost of Ashurite independence. This had two major consequences. First, it was the source of the implementation of Maslaha, the law by which an heir could inherit the throne only if all their siblings were dead, and second, it made Ashur independent, by proclamation of Sultana Aisha in a somewhat enigmatic toast to the Guardian of the First Garden after she slew her sister.

Anatol Ayh is the crown province of the empire, and its laws are largely identical to those of the Empire at large. The seat of government in Iskandar is the royal court, divided into two branches -- the Enderun, or Inner Service, who oversee the functioning of Fatih Sarayi, and the Birun, or Outer Service, which handle all government outside the Palace walls. The Enderun are powerful even though their duties are theoretically purely mundane. They attend to the Sultana's needs and oversee the cooks of the Kilar-i Hass and the concubines of the Harems. In practice, however, the Enderun are the people most aware of the flow of power and favor within the government. They have the longest history of all administrative divisions in the Empire, known as Chambers due to their traditional locations in the Conqueror's Palace.

The Hass Oda, or Privy Chamber, is the most powerful of all of these divisions, being those courtiers that facilitate the daily life of the Sultana. The Silahdar Aga, or chief weapon-bearer, transmits her will through the palace, and recommends guards for promotion to the bostanci, the elite guards of the palace and the sultana. The current Silahdar Agha is Hazan bint Elif, a former bostanci who refused to join the empress' side when she took the palace. When asked why, she said it was simply duty. She vowed to protect the ruling sultan, regardless of her personal feelings, and would do so to her last breath. In honor of this strict code, Safiye made her the Silahdar Agha after officially taking the throne. The Hazine Oda, or Privy Treasury, contains the personal wealth of the sultan, and is overseen by the Khojagan, or chief treasurer, who also handles hte palace budget and ensures it stays balanced. The Seferli Oda, or Expeditionary Chamber, is responsbile for coordination of the logistics of all military campaigns, and is led by the Nizam al-Mulk, who controls approval of all military budgets and supply requests, in order to prevent corruption and enrichment of the military at the expense of the nation. The Kilar-i Hass, or Privy Larder, is run by the Murbakh Emini, who plans all meals of the sultana and commands a small army of poison tasters and event planners for affairs of state. Every page, no matter how important their family, must serve in the larder and learn that drudgery is half of service.

The Birun have grown in power with the Empire, and their ever-increasing responsibilities have forced them to divide into three Royal Institutions, each with a vital function. The Kalemiye, or Scribal Institution, handles the financial administration of the Empire. They collect tax, distribute pay and confirm aristocratic fiefdoms. At their head is the Grand Vizier, Mehmed Ali Pasha. The Seyfiye, or Military Institution, handle and execute all military strategy for the Empire and oversee the army and navy. Their leader is Ali Hakhan ul-Barrayun wa al-Bahrain, the Lord of Land and Sea, and chief military officer for the Empire. The Ilmiye, or Religious Institution, handles religious law and education. It is led by the Sheikh al-Din, the highest religious and legal authority of the Empire short of the Sultana herself. These three groups are often at odds with each other in attempts to gain favor or control to push their own ideologies. The Grand Vizier, a staunch traditionalist who opposes Safiye's reforms, has been courting the favor of Ali, in an attempt to gain the power needed to overthrow the empress.

To strengthen his plan, Mehmed has been subtly influencing the Sultana to undermine Ali and make him angry. Mehmed suggested placing Vedat in charge of the Janissaries without consulting Ali, and while that was within the Sultana's rights, Ali took it as an insult, which he still holds a grudge over. However, Yonca Sheikh al-Din bint Damla, a clever, elderly woman dating back to Saifye's father's administration, seeks to gain favor with Ali before Mehmed can. Yonca has used Safiye's rule to help undo many of the wrongs caused by Istani. She has hjad the Ayaecclesia rebuilt and restored to the Orthodox as a church, as well as finishing the Sulan Metehan Camii mosque. If she can convince the devout Ali that Safiye is the true voice in al-Din in soul as well as title, the Empress will have all the military power she needs to maintain control. Yonca's first step is to prevent the Montaigne ambassador from seducing Ali, which she believes is clearly a ploy orchestrated by Mehmed to get the empire into a war with Castille.

Amidst all this are the Imperial Harems, both a home for the royal family and providers of romantic partners for the sultana. The inhabitants of the harem live in total luxury, entertaining guests, caring for their children and studying various forms of higher education. As noted bnefore, White Eunuch Bomani Chike fully supports the Empress. His opposite in the Black Harem is Head Stewardess Caterina Pallazao, a Vodacce strega. She was the ruler over the harem under Istani, a former concubine of his father who never had a child and thus fell from favor. She was named Head Stewardess after she used her sorcery to advise Istani, and she selected the concubines he would favor, allowing her to control the vicious rivalries of the Harem. Now, Caterina has fallen from favor again. Honor is more valued under Safiye, and Caterina has never had any use for honor. She absolutely despises the House of Feclitiy, a home the sultana has created to house her siblings and their parents, which is now home to many of her former rivals for Safiye's father's affections. If Bomani does not keep a close eye on her, she will happily burn the place to the ground.

So, what exactly ar the reforms that Safiye began three years ago when she took the throne? Well, there's a long list, and they have earned her the name Kanuni, the Lawgiver. Her views have been developed by long years traveling both Theah and her empire, hearing the calls for change among her subjects. The first big shift was Yasaklana, the Forbidding. Prior, the principle of Maslaha, 'the greater good' in Katabic, was what guided succeession ever since the Fetret Devri. Sultana Aisha decreed that the House of Chaghri would ensure all succession disputes were handled internally, to avoid great danger to the empire, and no sultan or sultana could rule if they had any living siblings, ideally killing them by strangulation or poison to avoid spilling royal blood. Safiye believes this practice is what led Istani to attack her, and so she has forbidden it. She has expanded the harems to build the Abode of Felicity for siblings of the ruler and their families to live in comfort (and careful guard by the Enderun). Her siblings, who fled under Istani's reign, are slowly returning to the empire, including her brather Bayram, whom she met in Montaigne. When Bayram was welcomed back, given his exile by their father and his being hunted by Istani, there was a huge scandal. Thean rumors claim he worked in the Montaigne courts as a saboteur and a smuggler of victims of nobility to safety - and that Safiye helped him do it.

Second, Kaldirma, the Abolishing. Istani had instituted the Sihirbazlarin Kaydi, the Magician's Registry, which compelled registraiton of all magic-users in the empire. Safiye pointed out that the Second Prophet himself was the son of two sorcerers, and questioned why these magic-users had been singled out. She emancipated them, revoking the registry and ordering all its records destroyed. Shortly after, she issued an ultimatum to Shah Jalil of Persis, giving him ten years to do the same or be declared apostate. Persis has been deafeningly silent on the matter.

Third, Degistrime, the Changing. Safiye altered many statues and customs throughout Anatol Ayh after taking command. She has focused on the aggressively meritocratic, cosmopolitan nature of the Birun and Enderun. Now, all would-be bureaucrats must be fluent in Persic, Dibre and Katabic, and if they are, they may sit an exam. If they pass, they get into a school in the royal palace that will eventually lead to a post in either Birun or the Enderun. Further, Safiye has stricken the remnants of the feudal caste system from the lawbooks. Status in Anatol Ayh and the Empire at large are no longer bound by religion, ethnicity or social class at birth. The beys of several eyalts near Iskandar are Vaticine Numanari, and Sarmion has several Yachidi beys. Persics hold many positions of authority in the Empire, and as tensions grow, they have proven to be a vital diplomatic backchannel between Iskandar and the Shah's court.

Next time: Religion.

The Crescent Empire - YOL

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - YOL

The Empire is a melting pot of many ethnicities and religions, and Anatol Ayh is, as well. While the population is overwhelmingly Dinist, there are notable communities of various minority faiths, including Orthodox, Vaticines, Yachidi and Yasnavans. Because Crescent law is explicitly Dinist, members of religious minorities are subject to that law only if they commit crimes against Dinists. Any crime between two members of different religious minorities who cannot agree on which law to apply also default to Crescent law. In most cases, though, they use the legal system of the victim.

In a recent show of religious tolerance and solidarity, Yonca Sheikh al-Din has returned the Ayaecclesia to the Orthodox, it having been turned from a church to a Dinist temple by Safiye's father. Many believe her action was politically motivated and aimed at getting allies on Ashur, and some even suspect her of conspiring with Ashur to undermine Anatoli supremacy. However, many Dinists welcome the gift as a way to bring the Orthodox back to the capital and bring back their spark of religious debate, which they enjoy, and getting the chance to make more friends.

In all civil, religious or criminal disputes within a minority faith, the religious head of that local community is considered the governing authority. Sufficiently large faiths receive an exclusive quarter in Iskandar, and are granted permission to appoint a prelate, who serves as the arbiter of final appeal for that faith in the Empire. While the prelate may not always be the leader of a faith, for purposes of law they are the highest authority. Safiye is a fairly tolerant ruler, but at present she refuses to allow the Vaticine Hierophant to meddle in Crescent business. This is actually quite a contrast with her views of other religious heads, whom she meets with fairly frequently. As with the Sheikh al-Din, these heads are given the power to appoint subordinate authorities, though in practice they usually tolarete a lot of local independence and will only stop in if a locally preferred candidate threatens the autonomy of the community at large, such as by preaching rebellion or sedition.

A major Dinist sect within Anatol Ayh is the Yol. It focuses on the key distinction between outer (and flawed or impermanent) truth and inner (divine, eternal) truth. Yol embraces a multiplicity of paths towards achieving union with inner truth, from breathing exercises to dance to meditation to pilgrimage. These are taught by a yol bulan kisi, literally a pathfinder, who serves as a teacher or guide to individuals. The purpose of all Yol paths is the dissolution of the ego in pursuit of divine union, generally via ecstatic trance, ritual purification and the overcoming of desire. Any given person is not limited to just one path, though, and the leaders of each path are always clear - you can take many paths to al-Musawwir.

Ishaq ibn Qunavi is one of the most demanding yol bulan kisi in Iskandar. He is a tall, severe man who teaches critical thought via intense philosophical cross-examination of his students, relentlessly questioning them until they overcome their fear of failure and other earthly concerns, confronting the limits of learning and language. While in theory Ishaq's followers are lnguists, their real concern is the tension between what is known and who knows it. They implicitly challenge the practice of all other paths by asking if your senses can ever truly observe reality as it really is, and if so, if that knowledge can ever be accurate transmitted to someone with no direct experience of it. They want to find a means of communication which removes the distinction betwen the observer and the observed, which would allow didactic process rather than ecstatic worship to become the central idea of worship.

The culture of Anatol Ayh is in something of a state of flux between factions. There is a rich syncretic culture based on adopting ideas of other nations and drawing on many sources to make a distinctly Anatoli identity. This is known as the Way of Anatol Ayh, and mastering it is the sign of a sophisticate and an aristocrat, with the cultured and culturally influential being far more welcome at court even than the rich. A Master of the Way has no official title, but is often called 'Osda' as a sign of respect and honor. The ability to fluently speak the languages of the Empire and recite all traditional forms of poetry is considered an important skill, as is the aiblity to compose verse in any of those languages. Art in general is highly encouraged, and even a minor aristocrat will often be a talented ceramicist, painter or musician. The Way also brings with it a sort of code of conduct, in which all people are expected to show hospitality and respect to all others, regardless of class. Beggars are welcomed as easily as rich men, and all offer food and shelter to those that need it. It is custom to refuse the first offer, accepting only after a second proves sincerity. Osda have no class requirement, and not all masters of the Way are ethnic Anatoli. Because the Way is open to all people, Anatol Ayh is renowned for its cosmoplitan class of aristocrats that represent the entire Empire, withn one having a monopoly on culture.

Opposing this idea are those who believe the Way is spineless, a compromise that dilutes the true greatness of the Anatoli by incorporating foreign, inferior influences. These people call back to older (and therefore better) traditions, believing that the conquest of the Numanari was the highest expression of Anatoli superiority and culture. This feat, they say, was due to the bands of holy warriors known as ghazi, who invaded Numa with fire, faith and blade, subduing the debased Numanari Empire and claiming the land fo the House of Chaghri. These fundamentalists usually see the permissive and multicultural reforms of Safiye as analogous to the decadent Numanari. They call themselves the Ghazi Ideal, and they sweek to return Anatoli greatness through resistance to the Empress or even rebellion.

All citizens of Anatol Ayh, regardless of origin, gender or religion, are expected to be able to defend themselves. Thus, Meyru Mudafa, that is, martial arts for self-defense, a re a cornerstone of the cultural debate. Both the Way and the Ghazi Ideal empahsize Meyru Mudafa. For the Way, it is about the beauty of the forms and the movements of the body, while the Ghazi Ideal see learning these as the first step in transcendence through conflict. Every year, the Yarisma is held in Kadifekale, a tournament of martial arts champions. IT has become the focal point of battles between the two factions, and every form of martial art has its own event, with winners generally declaring support for one of the two views. Last year saw the largest number of Ghazi victories so far, and in an efort to keep things civil and exciting, for the coming year the bey of Kadifekale has sent out invitations to the best martial artists of Theah, IFri and Cathay, inviting them to attend this year's Yarisma.

Gures, or wrestling, has been a huge part of local culture - it predates al-Din, as sculptures and art depicting it have been found in pre-Dinist ruins. Anatoli consider wrestling to be the leading form of martial arts as a result. Per legend, Sultan Mehmet held a great Gures tournament to celebrate the birth of his son, inviting people of all faiths and cultures to take part, with the winner being given the honor of deciding where the Faith Sarayi would be built. In the final match, it came down to a huge Yachidi named Samson against a wiry Persic named Delara. They fougth for hours atop a hill covered in fig trees, fighting long into the night. As the sun rose, the two were found dead, still intertwined in each other's arms. The sultan understood, and he ordered them buried under the trees, declaring that his palace would be built around the grove in honor of the pair choosing death over defeat. The figs still grow atop Padisahin Tepesi, the center of the Faith Sarayi. The sultana's bodyguards, known as bostanci ('gardeners') are called this because their first duty is to care for the sacred fig trees. If the trees die, legend has it that the Empire will soon follow them.

To the Anatoli, commerce is also a battlefield, and bargaining a martial art. It is considered extremely rude to accept an item at its asking price - it implies that the merchant is either unworthy of your time and attention, or that they are so unskilled as a businessperson that they need your charity. Traditionally, merchants and customers engage in protracted haggling, with each side making outrageous claims of poverty or camaraderie in pursuit of an agreeable price. If no agreement can be reached, typically another merchant will step in and begin a new round of bargaining.

The Anatoli artistic tradition mixes many others, some native and others appropriated and given an Anatoli twist. Architecture of the Anatoli draws most of its inspiration from the Numanari. The greatest mosque in the nation, the Hikmet Camii of Iskandar, is an ancient Numanari temple remade for Dinist use. Similarly, the Dinist emphasis on purity led early sultans to rebuild the Numanari baths, and bathhouses, called hamam, now reflect the Empire's prosperity with their rich marble, ceramic and silver decorations. Anatoli art is very varied, with ceramicists making Cathayan-inspired handpainted tiles ornamented with images of local animals. Painters work out of studios known as nakkasane to create illustrations of the Second Prophet's teachings, usually less concerned with realism and more with the Persic style of evoking emotional or spiritual truth. Weavers use looms to make carpets that are considered to be half gift and half talisman, incorporating many patterns from the 8th Sea alongside traditional decorative patterns that ward against evil.

Iskandar is renowned for its cooking, thanks to the presence of the empress and her retinue. You can find cooking there influenced by all kinds of cuisine, especially that of Montaigne and Vodacce, and simplified versions of the luxurious and innovative dishes invented in the kitchens of the palace often trickle down to the common restaurants and cooks of Anatol Ayh, though made with local ingredients. Pasta has recently become quite popular, often combined with local lamb, beef, eggplant, mint, cumin, walnuts or pistachios. Meals are typically served with a side dish that mixes tangy yogurt with mint, cucumber and fluffy flatbreads.

Anatol Ayh is a Dinist country, but it borders many peoples, and its clothing mixes many fabrics and traditions. To combat the often changing temperature, people usually wear large, comfortable cotton salba, trousers, under simple and bright-colored skirts. Floor or knee-length robes in many colors or patterns are worn in layers over this, topped with a kasak, a sash worn just under the waist. Hats and headwear in general are extremely popular, due to the nation's Dinist roots, and Anatoli headwear is seen as an art form, the taller the better. Headwear often signifies social status, and wealthy Anatoli often show off with ostentatious hats. Anatoli men and women, being more liberal than the nearby Persics, often show their hair, worn loose or in braids. Men often have impeccable beards and moustaches, and any follower of the Way of Anatol Ayh works to maintain a polished and clean appearance at all times.

Things could be better, however. Anatoli legend says that they originated with a child born from a dying woman on a battlefield, for whom battle was as bread and blood was as milk. The orphan grew to be a great chief, taking a she-wolf as his bride and raising a litter of half-wolf sons. These pup-boys took the surname Kurtanoglu, Son of the Wolf, and are said to be the apocryphal ancestors of the Anatoli, who took hold of their destiny by acts of destruction and death. The modern Kurtanoglu claim to be their direct descendants, though now they have as many women as men. Common to all of them is the certain belief that Safiye's rule is weakness, and that Anatol Ayh can reclaim greatness only by violent conquest. To prove this, they have launched attacks on outlying towns around the capital, which Safiye has had very little success in stopping. These 'packs' use guerrilla tactics to thwart her forces, and will soon attack the capital if left unstopped. They are fanatics, ruled by the strongest through threat of violence. Any can challenge the alpha male or female, depending on the challenger's gender, but failure always means death. When they build up enough recruits, a pack will hold a bloody induction under the new moon, in which the neophytes are made to hunt each other, with only those that kill and drink the blood of another being welcomed. All others are slain for their weakness and left for carrion birds. Their extreme brutality has led to many rumors - that they can become half-wolf monsters and command wolves, that they seize the faithful under the full moon and baptize them in blood, that only a weapon blessed by an imam can harm them, or that they can only be stopped by chanting the teachings of the Second Prophet. Whatever is true, certainly the wolves of the east have become much more aggressive, for no clear reason. Local beys are terrorized into supporting the Kurtanoglu, as their own soldiers obey the packs over the orders of the Sultana. Even in Iskandar itself, there are rumors of the Kurtanoglu, speaking of people with the skin of beasts who live by day out of ancient cisterns, emerging at night to hunt the loyal people of the Empire and devour their flesh.

Next time: Locations

The Crescent Empire - Vacation Town

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Vacation Town

Kadifekale was originally founded long ago as a fortress-city by a Vaticine Castillian fanatic named Don Guillermo de Terciopelo, but it was quickly overrun by the Sultan's forces at the time, converted into a town to be used to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Today, it is one of the most beloved cities of Anatol Ayh. It overlooks an inlet of the Numanari Approach and is the center of Anatoli cultural efforts. The land's beauty seems to call forth poetry, its warm seas, deep forests and high mountains all easily accessible from the city. It is surrounded by fertile land, irrigated by a lazy and prosperous river, leaving the locals in no economic worry and free to pursue their passions. After the sack of the fortress, the Anatoli forces discovered Numanari urban ruins and rebuilt the modern city according to the plan of its Numanari predecessor. At the city heart is the agora, an ancient market and administrative center, which is still used for both functions. Several Numanari buildings have been restored, and Numanari architectural elements are widespread. The cultural elite live in the outskirts of the city, scattered around the foothills of the east - close enough to the city to have an artistic community, yet far enough away to work in solitude.

The House of Learning is the result of an ancient Numanari library uncovered by Terciopelo during his construction of his fortress. The texts within were preserved by the cool, dry air of the mountains, and among the works were histories of the Katabic kingdoms, the Persic shahs and a number of Numanari texts on cosmology and math. When Sultan Hamid II took the city, he ordered the construction of a madrassa, a school, now known as the House of Learning, in which to house the various texts, most of which have now been translated into Katabic. The library is easily one of the most complete guides to pre-Crescent history in the nation, and have proven a vital tool for those who search for ancient Katabic ruins.

The Pool of Sorrow, according to Numanari legend, is the prison of an ancient Numanari king for deceiving the gods. The pool is deep and black, and a nearby rock formation resembles a recumbent woman's figure, said to be his daughter. A spring bubbles up from the 'head' and feeds the lake. Folklore claims that any who swim in the dark waters will become trapped by impossible desires, growing withdrawn and eventually starving to death. City authorities put no real stock in the legend, but every summer a few folks do go missing after taking a dip in the pool to escape the heat.

Batik Sehir, the Sunken City, has existed for a long time. Historically, war was common in Anatol Ayh, and Batik Sehir was always there to take in refugees. The earliest written records of the nation mention its ruins, and the upper levels contain graffiti and carvings of the names of people who sought refuge within, exotic names such as Naram-Sin the Defeated or Esarhaddon the Blighted. Those that visit the ruins today are more likely to find a fugitive from Istani's soldiers or unconventional schismatics from Ashur. Outside of times of war, most avoid the ruins, beliving them cursed with bad luck. No one is sure quite how far the ruins extend.

The Magaralar are accessible via single entrance built into a ridge, and are clearly human-made. They are windowless caves with small hearths, well-ventilated by shafts sunk from the surface. Cisterns are dug into low-lying parts of the ridge, channeling rainwater into culverts in the floor to provide a kind of running water. Refugees quickly found that waste dropped in the strange metal shafts in the floor quickly vanished entirely, so plumbing was no issue. More puzzling are the metallic statues of strange, fantastic beasts found in the caves. They are known as Canavarlar, and they seem to be multifarous hybrids of human and beast. Winged oxen with human heads, horned snakes with many hands, scorpions with the upper bodies of men and women. No one knows why, and the figures appear to move around the caves at random, occasionally speaking phrases in lost tongues which sound something like religious invocations.

On the rare occasion that overcrowding drives people further into Batik Sehir than the upper levels, they descend into the Hapishane. They usually report hearing a strange noise, just on the edge of hearing, that disappears if concentrated on. The architecture becomes more alien, less human, with more angles and fewer curves. Chambers in this area are unbricked and have no hearths, and the rock is unmarked by sledge or chisel. A few go even deeper, making wild claims of tunnels that connect Batik Sehir to settlements miles away, or of strange machinery made of unknown metals, or of flickering lights in deep chasms. They speak of monstrous beasts that defy description, imprisoned deep in the Hapishane. However, these accounts are typically dismissed as nothing but hearsay, for those who go so deep are typically shunned even by friends and family, as they are seen as touched by evil luck. The last pilgrim known to have gone so deep, Muharrem ibn Evrad, left a single poem behind before committing suicide: 'T'was too deep to go; fleeing evil above, I found evil below.'

Current Relations posted:

Ashur: Since granting Ashur's independence in the aftermath of the Fetret Devri, Anatol Ayh has viewed the breakaway province with frustration and scorn. Possessed of natural wealth, and between the unruly populace and an unknown number of religiously motivated murderers, Ashur is costly to conquer and difficult to rule. Nevertheless, some within the sultana's court believe it would have been better if Aisha's decree had never been spoken.
Persis: Relations between Anatol Ayh and Persis are strained to the breaking point. Shah Jalil's love for the deposed - and presumed dead - Sultan Istani has made him an implacable enemy of Sultana Safiye. Conflict is inevitable, but the question of who will strike the first blow and where it will fall has yet to be determined.
Sarmion: Sarmion has enjoyed a great deal of influence since Sultana Safiye's coronation. With several Chavra among the bostanci, the Nation can ensure the empress hears any concerns its monarchy has directly, rather than being diluted through advisors. The result has been a tightening of relations between the two Nations, especially as the threat from Persis grows and the sultana looks for allies.
Tribes of the 8th Sea: Since Sultan Istani's disappearance among the burning dunes, Sultana Safiye has cultivated close relations with the Tribes of the 8th Sea, sending gifts and sages to the tribes. If her brother lives somewhere in that desert, she wishes to ensure he cannot build a base of support among the clans.

And last, people! Ibrahim ibn Hayreddin is captain of the privateer ship Turgut, and a highly modern leader. He believes the Empire must embrace the best of all of the world, and after years of study, he speaks every Thean language and makes a big point of treating captives he takes kindly even as he presses them for details on tactics, scientific innovations and works of cultural importance. Once his curiosity is satisfied, he sets these captives free a few days out from a friendly port, with enough food and water to get there. His crew is extremely diverse and fiercely loyal to him, and he is loyal to them. He may have the largest assemblage of people of different nations on his crew of any ship in the world, and he believes that the Turgut is a microcosm of what the Empire could be if it were to truly dedicate itself to reform. He hopes his military successes inspire others to follow his example.

Safiye, Sultan of Anatol Ayh and Padishah of the Crescent Empire, bears a huge burden. She left the empire as a young woman to see the world, visting every Thean nation and learning what she could from their customs. She enjoyed Theah and was content, and when she heard Istani had taken the throne, she was happy to stay away and let him have it, to spare him the horror of having to kill her; she remembered her brother as a kind young boy. However, as she traveled, she heard worrying tales of her brother's new laws, which went against the peaceful teachings of Dinist scripture. She refused to believe these rumors until, one day, a band of brigands attempted to assassinate her, sent by her brother. She returned home, meeting up with her best friend, Princess Batya of Sarmion, and together with her and a squad of elite Chavra, Safiye took over the empire. After three years of rule, she still feels torn between her responsibilities - ruling well, overseeing the reforms, leading her family and being the supreme eminence of al-Din. She wants to turn the Empire into a place that can benefit from all faiths and all peoples. She suspects her Grand Vizier knows the location of her brother, but hasn't got any proof so she can't act against him yet.

Ezgi kizi Mehmet, Sultana of Scholars, Padishah of Poets, is a middle-aged woman who is renowned for her mastery of the poetic word. She is welcome wherever she goes, and she travels the length and breadth of the empire, speaking poems about the woes of the world and the desire for spiritual perfection. She is a yol budan kisi of poetry as a path to al-Musawwir, and she lives an ascetic lifestyle, with many devotees drawn both to her poetry and her mysticism. Besides being an immensely skilled poet, however, she is also a spy for the Shah of Persis. Her qasa'id couplets often highlight the fallibility of Anatoli leaders and the inability of any one person to fully devote themselves both to temporal and spiritual issues. Because Ezgi is welcome in any home, she is able to gather vast amounts of information for the Shah and has won the allegiance of many malcontents. She is Strength 7, Influence 7.

Davud ibn Ihsan, Bolukbasi of the 1st Company of the Janissary Corps, is a paragon of the Way of Anatol Ayh. He is the son of a prominent qadi, studied Dinist theology and law under his father, is fluent in all regional languages of the empire, and can also speak several Ifrian and Thean ones. He rose meteorically through the Janissary ranks, fueled by his potent intellect, and he now holds the most prestigious field command of the corps, often assigned to handle intractable problems. Davud is fanatically loyal to the Empire, for it has given him all he could ever ask for...and therefore he will do anything to preserve it. He uses his impeccable manners and knowledge of the law, theology and customs of the Empire to justify any action he wants to take, regardless of morality. He values the continued strength of the Empire and its stability over anything else, followed by his own pleasure and enrichment. He will remove any threat to either with no regard for procedural or ethical issues, and under Istani, he butchered thousands without any concerns. He is Strength 10, Influence 5.

Next time: Ashur

The Crescent Empire - What If Jesus Batman

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - What If Jesus Batman

Ashur is a tiny but independent city-state in the midst of the Crescent Empire. This is possible, in large part, due to the Assassins and the Elohim. The terrifying Assassins have kept enemy forces out, while the Elohim planted the magic fruit that keeps it fed when the Empire has tried to starve their imports. The problem is the infrastructure that has long enabled both of these feats is quickly failing. For 800 years, the Assassins have fought at the command of the Guardian of the First Garden, an immortal who, rumor has it, has the power to see all possible futures. But now, he is dying of an infected wound, and simultaneously, Yesu's tree, the tree which the Orthodox say all bounty comes from, is failing to bloom. As the tree withers, so do Ashur's crops, and while food is stored, it won't be long before the famine comes. Within the Empire, Ashur is known as Fanatic Country, held by Orthodox zealots and Anashid heretics who live side by side, surviving because they trust each other far more than outsiders. Ashur is approximately 50% Orthodox, 40% Dinist (of which almost all are Anashid) and 10% anything else.

It is said that Ashur did not exist before Yesu's followers found it. This sounds unlikely, but the Numanari certainly never found the place, and they really should have. It was the kind of land they loved - hidden in a mountain fastness, eminently defensible, cool and misty at all times, with lush vegetation and legendarily fertile soil. And yet, when the followers of Yesu came upon the valleys, they were utterly untouched. When they planted figs, a thousand gardens grew.

In 620, Khalil ibn Mustafa al-Thaji came to Ashur, carrying his dying daughter, Irshad. He brought her to the highest peak, and he left the mountain without her. Before then, the Green Mountains had never been climbed, and so the Orthodox were quite impressed. Many, they say, wanted to convert immediately, but the Prophet told them to wait. For 80 years, nothing happened...and then the Anatoli invaded. The Orthodox were technologically primitive and largely pacifist, so they were easily conquered. When the Orthodox refused to help them exploit the rich forests, they were forced to flee or were enslaved on plantations. By the time the Vodacce invaded the area, Ashur was firmly under Anatoli rule, and when the Empire formed, Ashur provided it much wealth. They became cynical, praying for independence but often disillusioned with pacifism and passive resistance. That is when, in 800, Irshad bint Jamila, daughter of the Prophet, came down from the highest mountain.

Her first act was to lead a resistance movement. Her followers fled the plantations, hiding in outposts and hollowing out the Imperial government from within, replacing oppressors with puppets. In 803, with Ashur still fighting a guerrilla war, Irshad declared that Iskandar needed her and left, but not before leading a blind boy up the Green Mountain. She told him to watch over the nation, announcing to her followers that she was daughter of Khalil and, as he had been, a Prophet. Some of the Orthodox who had followed her felt betrayed by her claim, but many more converted and became the first Anashid. In 807, a tribe of disillusioned Orthodox cut out the tongues of an Anashid family, nearly starting a war. However, the blind boy on the mountain had many magics and was not a subtle child. He trapped the belligerents of both sides in a nightmare until they agreed to end hostilities.

In 819, the Empire fell into the Fetret Devri, the civil war between two empresses, the twins Aisha and Melike. Melika had the larger army, so it was something of a shock when Aisha won the war, toasting the Guardian of the First Garden and declaring Ashur independent. It was only then that the rumors began spreading, that Ashur had terrifying Assassins that answered only to the blind boy atop the mountain. The boy, now known as the Guardian of the First Garden, was firmly in control of Ashur, and he allowed former Anatoli bureaucrats to stay there if they wished to become Ashurites, creating the Pleroma. The Pleroma was the infrastructure needed to remain independent, a governing body for Ashur. They kept it shrouded in the long religious tradition of Ashur, modeling the Pleroma after a monastic order, with stone halls, acolytes, councils and so on. However, the Ashurites despised the Pleroma, despite it ruling under the Guardian's grace...at least until it became clear that without them, Ashur would not actually function.

Many have tried to take Ashur. They have always failed, now. The Empire has tried and failed. The Khazari have tried and failed. Die Kreuzritter have tried and failed. No invasion ever lasts very long, faced with the Assassins and the Elohim. In 911, the Imperial army attempted a conquest, only for Emperor Mehmet V to awaken with a dagger on his pillow, a note saying 'We have you in our power' and all the army's food and wine supplies poisoned. The army retreated the next day. In 1120, a platoon of Rzeplitan and Curonian knights broke off from squad of what would become die Kreuzritter, moving to raid Ashur. They are never seen again. In 1230, the Iron Khan makes it to the cliffs on Ashur's southern border. He meets with the blind boy under flag of truce, and the blind boy signals for an Assassin to leap off the cliff to her death. He explains to the Khan that he can afford to waste even such loyal followers, and signals to the next Assassin to do the same. A third prepares to jump, and the Khan decides to leave. In 1388, Empress Seyma sent a team of saboteurs to Ashur. Six months later, they all awoke to find daggers on their pillows. Half fled or defected immediately. The other half asphyxiated in a steam bath, and their boiled bodies were sent back to the Empress. In 1658, Grand Vizier Mehmed Ali Pasha suggests to Emperor Istani that they might invade. That night, he finds a knife on his pillow and a bottle of poison pills in his son's room. He rescinds the suggestion.

Ashur has three laws that apply to everyone. First: Murder is abhorrent. No one may kill, except Assassins. Second: Respect the desires of peoples not your own. Third: It is forbidden to cut down trees. These laws were made in 831, carved in stone by the Pleroma and posted in every outpost, Cathedral and urban center. They are all compromises. After all, the two most important creeds of the nation, that of the Elohim and that of the Assassins, are in direct conflict on the question of murder. Elohim hate it, but the Assassins have a holy man that tells them to kill. The first law is therefore a compromise. Ashur will never allow legal duels, will never raise an army, but it will allow the Assassins to do what they must. Neither side is thrilled, but it is required, as otherwise Ashur would easily be conquered.

The second law is also a compromise. Nearly every Ashurite deeply dislikes at least one other sect present in Ashur and believes the world would be better without them. However, the Pleroma saw that this would apply to all. Everyone finds certain lifestyles disgusting, and outside of chaos and tyranny, the only method this can be handled is to live and let live. The third and final law was a peace offer to the Elohim who found the first two laws upsetting. It is, more than anything, a relic of the colonial trauma of Crescent rule, for they abused the rich forests of Ashur. Currently, villagers may apply to the Pleroma for permission to get around the law when absolutely necessary, but even that remains controversial. Other than these three laws, all governance is local. Assassins obey the Guardian, Orthodox obey scripture, and villages govern themselves. The Pleroma organize by locality, often using bastardized versions of Alwarithli law to ensure the place functions, but usually cutting away bureaucracy to make sure they work on a local level. Every district is led by a Metropolitan, which is like a mayor, who meets with their underlings once a month at least and the other Metropolitans once a year at least, typically in Bit Habubati, on the summer solstice. The Metropolitan of Bit Habubati presides over the Pleroma council and breaks any ties.

Ashur attempts religious pluralism, as they believe infighting will only lead to the Empire invading while they are weakened. They have no clear majority faith, in any case. However, regardless of what faith someone is, the Ashurites are all deeply devout about it, and the pluralism can feel quite strained at times. The two majority religions, the Orthodoxy and Anashid Dinism, have not gone to war, but there have been several close calls over the centuries, and the tension between the Elohim Orthodox and the Assassins has never truly gone away. Those who are not of those two faiths often feel marginalized. The Three Laws were specifically made for the purposes of the Orthodox and the Anashid, and no one else was really considered. Mainstream Dinists, used to being the Empire's majority, often feel especially annoyed by the loss of privilege, and Ashurites tend to believe most mainstream Dinists are Imperial spies. Yachidi tend to have it easier. Outside Sarmion, they are used to being a minority, and those in Ashur tend to be immigrant healers, with the largest Yachidi community in the nation dating back to a century before the Anatoli invaded. Yasnavans and Vaticines are rare, and tend not to have a good time. Ashurites believe the Assassins slew the Third Prophet for good reason, and while most are not so rude as to say so openly to a Vaticine, it's not unknown. Most Ashurites also believe Yasnavan theology is infantile and barely a religion.

Many outsiders assume the Elohim and the Assassins get along perfectly, but this is far from the case. After the murder of Empress Seyma's saboteurs in 1388, the Assassins went through a very dark period of increasingly brutal tactics to keep Ashur safe, which sparked a lot of Elohim pushback, as they could not condone the actions taken. While things have gotten better since then and the Assassins have largely abandoned such dark tactics, it seems unlikely the divide will ever be truly mended.

In theory, the social classes of Ashur are not actually enshrined in any law and anyone can choose to be any class at any time. In practice, changing class is difficult, costly and not done lightly. Assassins are a class that, in theory, anyone may join by climbing the Green Mountain and asking to be one. Few do so. The Guardian accepts all, so misfits and criminals often make the climb - typically those drawn to death in a nation of pacifists. If they reach the top, the Guardian always accepts them...and then the training begins. The Anashid say that if you wish to be morally prepared to kill, you must know how to die. The Guardian is clairvoyant, prophetic, almost omniscient. He is, to the Anashid, not a person so much as a phenomenon. He is a holy man who inherited the legacy of Irshad. However, not all Assassins are Anashid, despite what many Theans who know of them believe. While Anashid may become Assassins, most prefer a life of peace. Those who do not...well, the Guardian has the power, of a sort, to resurrect the dead. Those who swear to him, he kills, trapping them in dreams, killing them again and again. The Assassin hallucinates the lives of every person the Guardian has slain. They live and die, again and again, thousands of times. Each time they wake up after dying, the Guardian offers a choice: leave the mountain and return home, never to be an Assassin, or die again. Many leave after only ten or twenty deaths. They return changed - not Assassins, but wiser, sadder. Those that stay continue to die and to change, until the question they are asked changes: will you go home, go down the mountain, never be an Assassin...or will you kill for me? Ashurites say that only an Assassin may kill, for only they know what it is to die. They are given lavish gifts, but rarely interacted with closely.

Long ago, after years of immortality, the Guardian became bored with the Assassins. He trained them, yes, he killed them again and again, but the years of doing so wore on him. His orders grew more bloody and ruthless, determined to send a message to Ashur's foes no matter the cost, that he might not need to give so many orders. A schism formed among the Assassins, with many becoming bloodthirsty mercenaries, killing for vast sums of money, for they saw that the Guardian seemed to want violence. Others sought to prevent this cruelty, forming the Alnniqabat Lilnnusr, an organization to protect the noble goals of the Assassins and monitor them from within, weeding out the corrupt. Recently, the Guardian went down from the mountain for the first time in centuries, to fight off a shadowy figure that threatened Yesu's Tree, and in doing so, he received a mortal wound. He had believed that nothing could kill him, and so the banality of immortality corrupted his thoughts. Now, faced with death for the first time in centuries, he realized what his Assassins had become, and realized that he and they needed to change. With what little time remains to him, the Guardian now works with the heroes among the Assassins to ferret out any corruption that remains, so he may earn back the respect of Ashur.

Not all Assassins climb the Mountain. Whenever an Assassin makes the commitment to kill for the Guardian, he ties a piece of leather around their neck. Each is an elaborate work of art, with each knot upon the leather representing a death, and each choker is unique. Only the wearer may untie it, and only once they have killed the target assigned to them. They may then make a choice - keep the collar, or give it to someone else. If they wish to give their collar, they must un-knot it and then re-tie it around the throat of another person. It can take hours, and while it happens, the person being given the collar experiences every death the Assassin has ever known - those they suffered on the Mountain, and those they have caused since. It is a very difficult, painful experience, and most cannot bear it, begging the Assassin to stop. However, if they succeed, they are given permission to kill, for they have died. Some climb the Mountain and become full Assassins. Others do not, and are called Hatapu, sacrifices. They bear the burden of death. The collars worn by Hatapu are considered retired, pass down by ritual to a worthy Ashurite. Giving a collar to a Hatapu is favored by those Assassins who cannot find someone to go up the mountain and replace them, because it means that their legacy and mystic power at least lives on. And there is power in the collar, though those that receive it rarely consider it a gift. Every collar grants its wearer the ability to perform Nawaru, the Sorcery of the Assassins, which can manipulate light.

Theans often refer to the Guardian as "the Old Man on the Mountain," which typically perplexes most Ashurites and Crescents, as the Guardian is...well, a child, physically. This is because the first Thean to meet the Guardian was a Castillian woman named Euria Jimenez, who came seeking answers after her faith was damaged by the loss of her son. She had been told that Ashur, if anywhere, could give her the wisdom of Theus. She sought the First Garden in hopes of learning what kind of god would take a child before a parent. When she got to the mountain summit, she met a boy, who was the spitting image of her dead son. Her question fled as she sat and spoke to the boy, spending years with him and, it is said, seeing him grow to a man, than an old man, until at least she watched him die. The now quite old woman returned to Castille, and just before her own death, she spoke her final words, which cemented the name in the Thean consciousness forever: "I have seen my son and he wears a shroud of death. He is the old man on the mountain and I am at peace."

Next time: The other social classes.

The Crescent Empire - The Lorax

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - The Lorax

Elohim are the class of Orthodox tree farmers. They live a life of service to others, and thus have an honored place in Ashur. They are deeply respected for their sacrifices in order to live as Yesu did, and they are the providers of the rich harvest. They plant trees that bear all manner of fruit, seeds and bulbs. In spring, each tribe of Elohim plants their patch of ground, then travel to the lands another tribe has planted, tending to the plants there until fall, when they move to a third patch and harvest it. They do this because they believe individual ownership of property is inherently corrupting. Everything belongs to everyone, and insisting otherwise separates you from Elohah. The Elohim are strict pacifists, vegetarians, and collectivists, and they will neither handle money nor cut down trees. They believe the best thing any Disciple can do is to live in imitation of Yesu, who was a slave and orchard-keeper. Elohim do not construct buildings, but they do grow Cathedrals. In an act mimicking the First Cathedral, Elohim spend years moving trees, roots and bushes into amazing, living structures, many stories high and with flower-wreathed windows. These shelter from the rain, serve as places of worship and are works of art and prayer. They are also a method for the Elohim tribes to communicate, for each Cathedral has a carillon, one of the only things within that is not grown. Every tribe that uses a Cathedral is obligated to see to its maintenance and to beautify it, which keeps the Cathedrals in peak condition.

The Pleroma are the class of bureaucrats that, in theory, lead the nation. They recruit heavily from Orthodox tribes and small Anashid villages, typically from among those members who feel stifled in their community. New recruits are 'apprenticed' to older Pleroma, coordinating their projects and helping to broker compromises and wrangle the various groups of fanatics that have compatible needs and incompatible beliefs. Between work, they live and sleep in the Halls, dorms modeled after Ussuran monasteries. They are sparsely furnished and built from dark, dry stone. One of the most prominent Pleroma, Moonif Benu Pleroma, is busy campaigning to try and bring the disparate villages of Ashur into a cohesive whole. He believes that by all the villages coming together, they can modernize Ashur. Most recently, Moonif has introduced the concept of a national guard, hoping that a neutral group made from Ashur of all walks of life will help soothe the tension between Elohim and Assassins. Moonif is deeply respected, but recently he's been pushing social boundaries in the name of progress. Most controversionally, he has invited Princess Batya of Sarmion to tour Ashur, in the hopes of gaining her favor for an eventual alliance with Sarmion and, perhaps, even Anatol Ayh. If he could get the Sultana on his side, he might be able to stop 8th Sea raids on the outlying Ashurite villages.

Villagers make up the rest of the nation, and both Orthodox and Anashid villages tend to be eccentric, thanks to the influences of the Enclavest tradition. Most aim to be paradises for the residents, though this less than feasible in practice - one person's paradise is often another's terrifying cult, and the most terrifying ones are the ones people outside Ashur tend to hear about. For example, nearly everyone in the Empire has heard of Ennoia Village, whose inhabitants regularly engage in torture, vivisection and self-cannibalism, on the theory that one can reach Heaven only by loving the world completely, which they ensure by learning to experience and love even the worst of it. Not all villages are so painful nor so all-consuming in their bent. Pigmentist villages worship Elohah with color, vocalist villages do so by communicating only in song, intellectual villages dedicate themselves to the painstaking reconstruction of lost holy texts, and so on. Even these, however, are the minority. The majority of villagers live in relatively normal villages, though these places have lower status than the weird ones in Ashur. Social rank in Ashur is drawn primarily from the fanaticism of one's beliefs rather than birth or money. The more inconveniently consistent your faith is, and the more privations you are willing to suffer for it, the more you are respected. Assassins undergo horrific training to earn the right to kill, so they are respected. Elohah live in voluntary poverty to follow their faith, and they are respected. The Pleroma devote themselves to a job no one thanks them for in a state that doesn't want to be run, so they are respected. Villagers...well, how dedicated is your village?

Ashurites love conversation, but theirs tend to be intense. They believe questions signify engagement and interest, and insightful ones also show wit. There is no taboo against prying questions, and so foreigners often feel interrogated. Religion is a near-constant of their discourse, and followers of foreign creeds often find their beliefs being dissected by questions, which the Ashurites see as mere good sense. Arguments do happen in public, but public debate is considered vulgar. The point of public debate in the Empire is to convince the audience, which Ashurites say leads to tricky rhetorical tactics, bad rhetoric and demagogues. Rather, they say, the point of debate should be convincing the opponent, which is done much differently. The most quintessentially Ashurite form of debate is called arahu, 'conversation.' It involves two people sitting down in private, drinking tea and, for the first portion, engaging in exercises to encourage openness and reduce defensiveness around each other. Only when this is done do the debaters begin to discuss and dissect each others' beliefs, meeting every fortnight for a year and a day. This was originally intended as a conversion technique, but is now accepted as a form of debate on any matter of importance.

Most of Ashur's food is made by the Elohim, and so they are at the center of Ashur's trade. Because they refuse to handle money, however, they barter instead. They trade for tools, clothing, services, art and craftwork to beautify their Cathedrals, the service of teachers, entertainers and more. They do not ever trade for baubles or money, and rarely for anything they cannot share with their tribe. As nomads, they also rarely trade for anything they can't carry. Among the other classes, trade is less restricted, because they still use the lyra of the Empire. However, the prohibition on cutting trees can make some economies difficult. Books are rare and mostly imported, with native text generally either muacat ('temporary') and made from chalk or wax on a slate, or daimon ('permanent') and etched with vinegar or carved on walls. Memorization is a huge deal for Ashurites, especially intellectuals, and thus poetry and songs are highly valued as mnemonics. Deadwood is not common enough for use as fuel, but Ashur has oil pits and oil springs - so many that some have just been set on fire and allowed to be centuries-old bonfires. Others are refined into wax and lamp oil, most notably a clear and clean-burning paraffin known as naft abyad, and the coke found around the oil seeps is also usable as a slow-burning fuel for heating things.

Ashur has loads of kaffeehouses, typically serving it strong and black with sweet cakes. Round cakes with a fig in the center are a delicacy, often served on a fig leaf, and traditionally baked to celebrate the nation's founding and the burial of Yesu. Ashur is also known for its large appetizer platters before meals, called mezze, which typically have olives, rice-and-herb-stuffed grape leaves, spicy garlic sausage, goat cheese and other savories. Ashurite clothing tends to the long and flowing, with slitted sides and angular sleeves. They use heavy embroidery on the necklines, typically of geometric patterns and plants, and wear rope belts - usually black. They wear dark coats embroidered in bright colors, and typically cover their entire head, including all hair and sometimes even the face, depending on the village. Most Ashurites own at least a simple shawl or other head covering for worship. Elohim dress in sturdy kaftans and usually wear only sandals on their feet, or even go barefoot. Pleroma wear shoes and simple gray robes. Assassins wear no special outfit besides their knotted leather color, typically with thousands of tiny knots in it. It's hard to miss, if the Assassin isn't actively hiding.

Locations! Bit Habubti is the only city in Ashur, and it's only a city by some definitions. It was built only a century ago, and is a cluster of villages that share space in an enormous natural cave system. The villages each have their own customs and laws. Travelers know which village they are in by colors and stencils in chalk and wax along the walls, ceilings and floors. The Enclavest villages are usually quite lovely as a point of pride, and locals are often artists, using their art and creations to trade for food with outside villages. The Anashid villages are likewise unique, with poetry often painted on the walls and prayers heard in echo five times each day. Intersections where several villages meet are known as 'collaborations,' and are usually the site of literal collaborative efforts between multiple villages, of any kind - libraries, brothels, stages, whatever. The central markets are coordinated by the Pleroma in high caverns whose walls are hung with glass and painted in rainbows, and both barter and coin are accepted there. There is no accurate city map because the villages move almost constantly, as their communities split, reform, merge, schism and absorb each other. Villagers rarely treat their surroundings very carefully, and safety is unfortunately often something of a secondary concern to appearance. Menial tasks, such as hanging rope bridges and ladders, making pipes, removing sewage and so on, are typically done by the Abnegants, of whom nearly a thousand are sworn to the city.

Abbunatu is the city's neutral ground, much-needed for this experiment in Ashurite urban life. It is a kaffeeshop located at a major intersection and it serves as a social hub, where people of various villages can come, chat, eat and socialize. The owners are two gigantic men who may or may not be former warriors of some kind. The cafe is used for many small ritual social activities - meet-and-greets, barter contracts, dispute resolution before getting the Pleroma involved. It has actually reached the point where the few villages that forbid their members from going to Abbunatu as somewhat sketchy. The proprietors both speak fluent Katabic and Dibre, and often help foreigners who come visit the city.

The largest Pleroma hall, known as the Great Hall, is built in the style of a Vaticine cathedral, full of annexes and flying buttresses. It was made only five years ago and is now the center of Bit Habibti's government - and by extension Ashur's, because there's only the one city. The Mauve Chamber within is home to the meetings of the Metropolitan council, and the place has enough dorms to house all Pleroma in the nation and feed them for a year, if it has to. The public is unaware of its many hidden passages, which lead out of the cave system in some cases and provide concealed entry to various villages in others. The hall is designed surprisingly like a fortress, in fact. It is run and was designed by Tarek Benu Pleroma, whose voice carries the most weight on the Metropolitan council. Many young Pleroma worry that Tarek has gained too much favor recently and that his antiquated ideas of what Ashur should be stifle progress. Tarek collects secrets as part of his influence, and he hates change, pushing for Ashur to remain constant, even stagnant. Most recently, he has begun a political battle with Athro Benu Nairu, a woman who is trying to introduce reed paper to Ashur - it is cheap and complies with all Ashurite law, but it's still an uphill battle, as Tarek believes that paper is untraditional and therefore bad.

Next time: The Green Mountain

The Crescent Empire - Death Mountain

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Death Mountain

The Green Mountain towers over all the other peaks of Ashur, and its summit is always covered in mist. The oldest carvings, at the mountain's base, date back to the first century. As you climb up, the carvings get newer, more elaborate and more celebratory. It is said that Khalil climbed the peak with his daughter on his back, and no one knows how even now. When Irshad descended, no one but her father had ever climbed to the top. When she took the blind boy up to it, he became the third ever to be there. when she came down, she left a rope to help others reach the summit, and it has not broken yet. All would-be Assassins make the climb, as do some others - curiosity seekers and those who would ask the Guardian for help, mainly. Some outposts and inns at the foot of the mountain offer fruit, nuts and a bed. As the path goes upwards, it splits into carved stone steps, so steep that they're basically letters, and from there, to rope bridges that must be crossed hand-over-hand. The people at the base say it's best to go at night, when the dark keeps you from seeing how high you are on the bridges. At the top of the mountain is the First Garden.

It grows in the mouth of a dead volcano, guarded by a boy centuries old. Sometimes, Anashid or even Orthodox climb to offer him praises and gifts, or to ask for a task to do to make the world better. For the Anashid, the boy is more holy than anyone but the Prophets themselves. It is widely believed that he can see the future, and that he selects those to kill in order to prevent needless deaths. Rumor has it that he can read minds, for he seems to know people more deeply than they know themselves. Speaking to him is like speaking to a natural event rather than a person. Those that kill for him are given leave to wander his Garden, but none ever see it the same way, for every Assassin eats a different fruit and every Assassin is changed. Now, however, the Guardian is crippled. Black liquid oozes from a wound on his leg, which cannot be healed. While he is wounded, he refuses to enter the Garden, even though many beg him to, saying that the Garden can heal anything. He refuses. The black ooze leaks down the mountain, glowing darkly.

On the far side of the mountain, the part that no one climbs, is the Valley of Ghosts. It is built into an old copper mine, a sort of village that is almost a parody of Bit Habubti, all twisted earth and stone. Here, the Assassins walk openly and without disguise, sharing the strange kind of intimacy that comes with being the only killers in a pacifist nation, both respected and hated. It's like any other village in most ways, even more normal than many others in Ashur, for the Assassins are not pressured to become more fanatical. However, while the Assassins feel no need to flaunt their oddity, they came to this place to live with death, and it is a place of killers and ghosts.

The First Cathedral dates back to the burial of Yesu. When he lay dying, Yesu told his followers to carry his body into the desert, to follow the sun for five days, and on the fifth, to bury him in a mountain valley where the small rocks on the ground looked like bone. When he was buried, a great fig tree grew where his body had been. Water flowed from his open mouth and soaked the ground, filling the valley with life and forming a deep, clear lake, at the bottom of which can still be seen the bone-like stones. The fig tree rooted in the stone, its roots becoming so wide and tall that they were islands in the lake, with other seeds nestled on their backs. These grew into many trees - trees of all kinds of fruit and nuts. In their infancy, these trees were bent and looped and tied and trimmed, built into a living tree Cathedral, with mirrors hung from their branches to reflect the light. Yesu's tree is a pilgrimage site year-round, but especially during the Spring Equinox holiday, when Orthodox gather from across Ashur to eat figs and celebrate Yesu's burial, bringing new mirrors to thread into the trees, dancing and singing. Until last year.

On the first day of the celebration last year, there was a total solar eclipse, which lasted for five days. On the fifth day, the Guardian of the First Garden arrived - the first time in known history that he had left his mountain fastness. Everyone was scared - and moreso when a shrouded figure emerged from the shadows, never before seen. The Guardian summoned a shield of pure light, bathed in darkness, and using the shield, he fought the shadowy figure, driving it into a corner to prevent its escape. He drew forth a blade of pure sunlight, but at the last moment, the Guardian faltered. He stumbled back, shocked, and his shield faded. A great wound appeared on his leg, oozing black pus, from a concealed weapon of the shadow figure. With a scream, he slammed his blade into the ground, and the figure vanished. Now, the wound will not heal. In the following days, the lake of the First Cathedral began to grow murky, and the fig tree no longer bears fruit. The other trees of Ashur have begun to imitate it, the many nut and berry bushes of the valley growing barren. If this continues to spread, within no more than five years, Ashur will be fruitless.

Current Relations posted:

Anatol Ayh: An Ashurite stays suspicious of Anatol Ayh. She views the heart of the Crescent Empire as a government of conquerors just waiting for Ashur to show weakness - and she may be right. Empress Safiye has sent two delegations of "diplomats" since the disaster at the First Cathedral, and while those diplomats say they want to help Ashur recover, many believe they merely scout and spy for the Imperial war machine.
Persis: Persis is the home of Ahurayasna, which does it no credit in Ashur's eyes. At best, an Ashurite considers Ahurayasna infantile; at worst, he sees it as theologically dead, a religion prone to denying the complexities of Heaven, Earth and human nature. Nowadays, rumors have the darkly dressed figure who attacked the Guardian at Yesu's Tree somehow Yasnavan-related; this has not made Ashurites feel better about Persis.
Sarmion: Ashurites pepper all travelers with questions, but that goes triple for travelers from Sarmion. Few practicing Yachidi live in Ashur and, particularly since it was the faith of the First Prophet, Ashurites want to know everything about it. Because Yesu came from Sarmion, and many of his first followers were converted Yachidi, the Orthodox are particularly eager to convert current-day Sarmions; discussion and lines of questioning can (not infrequently) turn awkwardly evangelical.
Tribes of the 8th Sea: Many Ashurites consider the 8th Sea Tribes comfortably similar to different Orthodox villages - and if they are more violent in practice, at least they are not much more hierarchical. Many villages have made arrangements with 8th Sea tribes, trading nuts and fruit for cheese and butter. More disappointingly, tribes from the desert sometimes raid villages for fruit, but for centuries, this caused little tension - the raiders rarely killed and there was always more fruit to be found. But now, with the fig trees fading, fruit grows rarer, and some Orthodox tribes have started to speak of striking back.

People! Athro Benu Nairu is the inventor of Ashurite paper. Before her, Ashur had no locally-made paper, and most Orthodox resented imported paper because it was both very expensive and made from wood pulp. Athro grew up Elohim and learned how to make reed paper while playing near her home. As a teenager, she made several batches, but her parents told her that Elohim had no need of paper. A month later, the tribe visited Bit Habubti, where she saw a library and was stunned to learn from a librarian she spoke with exactly how much paper cost him. Within two years, she had gone from Elohim to the first (and only) Ashurite industrialist. Aided by the librarian, she set up a paper factory, hiring apprentices and buying up reeds at a decent price. Money poured in, the factory grew, and she began spending her energy on marketing, giving away paper at Abbunatu, teaching people how to cut it into silhouettes and starting a side business selling ink, pens and brushes. Athro is now the richest woman in Ashur, and she's looking for partners in business, particularly those with access to litography tech and printing presses. However, there has been pushback. Athro's sheer enthusiasm makes her a polarizing figure, and many consider her love of money to be un-Ashurite. Lately, purists claim she is 'endangering' the cultural division between temporary and permanent writings. Even her parents currently oppose her.

Sami Eliyahi grew up in the Empire, to Empire-loving parents. They were privateers for the Emperor, happy to raid people under the law. For a while, Sami loved the Empire too, seeing the life of freedom through the rose-colored lenses of childhood. However, as he grew to manhood, his love for his parents could not prevent him from realizing they were unlike most pirates he knew, and were fighting not for the Empire's lofty ideals, but because his father was cruel and his mother bloodthirsty. When his father broke the law and seized slaves from a raid on a Numanari ship, Sami had no choice but rebellion. Under the cloak of night, he freed the victims and fled, heading for the place Ashurite pirates had often sung of - the Green Mountain, where he could unburden himself and find peace. He climbed the treacherous path to the Guardian and confessed of his sins. When he was done, however, he still felt deep guilt. The boy told him: "Justice is not confession, but action." And so, Sami died, and lived, and died, and lived, until one day, he woke up and was Assassin. He is now a trusted member of the Alnniqabat Lilnnusr, and was trusted to guard the First Garden while the Guardian left to fight at Yesu's Tree. However, under his watch, a single fruit was stolen, and he has no idea how. He never saw anyone enter, after all, and he fears it was an inside job.

Miran Benu Pleroma was terrified of the flooding of the river Arantu. They came quickly and stayed for weeks, spoiling food and spreading disease, but it seemed nothing could be done...until Miran went with his aunt to visit Persis. There, he saw a complex system of irrigation, dykes and levees that prevented river floods. Inspired, he went home and joined the Pleroma in hopes of improving Ashur. That'd be when the local villagers told him that diverting the river's flow was against the will of Theus, the local Elohim said that irrigation was needless, and...well, even life-saving measures were resisted because change bad. In Persis, the shah could have forced it through anyway, but the Pleroma were weak. Miran saw so many problems from this inflexibility. Broken roads, unfixable because trees grew through the gravel. Vigilantes hired to defend villages because there were no armed forces or police. Ashur, he saw, was broken. He could fix it, if he had the power. As the Guardian lies dying, Miran secretly imports weapons to equip his loyalists and form a standing army. He plans a coup d'etat, to become the first shah of Ashur. He is bitter rivals to the reformer Moonif, who wants democratic councils and a national guard instead. He is Strength 4, Influence 6.

Ziyane Benu Tamra is Anashid but has always had a natural talent for botany. She fought endlessly to gain respect in the field, and was mercilessly bullied for it as a child, as she was seen as trying to usurp the place of the Orthodox by doing her beloved hobby. Despite this, she has risen to become a leader in the field of agriculture, celebrated for her innovations. Her most notable is the forty-fruit tree, a multiple-graft tree that grows 40 varieties of stone fruit. Those who have seen her work say she is touched by al-Musawwir, and unfortunately, she believes them. Arbella, a jealous rival, spiked her tea with the amanita mushroom, which should have killed Ziyane. Instead, it gave her visions in which al-Musawwir spoke to her in adoration of the forty-fruit and told her They wished it to replace Yesu's Tree in the First Cathedral. Not that that's easy. Most believe the poisoning of Yesu's Tree was done by the shadowy figure that fought the Guardian; Ziyane knows better. In one of her visions, 'al-Musawwir' showed her how to create a pitchy, black poison with which to kill the tree. She suspects that the shadow figure was merely a diversion set up by al-Musawwir to allow her time to apply the poison to the roots. Now that Yesu's Tree is dying, Ziyane must only replace it with the forty-fruit, which would be much easier if she could convince the other Anashid she was a Prophet and that they should obey her. She is Strength 3, Influence 8.

Next time: Persis

The Crescent Empire - Not Persiaran Has Problems

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Not Persiaran Has Problems

Persis lies in the east, with variable weather, high mountains and many climates. Between the border highlands, there are idyllic grazing valleys, forests, coastal basins and more, historically fought over by many warlords. Right now, Persis is a place of danger and fear. Shah Jalil wields military force and ideological suppression to control an otherwise passionately independent people. The old laws against native sorcery and religious expression brought rebellion, which now turns to desperate measures to drive out a stronger occupier. Unless someone intervenes, ambition and spite may destroy centuries of cultural exchange.

Shah Jalil Khata'izadeh took the throne in 1642 and pretty much immediately fell in love with Emperor Istani, adopting his views on the importance of Anatoli cultural norms overwriting Persic ones to cement imperial control and modernize Persis. With Istani's help, Jalil declared martial law in 1648 to crack down on insurrections. The Persic Ilman Corps became enforcers of a police state, elite foreign mercenaries that despoiled Yasnavan temples, schools, even traditional gymnasia and neighborhoods in search of insurgents and separatist thinkers. It was only a year before Istani himself adopted some of these measures in the creation of his Magician's Registry, the Sihirbazlarin Kaydi. It was a joint creation of Jalil and Istani, mandating life imprisonment for any "practitioners of devil-worship," and requiring all sorcerers to reveal their name, location and spellcasting power to the Imperial Av - that is, the Imperial Hunt. On the surface, it was a defense against idolatry, as both Dinists and Yasnavans denounce devil worship and devil sorcery. Individual rulers and governors had broad latitude in interpreting the act, and Sarmion, for example, didn't protest it but never actually put it into practice. However, in Persis, the Imperial Av were given free rein to investigate any Yasnavan under the excuse of saying that devil worship was often visually indistinguishable from Yasnavan practice. The Avcilar, 'hunters,' would interrupt Yasnavan service in search of 'sorcerers' or 'diabolists.'

To register was an act of great expense for a sorcerer, who needed to leave home, head to the nearest Av office, suffer invasive and insulting interviews and aggressive suspicion, and then, if they were Yasnavan, give up sorcery if they didn't want to perform it at the beck and call of Jalil or break the law. It is no surprise, then, that some chose instead to rebel. Rebel and imperial fighting destroyed many Yasnavan holy sites and sorcerous sancta. Even at best, it was a devastating loss of culture and art. At worst, it unleashed demons. Historically, Yasnavan sorcerers had practiced the arts of demon- and jinn-binding, and during the Haxamanisiya Empire, marauding demons were ended as a problem by having the the government sponsor summoners and binders to hunt down demons and trap them beneath daxdanas or Temples of Hymn, or inside mountain tombs. Over the past century, these places often became rebel meeting sites, and when Jalil realized this, he had the Ilman violate many of the sites in search of rebels, allowing the trapped demons to break free.

While most demons are scary, they aren't that much brighter or more dangerous than angry wild animals. Mightier spirits and jinn, however, are subtler and harder to catch. Many are invisible and intangible, preferring to empower the weak-minded and emotionally vulnerable to do their dirty work for them. Sorcerers were once the first line of defense against such creatures, but public practice of sorcery, let alone any sorcery that involves demons in any way, is now an excellet way to attract Avcilar to hunt you. While some Dinist abjurations can block or prevent demonic spells, entire demons are typically too large an order for any but the best abjurers, and so the number of demons now infesting Persis continues to increase.

Jalil and Safiye are always studious polite to each other, with Jalil showing her all grace and courtesy when she is in Persis, even leading her on tours. However, it should be made clear: Jalil despites Safiye for damning his lover Istani to certain death in the 8th Sea. Jalil's propagandists ensured that on her first trip to Persis, Safiye saw almost no conflict whatsoever, in an attempt to convince her the nation was entirely under control and happy. However, an attack by the insurrectionist Eternal Flames near the end of her tour that got foiled by her Chavra proved otherwise. Safiye ended her visit by explaining her new laws to Jalil, particularly the ending of the sorcerous registry, which he protested in the name of national security, and the destruction of class, which he didn't even respond to. She gave him ten years to implement the decrees.

Sorcerous registration has now formally ended, but the intelligence services retain the old records. They've spent five years - which would be 2 more than have happened since he was told to stop, so I guess he started early - developing the infrastructure needed to covertly continue their surveillence. The head of this covert movement is the organization called the Ox's Fist, designed based on the Imperial Av, who report directly to Jalil. Their leader, Amira Fridazadeh, is fanatically loyal to Jalil and will not stop until she captures or kills every devil-worshipper in Persis. Meanwhile, the average Persic has no real idea what to think of Safiye. Her intelligence and grace are a big bonus, as most still believe that a ruler should literally emanate farr as proof of divine empowerment, but it's not quite enough. The Dinists doubt her commitment to protecting them, while the Yasnavans doubt her because she leads al-Din. She is most popular among the moderates, but they're growing rarer these days. While her calls for reconciliation between Dinists and Yasnavans appeals, it will not be easy to counteract almost a thousand years of disunity, especially with Jalil refusing to do so much as lift a finger to help her.

Persic legends are told by parents to entertain and educate their children. They are told of figures like Ashty, the discoverer of fire, Tahmures, the first herder and first human ever to bind a demon...and most of all, they learn of the Katabic villain Azdaha, who first conquered and united Persis. Because Namirha, the great evil, coveted Persis, he enthralled Azdaha, a young lord of Katab. Namirha cursed Azdaha with two serpents that grew from his shoulders, whispering stolen wisdom and evil magic into his ears. This drove Azdaha to murder his father, seize his lands and conquer the tribes surrounding his new capital city, Siphon. He was the first shah, and he demanded daily human sacrifice in order to feed his shoulder-snakes, who consumed only human brains.

Taking up her own apron as a flag, the blacksmith Ziba united the pastoral Persics, the 8th Sea tribes and even the wild beasts in resistance to Shah Azdaha. Her prayers for victory drew down Dawna, the Angel of Victory, into her body, granting her massive vulture wings that bore her into the sky and gave her the strength to raise an ox-headed mace and bend a bow no other could. While Ziba's forces defeated the servants of Azdaha, human and demon, they could not slay the king, for he had been made immortal by Namirha's blessing. Instead, Ziba nailed Azdaha to the Heykal Alzzalam, his Dark Temple of Namirha that lay below the palace at Siphon. There, he writhes in torment even now, his serpents continually devouring his brain, which continually regenerates. His final curse as Ziba imprisoned him was this: "Just as you damn me to darkness, so I damn you to your own. A devil born of your own heart will haunt you and every Shah who sits the throne you stole from me." And indeed, a qarin did set upon Ziba the Beloved and every shah to follow her. Only the shah may perceive their qarin, which is in fact their self-destructive and evil tendencies given personification, and only the shah can bind the qarin away. Not all have managed to do so.

Shah Korvash the Great of House Haxamanisiya conquered the largest Terran empire since the Aztlan Empire, extending into Khemet, Numa, Curonia and Ussura to the west and into the 8th Sea and Cathay in the east. The empire updated and expanded the Solar Code, a set of laws granted by an ancient sun god to King 'Ammurabi of Karanduniash in ancient Persis. It established the Persic class system and many of its governmental and military traditions, and its satrapy system is still the Persic government model. Client-kings, called satraps, govern the provinces but pay tax and homage to the Shahanshah of Siphon - a Persic word meaning 'emperor,' essentially. Persic art flourished under the Haxamanisiya. However, when it finally outgrew its ability to collect taxes, many satraps revolted, and the Empire fell to Iskander the Great of Malcedon. He overtook many of its former holdings, returned Anatol Ayh to the Anatoli and drive the Persics back into their own borders. He claimed much of what would become the Crescent Empire, leaving the rest of the Haximanisiya holdings to the Numanari.

After the coming of the Second Prophet, al-Din spread rapidly through Persis, much to the worry of the Yasnavan upper class. Dinist anti-authoritarianism and mystic paradoxes seemed to glorify unholy anarchy and lies, and many satraps outlawed al-Din as a threat to civilization, which at the time was inextricably linked to Ahurayasna. In this period, Anatol Ayh began invading Persis and Ashur, and when the Anatoli Sultan Jalal declared his nation a Caliphate, the invasion efforts against Persis were increased in the name of liberating Persic Dinists. The fighting only ended during the Vodacce attacks of Sarmion in 705, forcing the two nations to unite against the common foe. With the Crescent Emperor then replacing the shah as ultimate authority, Anatoli culture flourished in Persis, leading to pushback both culturally and politically. In the chaos of the Fetret Devri, Persis declared independence from the Empire, and many of the satraps struggled to become shah. These petty conflicts and the fights between Dinists and Yasnavans lasted until the coming of the Iron Khan in 1219. The Persics murdered the diplomats the aging Khitai Khan had sent them to open trade, and in retaliation, he spent two years conquering the land. The Khanate policy of religious freedom ended much of the Dinist/Yasnavan tensions for a time, and various Khazar khanates held Persis until 1507.

The warrior-poet Khata'i of the Khednegu Order emerged, determined to take the throne in order to protect the interests of Persic Dinists. He led a band of Dinist zealots to victory over the nominally Dinist but extremely unpopular Gurkaniyan Khazar Khanate, establishing the Khata'id dynasty that even now rules Persis. He was an enthusiastic modernizer, and many Persics, especially in the upper classes, converted to al-Din under his rule in order to gain his favor. When the Empire invaded in 1532, Khata'i's son, Shah Tehmasib, fought them for 20 years. However, in 1555, Persis surrendered, and many Persic Dinists welcomed imperial rule, as it increased their privilege. Many Yasnavan Persics, enraged by Crescent soldiers destroying their holy sites, and a few Dinists that agreed with them began an insurrection that has only grown more and more violent and desperate since.

Next time: Castes

The Crescent Empire - How to Persic

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - How to Persic

Persis is the origin of a lot of Crescent culture - religious imagery, poetry, spots, governmental organization. Its caste system was kind of unique to it, though, at least before it was formally abolished. There were three castes: the free, called amelu, the slaves, called ardu, and everyone else, the mushkenu. Under the Solar Code, social mobility was rare but possible - a slave could buy freedom, a mushkenu could learn privileged trades and rise, an amelu could be stripped of rank due to a crime. It just didn't happen often. It is also worth noting that while slavery was only abolished three years ago, most people in the Empire - including most Persics - hated slavery even before that. It was seen as cruel and outdated; most Persics just believed that they couldn't manage to change it, in large part because a lot of their focus was on fighting Istani and his war on wizards. Anyway.

Amelu were the hereditary nobility, government officials, commissioned military officers, priests and professionals, including doctors and artisans. Crimes committed against them had a higher punishment, though any fines they had to pay or penalties for crime were also increased, to prevent them just buying their way out of problems. It was only semi-successful. Ardu were chattel slaves. Their one real right was the ability to own property (including other slaves), which their master could not just confiscate. The child of an ardu was ardu unless they married an amelu, in which case the child was amelu. There were a few laws meant to protect the slaves - a crime committed against a slave was considered to be committed against their master, and a crime committed by a slave was considered to be committed by their master. Masters had some but not total discretion over how to punish criminal slaves; they could not kill them or permanently injure them unless the shah gave permission. All others were mushkenu - unskilled or migrant workers, low status artisans, enlisted or conscript soldiers and most of the urban poor, for example. Severity of punishment for crimes committed by mushkenu were reduced, but so were the punishments of crimes committed against them.

Empress Safiye ordered the abolishment of this system, which Persics were unhappy about largely because of the paperwork that would involve, and because, for the nastier sorts of Persic, the ardu had been cheap labor. However, for all that Jalil is a wicked man, he enacted this particular change very quickly, finding the Imperial laws on social class significantly more straightforward; bureaucratic and social inertia still resist, however. Many Persic nobles saw the Solar Code as a protection they had now lost. Certainly, some of the flaws were undeniable, but now there were many questions. The tools an ardu used belonged to their master. What happens to them? Can an amelu now commit petty crimes freely, as their wealth will greatly outstrip the petty fines? Is it really not worse to rob a priest than a loan shark? Further, this has done little to abolish informal social class division, which were more important to daily life than the formal castes. Within each caste, social status varied wildly - literate and artistic professionals, for example, enjoy much more wealth and acclaim than even the best carpenters can hope for. Longstanding classism continues to enforce many social distinctions, and the law has not caught up.

Persics have herded livestock since time immemorial, and while herding is not any more praiseworthy a profession in Persis than elsewhere, it is part of the national identity in the same way soldiering is in Eisen. Agriculture supports the herds, and so wheat is the most important crop, followed by rice. Persic is also rich in minerals, which has often attracted would-be conquerors, but ensures that they will never, ever run out of salt, iron, copper, lead or gold. Persic crafts are the majority of their exports, particularly their pottery, bronzes, rugs, fine clothing and sculpture, which are all very popular internationally.

Persic families typically live in large housing compounds - and when I say family, I mean family. The entire extended family typically lives in one compound, and in cities, often specialize in a specific business, trading to meet needs that lie outside that business. In rural areas, families are typically more self-sufficient, growing their own food and educating their own children to secondary levels of education, tending to their own sick as needed. Elders who are too old to work lead and speak for the family compounds, and multiple families typically meet up outside compounds for worship. Recent oppression has pushed much Yasnavan worship back into the compounds, of course, and the hearth is often treated as a makeshift Temple of Hymn for Yasnavan families, many of whom attend Dinist services as well to avoid social suspicion.

Persic modesty demands that all, even visitors, cover their head and minimize the display of bare skin, especially the shoulders and legs. This is habitual for most anyway, given the chilly nights and the hot sun. In high security areas, however, Ilman will request the removal of any veils. All classes pursue good grooming and fashion, as appearing to not care about your appearance is a social faux pas. Even cheap fabrics tend to be sturdy and handsome, with bright contrasting colors appearing in the clothes of even the poor, with no clothing being flimsy, ever. Persics usually dress in layers, but everyone wears at least a shirt, loose trousers, a vest, jacket or robe, boots and some form of hat, turban or headscarf, regardless of gender or class. Wool is common, though more expensive clothing uses a lot of cotton, silk and precious metal. The rich spend a lot of money on jewelry and impressive hats, and they often wear their hair and beards long and elaborately coifed into various structures by use of jewelry and tiaras.

Persis is renowned for its sweets, and Persic cuisine combines dried fruits into many savory dishes. Their desserts and pastries are often honey-soaked or coated in syrup, then filled with ground pistachios or walnuts. Saffron is an important spice, used in many dishes of all kinds, and saffron-producing flowers can be seen all over the place. In lands where Ahurayasna remains dominant, chicken and lamb are more popular than beef, particularly chicken filled with pistachio stuffing and served in rich sauces and saffron rice.

The Persic military was once renowned for conquering much of the world. Now, they actively police their own people. Persis is best known for its specialist units, which tend to a limited number of things extremely well. The Immortals got their name from the Numanari, who called them that because as soon as one fell, another took their place. They wore scale armor and carried bows or slings, but they specialized more in close combat using large wicker shields, short spears, swords and daggers. Modern Immortals use updated, modern versions of the same arms and armor, taking the role of heavy infantry, best suited for urban areas or sieges, where they are extremely good at holding tight spots. Cataphracts are their cavalry equivalent, also named by the Numanari (this time, for their full-body mail or scale armor). They fight using a shield and either a lance or a sagaris, a form of heavy hammer or axe. They specialize in flanking maneuvers and cleanup of enemy units already softened up by the rest of the army.

Executioners get their name because of historic shahs using elephants to crush the heads of captives sentenced to death. They ride war elephants into battle. Elephants have been largely unknown in modern warfare due to the fact that ancient tacticians found hard counters to them, but they can easily devastate an unprepared army. The Executioners use long spears and muskets from atop the howdah, or elephant seat, mounted on the back, or fire back-mounted ballistae and small cannons. The army also has various tribal levies, provided by tribal chieftains and satraps. These may be anything from Khazari-style horse archers to artillery, but most are horse or camel cavalry. The Ilman Corps was founded by Shah Tehmasib during the Anatoli invasion of the 16th century, created as a counter to the Janissaries. They were formed from the toughest captured prisoners of war, and were the first military section to universally adopt the musket. Ilman were technically ardu, but highly paid and socially respected ardu. Jalil has turned the Ilman into his military police, in the belief that it'd be fairly easy to compel foreign slaves to control his people. They hated the job and the never-ending fight against the rebels, however, and they thought their task was over when the class system was abolished. Instead, Shah Jalil has used his qarin to control their minds by evoking the lesser qurana within them, implanting many of them with magical loyalty and obedience to his orders.

The Pahlavani is the name used for rebel warriors, though literally it means 'wrestler.' The rebels often met in zurkhanehs early in the insurrection, though they now prefer less conspicuous meeting spots. Pahalavani favor stealth and mobility over heavy armor, and typically dress in dark, padded clothes that blend easily into crowds and shadows. They have had a hard time getting guns, though the ATC has been starting to contact various rebel factions to sell them. Most of their weapons are meant for ambush tactics or urban combat - bows, slings, cheap pistols, crude grenades, clubs, short swords and knives. They often lace their blades in snake venom.

Ichneumons are not regular troops, but a group of specialists from the Dinist city of Danavad in the north. They are a society that defends Dinists in general, and hardcore pacifists in particular. They train using the composite recurve bow, adopted from the Khazari, and while it requires more strength than modern muskets, it is much quieter, faster to reload and more accurate, with almost four times the range. Ichneumons travel as they please, and while officially members of the Persic military, they have wide latitude in how they operate. They wear a traditional grinning metal war mask to conceal their identities and they rarely speak. The closest they have to a commander is the Dinist chaplain Gilda Banuzadeh, who passes battle plans to them via notes left at shrines. Recently, the Ichneumons have had increasing contact with Empress Safiye, which Jalil is not happy about. Under the Empress' encouragement, Gilda is now seeking an ancient artifact, the Journal of Muna, which was written by one of the Second Prophet's most loyal followers. Within it should be the entirety of Khalil's belief in peaceful protest and kindness, and if Safiye could get her hands on it, it would be a huge support for her new laws - something Jalil will stop at nothing to prevent.

Next time: The Rebellions

The Crescent Empire - Insurgency

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Insurgency

Persis is an ideological warzone. Before Jalil took the throne, the various Persic Insurrectionist groups were divided into a few factions, but agreed on one thing: Persic independence from the Empire. Now, that's changed. Some still fight for Persic's independence, but many are focused within instead, trying to fight Jalil's laws or trying to save Yasnavan culture from being wiped out. The Simurgh's Feathers are the most moderate of the rebel factions. They take their name from the legendary king of birds, the Simurgh, which appears in both Dinist and Yasnavan folklore, and whose feathers have magic powers. Early in the rebellion, their only demand was Persic's freedom from the Crescent Empire. Now, they want a free Persis in which al-Din and Ahurayasna can exist in harmony, similar to the religious freedoms held under the Khazari. When Shah Jalil began tightening his grip, the group turned to a man named Sajad Dariushzadeh to lead them. He's a sensible, pro-Caliphate man and he has altered their goal from exiting the Empire to deposing Jalil before he can destroy Persis. The faction works secretly to fight the shah's plans, and have several times faced off against the Ox's Fist to protect Persic sorcerers.

The Eternal Flame are a conservative faction that has been growing in the past few years. They want to restore Ahurayasna to its place as the Persic state religion, and the expel Caliphate influences from Persis. They are not explicitly opposed to al-Din, but tend to resent it and its social primacy in what should be a Yasnavan nation. Flame zealots have launched several off-the-books attacks on mosques and Dinist communities. Eternal Flame strategy is to act on every level of resistance. Some put on nonviolent protests or acts of large-scale civil disobedience, others infiltrate Crescent government offices to commit sabotage, and others gather cells of soldiers to attack the Persic Army.

The Bivar Asp take their name from one of the epithets of Azdaha - Bivar Asp, the Ten Thousand Horses. They want to see the throne of the shah restored, but specifically to the lineage of Azdaha rather than of Ziba the Beloved, who they believe failed Persis. They will use any means necessary. An Azdahid shah might just released the serpent-king himself to wreak havoc on the traitors of Persis, allowing Namirha to scourge the world again. Why they want that part is not entirely clear. However, their extremist views make the Bivar Asp the most dangerous of the rebel factions. Their low-level thugs attack dervishes, burn mosques and poison water supplies as flagrantly as they can. Worse are their Shoulder Snakes, elite killers, spies and saboteurs who infiltrate the Imperial military and bureaucracy, pushing things towards chaos and conflict by subtlety and sabotage. The leader of the Horses at least has good reason to want the throne to go to the line of Azdaha - she is Sepideh Azdahazadeh, descendant of Azdaha and teacher of dark, serpentine magics to the Shoulder Serpents.

The Peacock Cult are a very young faction, preachers of the gospel of the Peacock Angel Azazel and Azazel's chosen champion, Briska Naynawi. A group of Ilman soldiers arrived at the Naynawi zurkhaneh to arrest her immediately after she declared herself, but she drove them off with peacock-feather arrows. Now she travels to the towns near Karanduniash, drawing in new followers and fighting evil jinn and demons with her holy arrows. She seeks the other six angels of Azazel's choir, whom she suspects have taken prophet-champions in the same way Azazel chose her. She now has to dodge Persic authorities and Yasnavan radicals, neither of whom are interested in her message of love, unity and syncretism of Yasnavan and Dinist theology.

Locations! Siphon is the capital of Persis, and has been since Persis existed. Once, it was a city of faith and fire, teeming with poets, riders and mystics. Now, even in peacetime, it is a city under siege. Jalil's brainwashed Ilman patrol the streets for any sign of rebellion, and the locals live in fear, both of the rebels and the Shah's forces. The Qazvin River brought the city's first settlers, for its banks were rich and fertile, good for farming and ranching. It was once the primary method by which the Persic navy got to sea, but they don't have one any more. The Khata'ids tried to rebuild it to fight the Anatoli in the 1500s, but couldn't get the lumber to do so. Since then, Imperial sanctions have prevented them from building any large vessels, and even their riverboats are imported from Cathay and Ussura. The Empire is unaware, however, that many of those riverboats belong to the ATC, or that the wealthy merchant Darayavahush, whose family has controlled the Siphon docks for almost a century, is now in their employ. He is a backer of the Simurgh's Feathers and wants the Company to throw their resources behind the cause. The Company has actually made deals with the Feathers, the Eternal Flame and the Bivar Asp, as they are eager to support any challengers to the Imperial throne, which denies them access to most of the Empire.

On the east bank is the Ox's Head, the shah's palace. It is a massive, towering megalith with relief carvings along its entire surface, making it a sort of de facto museum of Persic stonework and statuary, topped with the massive bull head statue that gives it its name. The interior is full of halls, apartments and treasure vaults to show off the shah's artwork, wealth, fashion and military equipment collections. In the very center is a limestone flower that grows towards the ceiling, surrounded by a ring of fire with a stone bridge over it. The serpents carved into the stone date back to Azdaha's rule, and are almost unnaturally realistic, centuries ahead of all other statuary of its time. No one has ever had the courage to unmake them. A secret stair under the throne leads to the Haykal Alzzalam, where Azdaha is imprisoned, alongside all the jinn that the Persic shahs have bound over the millennia. The palace is surrounded by a full square mile of parkland and support structures, such as the Ilman barracks, the royal zurkhaneh and circus, or Khata'i's Mosque. A more modern mansion sits on the riverbank and is used to receive dignitaries; the Ox's Head is great for dramatic proclamations, but it's drafty and intimidating, not good for receiving diplomats or entertaining heads of state.

Upstream is Mica's Arch, a tomb-like rock formation that spans the river and has been reinforced with ceramic tiling to fight erosion. This was built by the cult of Mica, Angel of Contracts, in 1511, just before they left their possessions behind, disappeared into it and were never seen again. Afterwards, a Dinist mosque set up there and has been going ever since. During the war with Anatol Ayh, the local Dinists took refuge in the Arch, which the caliph's guns never targeted. It is now under heavy Ilman guard, as many revolutionaries have targeted the Arch for demolition due to its status as a Dinist gathering point.

Khata'i rebuilt the western bank as a park, with universities around its edge, then Temples of Hymn and homes alongside market squares and cafes. However, most of these were leveled by the Anatoli cannons in the 1550s, and only their foundations remain. More temporary structures of brick, wood and mud rather than stone have been built on the ruins. Locals have occasionally tried to rebuild the more iconic buildings, like the Temples of Hymn, but tend to stop when the Ilman come to glare angrily at them. Unlike the noble homes on the east bank, the west bank is a tough place, ruled over by thieves' guilds and protection rackets. The law enforcement exists, but ignores most crime in favor of hunting for insurgents. Every few days, explosions or gunfire break the peace of the neighborhood, as a rebel cell attacks the Ilman or vice versa.

Next time: The TOMB OF INFINITE DEVILS

The Crescent Empire - A Cave Where Devils Live

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7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - A Cave Where Devils Live

So, the century of civil war that has engulfed Persis has led to hundreds, even thousands of jinn being unleashed from the prisons they were bound to for being evil. Most of these evil spirits were trapped for millennia beforehand, and nearly all of them fled into the empire, to find innocent hosts to corrupt and twist. Because, y'know, evil spirits. However, two thousand years of prison can have strange effects on the mind of even an evil jinn. Many missed the ability to cause harm, yes, but others missed sex, or alcohol, or sunlight. Some missed poetry, or sports, or dogs. One demon even spent her entire two thousand years thinking about a loaf of bread she had smelled but been unable to eat because a sorcerer had trapped her in a mirror and eaten the loaf in front of it. Since their liberation, this small group of outlier jinn fled away from the cities of Persis, where sorcerers might trap them again. Twelve of them settled in the mountain tomb of Shah Atossa, where they carved out a new home for themselves in the caverns.

Originally, they marked the entrance to the cave with an invisible sigil reading 'Tomb of a Dozen Devils' in the twisted language of Namirha, which the evil jinn use. Eventually, however, they realized that this might imply the caves had no vacancies for future neighbors, and they hurried crossed out 'a dozen' and renamed it the Tomb of Infinite Devils. Sure enough, others jinn and spirits began to arrive in droves. The Tomb and its secluded mountain valley are now full of jinn, living in apartments, tending farms and stores, running workshops and libraries and pubs, even a small theater and a zurkhaneh, and a single bakery. (That one bread-craving jinn is still all in on bread.) The decor is rather morbid, because while these jinn have largely turned over a new leaf and have no real interest any more in causing suffering, their positive outlook has not gotten rid of their affection for skull thrones and antique torture devices as decorations.

In many ways, the Tomb is honestly little different than any other quaint, eccentric mountain village, with the jinn taking turns playing at the role of village elder (or, as they call it, Archdukes of Hell on Terra), running town meetings, deciding where the new chicken farms should be built and so on. However, the jinn know secrets of magic and history that are over a thousand years old. They remember extinct forms of sorcery and martial arts, poems that were never recorded, the hiding places of potent relics. Occasionally, a lost mountaineer, grave robber or explorer will wander into the Tomb, and generally then stagger back to civilization ranting about demons playing mountain goat polo, or sometimes trying to steal a demonic artifact to sell or consume. It's the thieves that worry the Infinite Devils - even if such artifacts fail to work, they might attract more robbers and, eventually, demon hunters. Their secret can't last forever, and eventually humans will discover what's going on. The Infinite Devils dread both being exterminated and being forced to work for Namirha again. Many of them did commit unspeakable crimes, millenia ago, of course. Do they deserve freedom and the chance to live in peace now?

Current Relations posted:

Anatol Ayh: Relations between the Anatol Ayh and Persis have always been strained. When Istani sat on the throne of the empire, political tensions eased, but are now back stronger than ever. Many common folk in Persis admire the new empress for what she has done for the empire, but they are unable to voice their support in fear of the shah or extreme groups of insurrectionists.
Ashur: Ashurite and Persic relations are virtually non-existent as both nations rarely have cause to come across one another's paths. In recent years, rumors say "government officials" tried to employ the Assassins for a mission to kill the empress, but were swiftly rejected. Whether or not this is true, Ashurite attitudes towards Persis have worsened due to the implication that their national protectors are so easily hired to dispose of Heroic targets.
Sarmion: Sarmion and its royalty supported the empress seizing the throne of the empire and in return the shah of Persis cast a great curse on the Nation causing many of their tribes to disappear. While Sarmion has no proof of the shah's wrongdoings, his merciless persecution of magic users and religious intolerance have shut off any chance of friendship between the two nations.
Tribes of the 8th Sea: Of all the Nations in the empire, the 8th Sea Tribes share the most links with Persis. Many tribal leaders maintain these relationships with their Persic counterparts today, enjoying a strong bond with one another. Recently 8th Sea tribes have taken in Yasnavan refugees fleeing Avcilar. This has put a strain on Persic-Tribal relations as etiquette requires the tribes to take in refugees and keep them safe, but many see this as impolite of the Persic government who essentially forces the refugees on them, knowing their archaic laws.

Briska Naynawi, the Peacock Prophet, worried her parents with her incessant talk of her imaginary friend, an invisible talking peacock, especially when it continued into adolescence. This is because the friend is not imaginary - he is a formerly important angel named Azazel. For an angel he's uncommonly talkative, and if his tales are true, he validates many aspects of both Dinist and Yasnavan cosmology. He claims that he and six of his fellow angels were cast from Heaven after helping al-Musawwir create the world, for they committed the sin of pride. Azazel has since repented and now attempts to serve al-Musawwir once more, although in his weak form he cannot hear al-Musawwir's voice. However, he has found a way to manifest his true form and powers through Briska. In her revelatory form (which sounds a lot like Yasnavan sorcery) she has two immense peacock wings and a robe of brilliant peacock feathers, along with a powerful composite bow and a traditional Persic tiara. Her voice echoed in birdsong when she first publically took this form, sharing Azazel's message of unity between Dinist and Yasnavan faith. Now, she and her growing cult travel beyond Karanduniash, seeking out the six fellow angels that were cast out with Azazel. The shah has invited a team of Inquisitors into Persis for 'diplomatic' reasons (read: to help him kill her).

慕容才 Murong Cai is from a poor Madhyamika family - that is, a religious group from Cathay. (My guess? They're Not Buddhists.) They moved from eastern Persis to Siphon in search of work and wealth, but found only slums. Murong always wanted to be a street fighter for the rebels, but he's easily bruised and can't take part in vigorous activity due to connective tissue problems he doesn't fully understand, which cause his shoulders and ankles to dislocate if used too heavily. Thus, he spent most of his youth reading and hanging out with older people. One day, when a friend was stressed over a fight with another gang that was sure to be a loss, Murong suggested a poetry duel instead of a physical one. The subsequent poetic duel took place in full daylight in the market square, with a city guard standing as judge. It was close, but Murong had prepared some similes for his friends ahead of time and they pulled out the win. Murong has now convinced some of the rebel organizations to solve...well, just one conflict with poetry. He got the Simurgh's Feathers and the Eternal Flame to settle a recruiting dispute via poetry duel at a nearby daxdana, and the poems used are now seen in graffiti everywhere, as well as often recited by the locals, across all classes. Because Murong coached the Feathers to victory, everyone from street gangs to rebels to local universities want to recruit him now. His next goal is to get the Persic Army to take the same steps. Officers are all overeducated nobles, right? So if Murong can get this done right, he may be able to convince Persis, eventually, to replace all of its standing battles with poetry. Yes, this is a dude trying to replace war with rap battles.

Sepideh Azdahazadeh, the Serpent Scion, is better known to Persis as noblewoman Sepideh Akbari. When she came of age, her parents revealed the truth - the family descends from Azdaha, the ancient tyrant corrupted by Namirha. While Azdaha is still imprisoned beneath the Haykal Alzzalam, his descendants have long infiltrated Persic institutions of power for the past few millennia, subtly pushing for violence, instability and intolerance. Their recent founding of the rebel conspiracy called Bivar Asp, the Ten Thousand Horses, has brought them the closest they have ever been to reconquest of Persis. Sepideh has golden, serpentine eyes and a forked tongue as physical evidence of her blood, which requires her to wear a mask in public. She has more serpent powers than any previous Azdahazadeh - she has the infrared sense of a pit viper, vicious fangs with heart-stopping venom, and the ability to turn all or part of her body into a writhing mass of serpents. She is an expert infiltrator, assassin and interrogator, who pushes the Insurrection forward with surgical strikes and use of terrible secrets dragged out of her foes. She recently attacked Ashur in an effort to steal its magic fruit, hoping to end Azdaha's suffering by either killing or freeing him. Various hymns predict that the scion of Ziba's line will defeat Azdaha's inheritor to pacify and unify Persis...and while Sepideh knows these hymns, what she does not know is her parents' second secret: that she also is of the bloodline of Ziba the Beloved. She is Strength 9, Influence 9.

Shah Jalil Khata'izadeh was born in 1632, inherited the shahdom at age 10 and took over from his regent at age 15. A few years after, he met Caliph Istani, and they spent 15 years working to pacify Persis together. They expanded the Solar Code with draconian laws to keep Dinist control of the nation, disenfranchising any Yasnavans that hated Istani or the empire. They also fell deeply in love. Their wedding was only days away when Safiye returned and overthrew her brother, sending him into the 8th Sea. Jalil is sure that if anyone could survive there, it would be Istani, but he has found no proof. Instead, he has fled back to Siphon, all hope lost of making Persis into the land he dreamed of, or having the family he dreamed of. In his grief, he visited the temple under the palace, where Azdaha is bound, and was taught how to unbind Araska, his qarin. That night, he took his revenge on Sarmion for their aid to Safiye, using Araska's power to invoke a vicious Numanari curse on Sarmion's lands and people that has damned many tribes to the same fate as Istani - to suffer and be lost. Jalil craves revenge on the Empire, and particularly on Safiye. He wants to build up Persis until it is strong enough to invade Anatol Ayh and kill the Empress. He has used the mind control powers Araska has taught him to make the Ilman Corps into his obedient pawns, and the rest of the government is next. Araska, meanwhile, wants him to contact the Bivar Asp extremists and ally with them. He is Strength 6, Influence 13.

Next time: Sarmion

The Crescent Empire - In Theory, Not Canaan

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - In Theory, Not Canaan

Sarmion may be a small part of the empire, but it has always wielded something of an outsized influence on the world. Within a single generation, the nation has driven out a Numanari invasion and helped place an empress on the throne...but at the cost of much of their population and their greatest city and capital. Sarmion strives to be a place of peace, its people loyal and defended by powerful warriors. When Safiye first left the Empire as a young woman, many of the Chavra went with her, and few were there when the old emperor died and Istani seized the throne. However, King Josiah and his daughters, Esther, Batya and Dinah, maintained their loyalty to the crown princess and publicly spoke out against Istani. When Josiah was stricken with a magical disease that no one could cure, many believed Istani was responsible, and the three princesses stepped up. Esther would rule as regent in his place, while Batya would go out to find Princess Safiye and Dinah would seek a cure.

Esther got killed by Istani's agents. Dinah disappeared on a ship heading towards Theah and never returned. The king lingered, weak and unable to face Istani, while Numa invaded. In 1664, the Numanari assaulted Sarmion for their involvement in Istani's failed attempt to reconquer them, and Sarmion was ravaged. The return of Safiye was their only hope. When she reappeared, King Josiah sent Batya to lead the Chavra in aid of her, and in a single night of combat, Safiye drove Istani from the palace and towards the 8th Sea. However, that victory came at a terrible price. In retaliation, Shah Jalil unleashed a horrific Numanari curse. See, the Numanari had come up with a plan to break the Sarmion spirit, and while they never enacted it, Jalil found out about it during the torture of a Numanari spy. While the Chavra fought for Safiye, Jalil used his dark magic to send a mist across Sarmion. Overnight, nine of the nineteen tribes of Sarmion disappeared. Only a handful of each tribe remained, left in horror while the rest were just...gone. Safiye sent 5000 soldiers along with her Chavra supporters to help Sarmion push back the Numanari, calling on the 8th Sea Tribes to attack from the east. However, storms at sea delayed Safiye's arrival, landing only in time to see the Numanari retreat.

The battle was terrible. The warriors of the Quabilat al-Hisan of the 8th Sea had crossed the border to fight, and they, along with the desperate and heartbroken Sarmion forces, drew on their greatest magic. Many of the Sarmion sorcerers transformed their own bodies into living weapons against the Numanari - and worse, they even broke their own holy laws, using forbidden magic to create life, animating stone statues that had long been left as a weapon of last resort. The Numanari burned the capital, Salemoria, to cover their retreat, including the High Temple at its center, and before they fled, they slew King Josiah. Sarmion was saved, but it would never be the same again.

Sarmion history dates back to its time as warring tribes. After the Covenant of the Longest Night, the nation was divided into two groups - the followers of Elohah, ruled by the family of Isaak, who were called the Yachidi, and the family of Ishamal and the remnant of the other native tribes. The Yachidi dedication to peace produced a short golden age under Yakob, son of Isaak, and his many children. They invited all tribes to come to Salemoria, a city that they had rediscovered and rededicated, to create a united ruling body, both Yachidi and otherwise, to govern the nation. In the fourth century, Yakob's strongest son, Yedha, was chosen to be the first king of united Sarmion. However, Numa invaded before he could be crowned, and when he went to greet the Numanari ambassadors as friends, they cut him down for his insolence and marched on Salemoria. The city would likely have been destroyed, had Yedha's youngest brother Yousef not negotiated a settlement. The Numanari would colonize Sarmion, but not slaughter its people. Instead, they merely sacked Salemoria, scattered the tribes and sold a large portion of the population into slavery to fund their war with the Haximanisiya Empire. Yousef's son and daughter, Manashe and Ephraya, eventually led a revolt against Numa after their father's death, but it was quickly stomped. Ephraya's entire family was slain, and Manashe killed himself in despair, ending Yachidi leadership for a time.

Sarmion would remain a conquered land until a slave revolt a century later, led by a Numanari Yachidi slave named Moesh ben Amram, who succesfully led the slaves back to Sarmion and freed it. King David became the first king of a free Sarmion after the invasion, and his son, Solomon, became renowned as the wisest and most powerful king in Sarmion history, a sorcerer whose power to bind demons was world-renowned. As the Crescent Empire and Numa struggled for control in the 8th century, Sarmion was invaded twice more by the Numanari, and the two nations have been bitter rivals ever since. More Sarmions were enslaved and Salemoria was again occupied. However, from the southern mountain fortress of Hatriza, Queen Elisheva led an ongoing rebellion after the capture and enslavement of her husband and children. Eventually, Elisheva's daughter Ruth was smuggled back to Sarmion and led them to freedom again, breaking the Numanari conquerors and driving them out as well as earning the gratitude of the Anatoli and the Persics.

What followed was an unprecedented era of peace, until the rise and subsequent death of the Second Prophet destabilized much of the region. Many of the Ishamali tribes turned to al-Din and away from their old gods, which led to a crisis, as the gods stirred from their slumber as these tribes forsook the Covenant of the Longest Night. When the entire tribe of Epher converted in 650, the old gods broke free and wreaked havoc across all of Sarmion. King Zedekiah and the Chavra warriors managed to re-bind most of them in a vault under Salemoria, but Zedekiah died while doing it. The few that escaped were twisted and broken by their captivity, fleeing to all corners of the empire to gather strength and plot their revenge.

Shortly after, the Vodacce saw the instability of the region and invaded Sarmion as part of a plan to use it as a base of operations to conquer the Crescent, as the Numanari had done in the past. They didn't imagine that this time, the Sarmions would put up a fight. While the Vodacce raided the Persics and Anatoli in 705, and they even managed to reach the 8th Sea, the Sarmions destroyed their supply lines. When Persis and Anatol Ayh united to form the empire, they offered Sarmion an honored place despite their religious differences. Sarmion accepted. They did follow the empire to war in Numa and Castille, despite the fact that many, including Queen Atara, did not want to be involved in a foreign war - they had enough old grudges against Numa that many still wanted vengeance. Many Sarmions never managed to make it home from these wars, however, settling instead in northern Theah in what would become called the Diaspora. Meanwhile, the Numanari empire collapsed under the weight of the combined Crescent military.

Next time: Sarmion government.

The Crescent Empire - The Will of the Council

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - The Will of the Council

Sarmion is ruled by a king of queen who is aided by the Moatrat Achim, the Council of Brothers, which is commonly called the Moatzra. It cinsists of of leaders from every Sarmion tribe, with one delegate per 300 tribal members. They advise the monarchs on all matters of state, including relations with other imperial nations. The monarchs assign regional governors from within each tribe to serve as liaisons with the government and enforce laws, keeping the peace in each tribal territory. The Moatzra may call up the tribal chayalim, soldiers, to make up an army in times of trouble, but the royals lead them in battle. When Istani ordered a registry of all sorcerers, the Moatzra declared the law assur, religiously forbidden, and encouraged people both publicly and privately to defend magic users within Sarmion. They base most of their law on Yachidi ethics, with freedom of religion being guaranteed across the nation, and proselytizing of any faith, including the Yachidism, forbidden by law. The monarchs are and have always been descendants of the Yachidi forefather Abram, though that's not exactly rare given how many kids he had and how many kids his kids had. Only a child born of a Yachidi mother may hold the throne, but intermarriage into other faiths is not rare in polygamist Sarmion households. With King Josiah dead, the Moatzra have fallen into factions and infighting, with many non-Yachidi leaders calling for the abolition of the monarchy entirely for an independent representational government. Tribal leaders are scrambling to fill the seats emptied by the dead and vanished, and with nine tribes just gone, the Moatzra has shrunken immensely. They have diverted what resources are left to manage the huge swaths of land emptied by the curse.

The Sarmion military is extremely powerful when it gathers. It is made of chayalim of each tribe, primarily light infantry warriors armed with sicar (short swords), daggers, staves, spears and light shields. Most are only lightly armored, favoring training in lechima, a fast-moving hand-to-hand style of combat derived from the guerrilla tactics used against the Numanari. Sarmion cavalry is more heabily armored and favors mounted archery from either horseback or chariots. Sarmion warriors are known for their athletic ability in crossing any terrian and even climbing walls with ease - without magic. Every part of the military keeps at least one sorcerer in each unit. These sorcerers use their magic to augment their own bodies and wield nature against foes, and many of them end up dying in order to ensure victory. The veterans of the victory over the Numanari attack ended up breaking Yachidi law and using kishuf, forbidden magic, which twisted their bodies into grotesque monstrosities to defend the land. These veterans are called Lokkem, the Warriors, and many are no longer able to end their transformations and have been permanently changed. Despite their sacrifice, many more pious Yachidi shun the Lokkem and drive them out of their settelements, which leaves the government iwth a very powerful sorcerous population with nowhere to go and often a large sense of resentment.

Sarmion has always been a Yachidi nation, ever since the Covenant of the Longest ight, in which the Yachidi accepted rule of the land under the tenets of peace, acceptance of magic, respect and cooperation with others. However, while the Yachidi remain dominant, they are not the only religion. The Ishamali tribes that still worship the old gods are accepted as keepers of the Covenant. The Nakor worship the goddess of life, Naana-Astarte, the Shuar worship the gods of dawn and dusk, Shachar and Shalim, the Midaen worship the god of plenty, Baal-Hammon, and about half of the Essa-Edomi worship the god of death and fire, Mot-Melok. These gods are very similar to the ahuras of Ahurayasna, and also to jinn, but the Covenant has kept the tribes peaceful and the gods satisfied. Each tribe recognizes that Theus exists as a creator, but they serve their gods as patron protectors rather than as supreme beings.

The other Ishamali tribes, the Epher, Jokshaar, Massa-Duman ahd the other half of the Essa-Edomi, are Dinists, and al-Din flourishes in Sarmion, though the conversion does provide some tension with those who believe the Covenant is what keeps the old gods peaceful. Some Vaticines have also come to Sarmion in order to learn more about the homeland of the First Prophet. Yachidi are often bemused by the Vaticine and the ORthodox, as they find it hard to understand how a single rebbe managed to make such a strange impact on the rest of the world. They do respect the Vaticine, except as regards their position on sorcery, but are vehement foes of the Inquisition. Many Yachidi who lve in Theah have reported persecution by Inquisition agents, and the empire has recently learned about Yachidi vanishing in places like Castille or Eisen. The largest religious conflicts, however, are between Yachidi and Yasnavans, who disapprove of Yachidi ritual animal sacrifice. While the practice is done with total respect for the animal and has in fact recently fallen from favor with many in Sarmion, it hasn't ended the old grudges.

All of life in Sarmion is built around tribal and family identity. The family forms a backbone for all life, and children are raised to be first loyal to Elohah, then the family, then the tribe, then the nation, then the monarchy, in that order. Sarmion society is polygamous, with the head of a household often having multiple spouses. Families raise children communally, with the eldest of all of them being the inheritor regardless of gender. Sarmions tend to have lives well over a hundred years, thanks to a mix of magic, advanced medicine and healthy living, so family units get very large and extended. Children trace tribal identity through the mother, though a father in the family will generally act as a mentor or guide in their life. Every child is known as the product of a single pairing of adults, though all adults in a family assist in their raising, and they inherit birthright from their birth parents. Birthright consists of any inheritance of money, objects, businesses, land or herds after the death of the parents, which are usually kept within tribes. Intermarriage between tribes or even outside them does happen, but the business of lineage and inheritance means that anyone joining a Sarmion family brings a dowry or at least something to contribute to the family's prosperity.

Peace is kept by tribal affinity bonds. The Covenant of the Longest Night is the example, bringing peace and rule in th eancient times. If not for its tradition of brotherhood, old grudges might have destroyed the country. Instead, the tribes recognize a shared connection as the inheritors of Sarmion, and see each other as friendly neighbors and extended family. Each tribe treats the others with respect, offering aid and comfort to any in need, and recognizing each other's religious practice, often sharing in rituals. Sarmion brotherhood is also extended to the other nations of the empire. A Sarmion sees the other imperial nations as contentious and somewhat difficult family members, but still family. They are especially loyal and dedicated to the monarchy and Empress Safiye.

Sarmion clothing is tied to Sarmion modesty, a practice that dates back to the time of Abram, who taught his sons that envy is the cause of all conflict, and the encouraging envy in others by one's actions invites strife. Therefore, showing off is heavily discouraged, and Sarmions prefer their actions and intentions to speak for them, avoiding ostentatiousness even when wealthy. Outfits are mdoest, and common Sarmion belief is that the body, regardless of size, is merely a single component of a person. Therefore, all people of Sarmion, regardless of gender, wear flowing tunics and dresses, with men wearing skullcaps or turbans and women wearing scarves as head wraps and shawls. However, the Sarmions allow themselves some ostentation in their jewelery. Jewels are seen as a measure of status and tribal wealth, and while it is the height of rudeness to comment on another's jewelery, as this risks being considered envious, the system allows the Sarmion to recognize wealth and standing without speaking of it.

Next time: Language

The Crescent Empire - Not Hebrew

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Not Hebrew

Dibre is the shared language of all Sarmions. It is an extremely old language, probably the oldest of all currently living ones. It is rife with spiritual and mystical meanings, and it is not only the language of Yachidi prayer but of the shared Sarmion sorcery known as Chozeh. Sarmions believe that all words have important meaning, and therefore that words must be chosen carefully. It is commonly believed that all people are born with a limited supply of words for their life, though each person has a different amount, and so words must not be wasted. Because language is inherently sacred, they also believe that lying is the greatest insult (if you get caught), and that to use Dibre for evil profanes it and requires penance. Dibre is notable for its difficult back-of-the-throat 'ch' sound, which most non-Sarmions find very hard to pronounce.

While Sarmion has often suffered at the hands of others, its people adore any chance they can get to celebrate the beauty of life. Every holiday or event is turned into a big party, and drinking is a favored pastime for any who are religiously allowed to, with toasts being grand affairs for impromptu speeches to good fortune. That does not mean, however, that Sarmions don't recognize their past. They are known for sardonic wit, often joking about their ability to survive, no matter how close they come to being annihilated. Their celebrations typically last hours or days and are filled with dance, food, music, song and stories. The food is important - food is a huge part of the Yachidi religious identity, after all. As part of the Yachidi covenant with Theus, they do not eat meat and dairy together, and they don't eat meat often in the first place, which has led to some innovative cooking. Most in Sarmion will only eat animals that have lived a good and full life, so most farmers keep only a limited amount of livestock, which are tended to with extreme care. Vegetarian dishes are common, made from chickpeas, lentils and other legumes instead of using the usual chicken, lamb or beef meals common elsewhere in the Empire. Dips made from chickpeas or aubergine are common, especially those made without dairy products, because those can be mixed with meat.

Outside of a Sarmion's direct family, the most important social identifier they have is the tribe. Sarmion is split into nineteen tribes - twelve Yachidi and seven Ishamali. Each holds territory established at the founding of the Moatzra, and each has a long history and place in the kingdom. Every tribe is descended either from one of Yakob's sons, or one of the family if Abram's son Ishamal and his brothers. They each have their own structure and cultural identity, with slightly different laws, though all follow the basic laws of the Empire (as long as they are acceptable to Sarmion tradition). The Yachidi tribes are Aysher, Ben-Ephraya, Daana, Gaad, Levis, Manasha, Nephelen, Raam, Shimean, Yedha, Yesekar and Zevulon. The Ishamali tribes are Epher, Essa-Edomi, Jokshaar, Massa-Dumah, Midaen, Nakor and Shuar.

We get some detail on a few, but not all, of the tribes. Gaad are known for their wines, olive oils and general produce, some of the best in the entire empire. They live in the Galilee, at the base of the Aranat Mountains, and trade along the inland Sea of Galil via its rivers. They work closely with Daana and Ben-Ephraya to move their goods across the world. Levis descend from Yakob's prophetic daughter, and they have dedicated themselves to being the scholars and spiritual leaders of the Yachidi. All priests who attended the High Temple were of Levis, and the tribe's members are either religious leaders or lay providers for the more spiritual. They are notable for being gifted with the power of prophetic dreams (more often than others, anyway) and rumor has it that the current High Priest Gidayon prophesied the loss of the missing tribes.

The Raam were meant to inherit leadership of the Yachidi, but when Raam became obsessed with magic, his birthright was stripped and given to his brother, Yedha. Raam territory in the south borders on the Gilead Desert, and that border is where they build their schools of martial arts and education. Their leader, Kanah bat Mirah, the first woman to lead the Raam, did not disappear along with most of the tribe, which leads many to believe she protected herself by surrounding her manor with magic. It lies in the beautiful but now empty city of Beer-Maat. Yedha inherited rulership of the land when Raam lost his birthright, for Yedha was Yakob's bravest son. However, that rule nearly perished during the first Numanari invasion, saved only by Moesh's return to Sarmion and the dynasty of Kings David and Solomon. With King Josiah now dead and the surviving princesses either missing or refusing to take the throne, Josiah's widow, Queen Peninah, holds the throne as regent to protect the late Princess Esther's son, Prince Amon, and ensure he survives to be the next crown prince.

Yesekar are a pragmatic, practical tribe. They produce most of Sarmion's food, with the aid of the Ishamali tribe Jokshaar. Theirs are the most fertile lands, providing wheat, barley, pomegranates, dates, figs and other plants to feed the nation. ...that's about it, really. Essa-Edomi are Ishamali, the descendants of Essau, the renegade son of Isaak who went with his uncle, Ishamal, and the tribe he married into, the Edomi, who worshipped the fire god Mot-Melok. The Essa-Edomi are noted for being contentious and more violent than the other tribes, historically wandering the deserts of Gilead and attacking their neighbors for supplies...until half the tribe began practicing human sacrifice. The other half became Dinists, heading north to make peace with the other tribes and leaving only the more dangerous part of the tribe to attack travelers and their neighbors, the Manasha, in the desert.

The Midaen descend from Ishamal's daughter, Midaena, and they have always been a peaceful and friendly tribe. They have deep ties to the ruling monarchy and to the shepherds of Aysher. They work with the Aysher to pasture the flocks, under the protection of their god, Baal-Hammon. The Midaen are known for being a happy, cheerful tribe that enjoys music, dance, weaving and nature...until their flocks or friends are threatened, and they become rugged guerrillas and survivalists. Nakor are the tribe of Abram's brother, but they were almost wiped out in the war that led to the Covenant. Ishamal took over the tribe personally, leading them to a life of peace and prosperity in the hills east of Salemoria. The Nakor are considered to be the noble princes of the Ishamali, and they are often well-educated, wealthy merchants and craftsmen, producers of the finest oils and pottery in all of Sarmion. Their city, Ramaleh, is a cultural and business hub for the entire region.

Locations! Salemoria is the capital of Sarmion, ancient even when the forefather Abram was young. It is vital to the Sarmion people, and one Yachidi prayer goes like this: Im eshkachech Salemoria, aso l'eshkach shemi l'olam va'ed. Meaning, 'Should I forget Salemoria, may my name be forgotten until the end of the world.' Abram and his people discovered the city abandoned when they needed a home, a marvel of architecture in the hills of Moriah, at the center of Sarmion. Its origins are shrouded in mystery, but it is a beautiful city of ancient stone, adorned with Katabic script from the civilization that built it. The Yachidi and Ishamali have turned it into a shining jewel, a walled city with seven gates and high parapets. However, it is also a city recovering from terrible damage left recently by the Numanari.

At the center of the city is the site of the High Temple, white stone and gold rooftops. The Yachidi once worshipped there in peace, led by their priests and taught by their rebbeim. However, the Numanari burned the temple's structure, scorching the white walls black and melting the roof. Repairs have only just begun, and until they are completed, no sacrifices may be made. Nearby is the white palace of Sofian, the home of the royal family and its court until just before the Numanari attack. It is only recently that they have returned and begun to rebuild, and the palace finally flourishes once more, full of gardens and music halls and libraries. The Council House of the Moatzra, adjacent, was also burned and looted, sustaining heavy damage. However, its ceiling, painted to realistically resemble Sarmion's night sky and considered an artistic marvel, was spared, as were most of the Ishamali temples to the old gods and the Dinist mosques of the city.

The city is built outwards in concentric rings of homes, businesses and schools, all built in or on top of ancient buildings. The souq, the great marketplace, runs along a grand midway that leads to the Zaphon Gate and serves as Sarmion's center of commerce. The western half of the city is home to many schools and universities, including the Ner-L'Olam medical college and the Yamey Bahar University. This university brings in teachers from across both Sarmion and the Empire as a whole to study history, culture, science, math and particularly magic. Sarmion outreach programs have worked to bring in teachers from outside the Crescent Empire as well, and exchange students and teachers from Theah and other lands are quite valued.

Just outside the city walls is Har Hatezim, the Mountain of Olives - the biggest cemetery in Sarmion. It is home to modern bodies as well as those well predating the Yachidi settlement of Salemoria. Indeed, the ground is so full of corpses that even the barest hint of magic can awaken ancient and terrifying spirits and ghouls. However, tradition states that the dead must still be buried there, so those who would bury their dead must enter at their own risk. Other dangerous parts of Salemoria include the ancient tunnel and catacomb network under the city, where many believe that King Solomon hid a great vault full of artifacts, treasure and bound demons.

Next time: There is no balm in Gilead.

The Crescent Empire - The very slight shifts to actual Israeli place names are a little weird.

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - The very slight shifts to actual Israeli place names are a little weird.

Hatriza is an ancient Numanari fortress, about half a day out from Salemoria. Before the invasions, the area was just a gathering place and city for all of the tribes, built where four territories met. It was a trading town of fresh springs and fruit - a paradise. Until the Numanari came. They burned the city of Hatriza to the ground, building their fortress, Cerynos, on top. They paved marble streets and built columned halls and temples. Legend has it that on the day of the conquest, three captives - a Levis priestess, a Nakorite worshipper of Naana-Astarte and an Epherite Dinist - all cursed the city, saying that the land would swallow Cerynos whole. It took three generations, but a massive earthquake struck the city, destroying it utterly. Today, Hatriza has been rebuilt as a trade oasis atop the ruins of Cerynos. The fallen city has been incorporated into its design, with the ruins repurposed as an ongoing insult to the Numanari invaders. When the Numanari recently tried to seize the city, they were driven off by fierce warriors, all willing to transform their own bodies just to ensure no Numanari set foot inside Hatriza. After the war, the city has become a haven for such soldiers, and the area is full of veterans, most of them looking for a chance to fight and atone for their warping of their own bodies by magic. The city is also the headquarters of the Chavra.

A common Sarmion saying is this: L'Aph Echad Lo Magiah Ha'Gilead. No one deserves the Gilead. The Desert of Gilead covers most of southern Sarmion, and only the two toughest tribes, the Manasha and the Essa-Edomi, make their homes there. Travel across the Gilead is very difficult, as water is scarce and food is essentially nonexistant. People gather in large caravans to head north to the port of Eytal, and the tribes that live in the desert make most of their money helping travelers cross it. Scholars say that the desert was an ancient battleground, perhaps where the ancient peoples of Katab fell. Ruins are buried under the sand, carved with Katabic script similar to that in Salemoria, after all.

Deep in the desert is Mazada, a fortress citadel on top of a flat-topped mountain. Evidence suggests it was artificially molded at the top to build the fort, and Sarmion has often used it militarily to repel invaders. Due to freshwater springs inside the walls, a siege there can last for years. It isn't just a castle and barracks for the royal family during war, however. Mazada is also home to a huge library of magical texts and artifacts, held there for protection. The route south of Mazada is the fastest way to reach Ein-Gedi, a paradise of blossoming plants around a waterfall in a hidden canyon.

The Essa-Edomi and Manasha have spent the last few generations battling over control of the desert, despite its lack of resources. While they came together to defend Mazada during the Numanari invasion, they have immediately returned to being at each other's throats. With the Manasha having largely vanished, the Essa-Edomi have taken most of the Gilead, taking over empty Manasha towns and harassing travelers. Their only real challengers are the Massa-Dumah, a Dinist Ishamali tribe who are dedicated to protecting Sarmion (and the Empire as a whole) from evil spirits, jinn and those that would do evil in the name of gods.

Current Relations posted:

Anatol Ayh: The Anatoli and Sarmion people have a long history of friendship and it is no different now. Princess Batya is Safiye's closest and most trusted friend and holds her ear on many matters. The relationship between the two peoples is sometimes the cause of contention between Sarmion and the other Crescent nations who believe that Sarmion has too great a say in the empire.
Ashur: Ashur very often likes to think of itself as the most tolerant Nation surrounded by a Nation of intolerence. However, any rebbe who has visted the Nation in hopes of engaging religious debate can tell you their tolerance extends only so far as their borders. Furthermore, Sarmion is wary of Ashur and its Guardian of the First Garden, a man beholden to no one with a force of trained killers who has far too much sway in the nation.
Persis: The royalty of Persis and Sarmion have far too many idealistic differences to ever see eye to eye. Sarmions are a tolerant people who strongly support the use of magic, and the Persic persecution of magic-users has caused their opinion of Persis to sour even further. While Sarmion would never start an all-out war with Persis, the Nation has placed their political support firmly behind the empress.
Tribes of the 8th Sea: Tribal assistance during the most recent Numanari attack on Sarmion led to the nations sealing a great bond of friendship. Sarmion and the Tribes have slowly been working together to grow relations and trade resources. Misunderstandings have arisen, mostly with the political influence of Persis, which fears losing an ally in the 8th Sea, but many tribal members hope the budding relationship is one that will last.

Princess Batya bat Peminah M'Shevat Yedha, second daughter of King Josiah and Queen Peminah, was raised in the Crescent Empire's court alongside Safiye while her sister, Esther, was groomed to lead. Safiye and Batya became childhood friends, which has helped cement Sarmion's bond of loyalty to Safiye. When Safiye went off to tour the world, however, King Josiah called his daughter home due to the looming war with Numa. When she arrived, she found her father ill due to a magical poison and her nation invaded but not helped due to the rise of Istani, who ignored them. While her younger sister Dinah left in search of a cure, Batya left to find Safiye and bring her home. Shortly after, Esther was slain by Istani's agents. Batya led the Chavra in search of Safiye and in their assault on Istani's palace, recapturing it for her friend. She doesn't want to return to Sarmion now, remaining in Safiye's court as Sarmion ambassador. She is certain that her homeland is better off with her as a competent advisor to the Empress than with her as Queen. Since her mother is acting as regent for her nephew, Amon, she doesn't believe she belongs on the throne and actively resists the idea of taking it.

Yael bat Yeravam M'Shevet Ben-Ephraya is a Chavra warrior who grew up on the tales of her noble and ancient ancestor, Ephraya bat Yousef, who died fighting the first Numanari invasion. Yael knew she wanted to defend Sarmion as Ephraya had, and so she trained to join the Chavra. She was unsure she could survive the vicious training in Gilead, but her will drove her on, and she not only joined the Chavra but excelled as a tactician and fighter. She was overjoyed to be assigned as part of the detail to protect the newborn prince Amon. When the rest of the Chavra went with Batya to take the throne for Empress Safiye, Yael remained behind to guard Amon. The Numanari managed to discover their hiding place, and so Yael tapped into the magic she had been taught, calling on its fullest depths as a last resort to save the infant boy. It warped her body, leaving her scarred, with half her nose just gone, part of her face melted and much of her body covered in scars and markings. She saved Amon, but became outcast among her own people. She is intent on redeeming herself for her overuse of magic, and now she travels the land, defending others. No job is too small, no risk too dangerous.

Shimon ben Eli M'Shevat Yedha was a good man who wanted nothing more than to have a family. Wealth, power, rank - none of that mattered. He was the eldest of six children and helped raise his siblings alongside his parents, playing with them, reading to them and showing them the wonders of the city of Abib. When he was named bey of Abib, he met a woman named Keren, whom he instantly fell in love with - she, like him, was a noble that cared more for family than politics, and was of sharp wit and beautiful mind. Together, they had three children, wanting for nothing. However, as Numa prepared to attack Sarmion, raider activity increased in Abib. Shimon asked the royal family for troops, but King Josiah's failing health left their plea unanaswered. Shimon saw the coming disaster but could not prevent it. When the raiders attacked, they got into the bey's mansion, slew his wife and stole his children. He returned hom from the long battle to discover what had happened, and his heart died. Now, he is a ghost, dead within. To understand what was done to him, to make some kind of sense of it, he finds husbands and fathers who remind him of himself as he was, then...well, he's become a serial killer. He finds and hunts their families, to see how they respond and figure out where it all went wrong for him. He is Strength 6, Influence 1.

Raza ben Zehir, better known among his people as Raza ibn Zehir of the Essa-Edomi Tribe, saw his own tribe split in two. His temperament after was not helped by his naturally moody demeanor or his anger and tendency to violence. Zehir, his father, decided it'd be best to move to Mazada, where he worked as a janitor and cook. Raza was discovered by the Yachidi rebbe of the citadel, a man named Choni, who took him on as a pupil in the ways of magic. He gave Raza access to the library, and Raza soon became an eager scholar and Chozeh sorcerer. His magic was pushed to its limit during the invasion. Everything might have been fine...except that his father was slain in a Numanari attack on the citadel. In a desperate act to save the place, Choni performed forbidden magic, pouring his strength into animating the stone statues on the parapets to attack the Numanari forces. In secret, Raza tore out life energy from dying soldiers to help fuel Choni's magic. When he learned this, Choni was horrified, confronting Raza, who lashed out and killed him. Raza then seized control of the stone soldiers, driving back the Numanari in a vicious, bloody massacre. Mazada's leaders discovered him alive, praising him as the hero that saved the fortress even as they mourned his teacher. (Raza obviously didn't tell them he'd killed Choni.) Raza has been given Choni's post as chief researcher and sorcerer for Mazada. He is desperate to ensure no one knows what he did, going so far as to kidnap one of his fellow apprentices to keep her from talking while he tries to hunt for her journal that records what she witnessed. He also wants to figure out how to permanently awaken the statue-soldiers in an effort to make Mazada truly safe, and he believes that stealing the life of others with his sorcery will help. He is Strength 3, Influence 7.

Next time: Tribes of the 8th Sea

The Crescent Empire - Life In Hell

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Life In Hell

It is widely known that no one can survive in the 8th Sea - except the Tribes. They have been there since the days of Katab, and it is from the desert that the Katabic customs, rites and language spread. The Tribes live as their ancestors did, helping others of the empire to cross the sands. Without them, the 8th Sea would be entirely uncontrollable, and the wise do not forget that. There are many tribes, but most of them are small. The three largest of them are the ones that rule, for all practical purposes. These are the Quabilat al-Jamal (the Tribe of the Camel), the Quabilat al-Hisan (the Tribe of the Horse) and the Quabilat al-Thi'b (the Tribe of the Wolf). These three typically stay in their own lands, but recent jinn activity and the angering of the sand serpent Saghira have disrupted their peace and their balance.

Saghira is one of the largest of the offspring of Gocihr, and it recently drove the al-Thi'b from their traditional lands. It is only half a mile long, but it was not appreciative at all when the al-Thi'b found its favorite oasis, the Pool of a Thousand Wishes, and began hunting their caravans. They have had to move into what are traditionally al-Hisan lands, which has raised tensions over water and grazing. The extended contact, which has prior to now been rare, has also had some unintended consequences. Obodas, the wali (leader) of the al-Hisan, settled his tent on land that now overlaps with the al-Thi'b range. He figured they'd not break custom and camp close, because if two tents are close, the stronger is to protect the weaker by tradition. This was a custom designed to show charity to a few, not the majority of a tribe. However, one of the al-Thi'b sheikhs, Mumtez, set up right nearby, and now Obodas is obligated to defend the nearby al-Thi'b. The wali of al-Thi'b, Abd ibn Alet, has disavowed the action, but rumors now flourish saying that when the next move happens, things will come to a head between the tribes.

While the al-Thi'b are very skilled in navigating the desert, they have had to enlist the aid of the al-Jamal to cross lands controlled by Saghira, which is humiliating. Worse, they've had to compensate the al-Jamal with some of their old land. If the al-Hisan become aware of this, they may seek pay as well, or war, in recompense for their hospitality. In the middle of all this, Rahim, son of Mumtez, has grown close with the al-Hisan and fallen in love with Jamila, only daughter of Obodas. However, they are of both different tribes and faiths, and seem doomed to forever be apart. Rahim has, to circumvent this, secretly converted to Ahurayasna that he might marry Jamila. He already thought it was a little foolish to be al-Din in a land surrounded by old gods, and seen the hypocrisy of his family in manipulating custom to get what they want. It is unclear as yer if Mumtez will put his ambitions over his son's happiness.

Meanwhile, the tribes must handle intrigue from the rest of the empire. Persis has been secretly trying to get the aid of the three main tribes against the Empress. The al-Thi'b might be ideal allies, given their historic ties to Persis, but even they question the wisdom of overthrowing Safiye. Further, they're far more focused on their local al-Hisan problems than on the empire as a whole. The al-Hisan are Alwarithli loyalists...for a price. They are not part of any standing army, but they receive a stipend from the Empress in case they are needed in war. They tend to be loyal to her - as they were loyal to Istani. As such, they may choose to stand neutral unless one side can outbid the other. The last tribe, the al-Jamal, may be critical. If Persis attempts to attack Anatol Ayh, cutting through al-Jamal lands would be their fastest bet - if they could get an al-Jamal escort. The role of the al-Jamal in any coup may depend entirely on the outcome of the Hisan/Thi'b tensions. And then there's the wildcard issue - each of the tribes believes that one of the other two knows the location of Istani. When he disappeared into the 8th Sea, he rode directly through Saghira's territory. Lingering al-Thi'b may have found him, or the al-Jamal might have picked him up when they came to claim the land. He may have had an emergency contact among the al-Hisan ready. Whether the former Emperor is alive or not and where he might be is a secret that may be known only to a single wali.

The 8th Sea tribes survive on the edge of civilization, but once, this was not so. In the ancient past, the 8th Sea had a wetter climate, with more plant life. Gazelle, ostrich and horses were plentiful, and grass flourished. The ancestors of the Tribes, the founders of Katabi culture, gathered in small towns and villages, building the water systems and trade routes their descendants now rely on. Still, even they might not have survived the 8th Sea if not for the domestication of the camel, which can survive the heat for five days without a drink of water and which can quench its thirst by eating certain wild plants. This allowed the Katabi to make paths through the desert, digging the wells that remain in use even now, connecting oases and bringing trade with them.

Raqmu was the ultimate of these desert towns, a capital for the Katabi built from solid stone. It was built on the trade routes, to provide respite from the desert. It had aqueducts and other great feats of engineering to catch and trap water, building an artificial oasis. Its farmers and merchants made the Katabi a great power in the region. They were not alone, however - the spirits dwelled with them, demanding worship, and so Raqmu also became a city of temples to the many gods. Still, by the first and second centuries, Raqmu had fallen into decline with the rise of Persis. The rains weakened and the waters failed. The city dried out and Katab became but a memory. The residents broke into the Tribes, returning to nomadic life. Some say it was Raqmu's very success that destroyed it, that its people had grown arrogant and forgotten to thank the gods. The jinn then retaliated, it is said, by bringing misfortune.

The al-Hisan say, specifically, that it was the al-Jamal who turned away from the gods. The al-Jamal, after all, rely on trade and navigation, as did the people of Raqmu. Further, the stones at the city show cracks in the temples and tombs, and the al-Hisan say it is because the gods' magic struck the town with force, driving the Katabi tribes out. This is what separated the al-Jamal from the other tribes. On the other hand, the al-Jamal say that the separation came later, in the fifth century, due to Persis. Horses had long been part of the tribes, used in war, and many turned to banditry as the desert died. They raided the oases, as well as the lands of Ashur and Sarmion. Now, the tribes gained a reputation as violent raiders rather than peaceful merchants. Tribe fought tribe, and the al-Jamal say this is when they broke away from the other tribes, to focus on trade over war and terror. The al-Hisan agree that the Persics had great influence, saying that the Haximanisiya tried to bribe the Tribes into joining their empire's forces. Squads of border tribe warriors joined, and earned a reputation for skill. Persic coin flooded the area, bringing prosperity, and using it, the al-Hisan built lodges in the sands, with heated and cooled baths.

Either way, as the desert grew less hospitable due to the worsening climate, more changes were coming. As al-Din spread through the region, the worship of the old gods, the jinn, fell from favor, save in the 8th Sea. Their presence transformed the desert once more. South from Raqmu, a battle between ginnaye and afarit blackened the sands, where now volcanic stone and black sand are common, and the pointed stones make it hard even for camels to travel. The Black Desert's abandoned lodges are haunted by jinn of all kinds, and even Dinist tribespeople learn the methods of warding them off and how to stay on the proper trails. Few of the Tribes embraced al-Din at this point, save those who were adopted as bodyguards by the shah and gained access to Persic mosques. These tribespeople settled in Persis, but soon a group schismed off, believing that the decadent Persic lifestyle would only soften them. Several of these leaders returned to the 8th Sea, forming the Quabilat al-Thi'b, though many al-Thi'b claim heritage from those that stayed in the desert.

As the Anatoli grew stronger, the Persics lost the wealth to command the Tribes. The desert grew even drier yet, making it hard to maintain desert lodges. Persis allowed its influence to lapse. Today, several tribes live in the 8th Sea, but only the three named above rule it. They typically participate in Imperial politics and battles only for money, and their neutrality in the conflict between Safiye and Istani happened only because Safiye's forces intercepted Istani's payments to them. Safiye now pays them well to work for her as they did for Istani.

While the Tribes are technically members of the Empire, they are functionally allied states. They're slow to help out in aggression unless paid, but will quickly come to defend. Each tribe is led by a wali, and similar to a bey, a wali arbitrates disputes in the tribe, from water rights to divorces. The role is hereditary, with the heir selected by the current wali. In al-Hisan, heredity can be overturned if someone successfully challenges the new wali in mastery over horses. Most days, the wali commands only their direct or extended family, moving seasonally like most of the tribe. They are rarely seen by the entire tribe, and so a visit from the wali is an event worthy of a mansef, a feast of stewed meat, in his honor. Local tribespeople in the area often take this as a chance to make petitions or appeals to resolve disputes, though the time in which to make these is limited by both custom and practicality, and often requires making deals with the host to gain an audience.

Under the wali are the sheikhs, an ever-shifting network of local leaders. Tribal members can and do routinely move their tents around. Legally, wherever tents exist within a spear's throw of each other, they become a connected self-defense group, and a sheikh will be selected to lead them, usually based on seniority and experience. The sheikh is responsible for ensuring the safety of the group from raiders, weather and jinn. If two tent neighborhoods with a sheikh become connected by a tent in spear's throw of both, they become an extended group with only one sheikh. It is extremely rude to force this responsibility onto a sheikh, so these rarely form. The sheikh serves as an arbiter and resolver of conflict for the area, focused on local tradition and feelings rather than law, passing judgment with the idea that anyone judged will likely remain part of the community. The wali may also enact judgment, so some choose to bypass their sheikh. Of course, the wali isn't required to hear any given petition, so that usually means pulling strings. Punishments may include fines of food or camels, exile into the desert or indentured service based on Alwarithli law, though 'awliyah' (plural of wali, complete with apostrophes) typically hand that one out much more often than sheikhs do. Most modern tribal laws follow those of the Empire, but are administered by the 'awliyah' and the sheikhs.

The 'awliyah' of the tribes meet annually at Raqmu to work out issues at the Festival of Ahura. Members of the tribe camp out at nearby ruins, while the 'awliya' and their closest family gather for a summit that lasts a full day. Half of that is poetry recitals and social bonding customs, after which any problems are discussed - water rights, alimony, trade, jinn relations and more. Because the jinn have abandoned the settled lands for the desert, more exist in the 8th Sea than anywhere else. They inhabit the stone walls of the city during the festival, and local magic users often serve as oracles that interpret their desires. Of course, these oracles aren't above bribes or abuse of social connections, either. While the leaders meet, the others of the tribe trade various goods, rumors and so on. Much of this is spying on the other tribes, but other nations sometimes also send representatives and spies, forming and severing alliances. This year, Asya bint Faatin al-Marsi of the coastal al-Marsi tribe has a huge role to play. It is an open secret that she smuggles Fate Witches out of Vodacce on her ship, and this year, her cargo included the aged Greta Schiavone, a witch who has agreed to use her Sorte to help find a way to defeat Saghira for the al-Thi'b. Now, Asya just has to make sure she avoids any pirates and gets Greta to the festival safely. Which may be a challenge.

Next time: Tribal customs.

The Crescent Empire - Peter And The Wolf

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Peter And The Wolf

The Quabilat al-Thi'b are the only Dinists among the three leading tribes, claiming descent from hunters that accepted al-Din. They remain very proud of both their herding and hunting skills, even if there are no more gazelle in the 8th Sea. They are the smallest of the three tribes, surviving on herding and making Dinist inscriptions on bone or stone and selling them as exotic materials to the Empire. They tend to be poorer than the other two, especially since Saghira forced them from their traditional lands. While they are versed in the old ways for survival, they value al-Din over all else, and tend to be more educated and literate than the other tribes despite their poorer economic position. While they are currently loyal to the Empress, their ancestral ties to Persis suggest they may change allegiances for the right price. However, they have taken the greatest efforts to follow the Empress' new laws, implementing most of her changes. The exception is magic - they still hold sorcerers at arm's length, and known sorcerers are often shunned and pushed out of the tribe, regardless of the Empress' desires.

The al-Thi'b also have one connection the other tribes don't - kin in Persis. The group that remained in Persis rather than maintaining the nomadic lifestyle has now settled into agriculture, study and sometimes even sorcery, bolstered by their reputation of ties to the mysterious 8th Sea. They retain enough in common with the al-Thi'b, however, that they continue to communicate with them via messages written in a code the other tribes never learned. Only the shah of Persis is aware of this connection.

Locations! Asham is a city of history, its walls having stood since the days of lost Katab. It is built on a plateau near Sarmion, and is home to many faiths. Its infrastructure has existed for so long that no one can actually say how old the place is. Its main gate, Bab Yasmin, is wreathed in jasmine flowers and leads to the golden Grand Mosque. New buildings are built atop the old, the ancient stones are repaved - everything is still a living, breathing place. When the Numanari invaded in the 4th century, they reached the 8th Sea's borders, but proved unable to defeat the jinn and giant animals of the desert, so they settled for conquering Asham and using it as their outpost. The Tribes decided not to be broken like the Sarmions and essentially abandoned the city, except for one: the Quabilat al-Tuban, the Snake Tribe. The al-Tuban used ancient tunnels to invade the city and strike at the occuyping Numanari by night, forcing the invaders back to Sarmion. The al-Tuban have run Asham ever since.

With them came the snakes that the tribe takes its name from. They can often be seen around the city, lazing on the altars, and they live in huge numbers within the city's expansive sewers. Locals are used to them and peacefully coexist alongside the reptiles, often leaving offerings of flowers and sweet fruits for them. While most of the city is Dinist these days, many still pay respects to the many-headed serpent jinn that is said to protect the city. There are surprisingly few guards in the city, and most of the locals joke about the thriving Thieves' Guild, though it's the kind of joke you make about a very real problem. However, the guards are not without weapons. Each guard is given a silver cane with gilding along it, which they may slam on the ground to produce vibrations imperceptible to humans, but very loud to the snakes. Serpents will swarm to them, assisting the guard in fighting whoever they are engaged with, which helps put down major crime. The system would be simple and elegant, if a cane had not recently fallen into the hands of criminals.

Recently, more tribes have been coming to Asham, and the government has shifted more towards Crescent law than tribal tradition. Asham serves as a hub for international trade, where most tribes can pick up caravans that want to cross the 8th Sea. Gahdir, the bey of Asham and wali of the al-Tuban, is actively trying to push her city into the modern world, and she plans to build a university in the many underground ruins beneath the city - she just needs to drive the Thieves' Guild out of them first.

Raqmu's location is known only to the tribes, kept a secret for long, long years by those that revere and respect it. It serves as a sort of makeshift capital for the 8th Sea Tribes. It was built from solid stone by the Katabi, long ago, and with each century it grew - new halls, passages, souqs and so on, carved into the stone. Now, it stretches far further into the rocks around it than anyone actually realizes. It's said that it would take an entire lifetime to visit every room of Raqmu; few bother to try. Legend has it that sleeping jinn live within its depths, feeding off the ambient reverence of the tribes. Many believe that if the city were ever attacked, the jinn would awaken and protect them, which may be part of why the other nations have never really made a big effort to discover Raqmu's precise location. Besides its sheer size, Raqmu is also notable for its impressive plumbing system, which brings fresh running water to anyone staying there and safely carries waste out. The water system is extremely ancient, and while the Tribes know how to maintain it, none of them really understand how it was made.

Shakar Hunting Lodge is a well-known landmark on the edge of the Black Desert. In older times, it was the center of an oasis with an underground spring, brought to the surface by tribal ingenuity. However, the machines that brought the water to the surface have long since ceased to work, and no one remembers how to repair them. The lodge is in ruins, though enough remains to tell what happened there. Paintings on the walls depict ostrich, gazelle and other prey that once roamed the area, and the fountain's stone basin sits, dry and unused. Legend has it that the water could even be heated for baths, attended even by the royalty of Persis. Today, the lodge itself is largely ignored. A well has been bored down to the spring beneath, though the rope and pulley require two people or a camel to operate it due to its weight, and another person to steady the bucket as it reaches the top. No tribes settle in the area, but many camp there for a night before moving on. The reason becomes clear by night. The ruins, long abandoned, emit a noise that sounds like knocking on the walls. The wise leave a cup of tea at the entrance and do not enter the ruins themselves, to avoid curses from the jinn that live there. (Or camel theft, as they have been known to do that, too.) In the morning, the tea is gone but the camels are usually still present.

Current Relations posted:

Anatol Ayh: The Tribes owe fealty to the empress, as long as the empire pays their retainer to fight in any upcoming conflict. Most of the Tribes are neutral to her and her reforms. Al-Thi'b especially follow her teachings, attempting to adapt to the changes she demands. At the same time, the Tribes suspect that her traitorous brother has found sanctuary in the 8th Sea and are both eager and wary to be proven right.
Ashur: The Tribes once had an easy relationship with the people of Ashur, trading homemade cheese for figs from Ashur's forest. The Tribes never held much respect for them, viewing their war-making capabilities with disdain. Now that the fig trees are dying, al-Hisan have grown bold and raid within the borders to get the figs they use to feed their horses.
Persis: The Tribes like Persis for the goods and coin it sends in hopes of winning them to its side, but otherwise they feel no particular loyalty. Moreover, international relations between the Tribes and Persis have begun to break down due to the large influx of Yasnavan refugees entering the 8th Sea. Tribal cities bordering Persis feel the strain of supporting more people than they can sustain, and many 'awliya' have reached out to Persic officials, demanding they adhere to the empress' orders and stem the influx of refugees.
Sarmion: The Tribes have historically held a neutral opinion of Sarmion. After the Numanari invasion of Sarmion, relations have been on the upswing. Sarmion has been particularly helpful to the Tribes in relation to the refugees entering the 8th Sea, offering shelter and land within their borders to people fleeing the Persic regime.

And, of course, people. Hala bint Raff is claimed as a member by the al-Jamal. She disagrees. She attracted attention for her green eyes and long hair as a youth, and her skills as a nomadic wanderer who knew every trail in the desert. Her skill and passion have earned her a loyal following. She is one of several daughters of a modestly successful al-Jamal family, and her only brother was a strong, handsome man ready to lead the family. However, the local sheikh saw him as a rival for marriages, and during a sandstorm some of the sheikh's camels went missing due to drunken guards. This gave the sheikh an excuse to banish Hala's brother into the desert. The family was devastated, but nothing could be done. Hala insisted on going with her brother, but she was too young and was not allowed to. It took her months to get a camel and ride out after him...and ultimately, she found his body, mummified by the sands, with strange red marks on his skin and a tiny lizard sheltering in his armpit. From that day on, she renounced her position in her family. Now, she wanders the lands of the al-Jamal, gathering the ostracized and lost under her banner to create a new tribe, the Quabilat al-Suhulia, the Lizard Tribe. She intends two things - first, to find her new people a permanent home, whether that is on the lands of the al-Jamal or elsewhere, and second, to find the ginnaye called Am Alssahali, who might give her the power to speak with the lizard she found on her brother's corpse, so she can learn what, exactly, happened to him.

Baha ibn Quasim al-Zummena is a young man who is much stronger than he looks, fast and agile even by his tribe's standards. While he is respectful of his sheikh, he often wanders off on his own to go exploring, sometimes getting into trouble for it. He is insatiably curious about foreign cultures and peoples, and he's happy to endanger himself to learn more about them. He has spent most of his life with the small Zummena tribe, though some of them claim he was found as an infant and adopted. The Zummena, unlike most of the tribes, spend only half the year herding their goats and horses in the desert, selling or slaughtering their herds after this to spend the other half living along the coastline. Baha took things a step further at the age of ten, stowing away on a merchant's camel headed for Sarmion. By the time he got back home, he'd seen half the empire. Since then, he's been a kind of unofficial ambassador for his tribe in more settled lands, taking goods to sell and helping his fellow tribespeople handle the strange customs of foreigners from beyond the sea. He is also known to help those foreigners without much care for reward, as long as he can learn. He recently ran into an elderly Sarmion man in the desert, who died the day after despite his best efforts, but told Baha that he was Taavi of the Raam, and begged Baha to find his daughter Kanah bat Mirah and tell her that Raam was not lost - it was somewhere in the desert. Baha now hopes to gather a team to find the Raam in Taavi's memory.

Al-Fiddata claims to be al-Hisan, but she has not lived among them for a while now. No one is quite sure how old she is, either. Her 'name' is taken from her silver hair, and this and her weathered skin suggest she's been around for decades. While she could be a sheikh or even wali, she prefers to keep to herself. Some say she prefers the company of jinn to people. No one can name her as family, so all stories of her early life are rumor. Some say she showed an early knack for horses, becoming a breeder whose care for her horses was more than her care for their owners. It is said she could break a stallion with words alone, and her mares brought forth only the finest foals. When a young man rejected her interests, it is said, she retaliated by slaughtering his family's whole herd. She was exiled, they say, and vowed revenge on the entire tribe, and that since then all horses flee her in fear. Other stories claim she has always been ally to the jinn, selling her soul for power over others. When this was discovered, she was exiled, and the reason horses flee her presence is their sensitivity to evil. The truth is unknown, but rumor has it that al-Fiddata trafficks with ginnaye and afarit, focusing on the growth of her own powers. Some say she will aid certain travelers, but always at a price - often a far greater price than one expects. She is Strength 5, Influence 9.

Mumtez ibn Talal al-Thi'b is an al-Thi'b sheikh, greatly respected. He is not large, but his presence is imposing due to a forceful tone and quick wit. He is a perfect exemplar of custom and hospitality, but he is also terrifying. He lies easily and bends rules to serve his own needs. He wants to become the wali of the tribe, and perhaps more. He is his family's elder following his brother's death when an al-Hisan horse given as a gift threw his brother and killed him. The al-Hisan were horrified and quickly apologized, giving the al-Thi'b their own wali's horse as recompense. Abd ibn Alet, wali of al-Thi'b, accepted the gift, smoothing over relations. However, Mumtez refuses to let the incident go, using it to spread dissent against the wali. What no one knows is that Mumtez doesn't even care about his brother's death, which was caused by Mumtez putting a burr under the saddle to ensure the horse threw and trampled him. He's manufactured a crisis as well, forcing the wali of al-Hisan to provide defense for his family by manipulating custom. Mumtez is planning to fake another death in the family so he can blame the al-Hisan and start a war. (Specifically, his wife, whom he has hired mercenaries to attack while dressed in al-Hisan clothing as she escorts a Thean caravan to Persis.) Mumtez does love his own son, Rahim, but Rahim has fallen in love with the al-Hisan wali's daughter. Mumtez plans to prevent any marriage by publically humiliating Jamila via spoiling her horse feed, to ensure his son has no choice but to shun her. He is Strength 4, Influence 5.

Next time: Mechanics!

The Crescent Empire - How 2 Crescent

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - How 2 Crescent

Backgrounds!
General Backgrounds
Castaway: You were lost and alone. Earn a Hero Point when you go out of your way to save another character from isolation.
Poet: You were a wordsmith. Earn a Hero Point when your insistence on protecting or expanding your reputation gets you into trouble.
Tactician: You were a strategist and planner. Earn a Hero Point when you successfully disarm the threat of a war, large or small, without resorting to battle.
Treasure Hunter: You were a treasure hunter. Earn a Hero Point when your hunger for rare trinkets, lost artifacts or similar gets you into trouble.
Anatoli Only
Alharis: You learned the Art of the Second Prophet, the magic of the world's beauty. Earn a Hero Point when you use your Sorcery to bring comfort to the disenfranchised or downtrodden.
Ghazi: You were a master of the warlike heritage of the Anatoli. Earn a Hero Point when your insistence on a martial solution to a problem backfires and causes you trouble.
Kurtanoglu: You were a savage hunter of glory and battle, though you have since distanced yourself from your savage kin. Earn a Hero Point when you involve yourself in a conflict solely for the glory it will bring.
Yol Seeker: You walked the paths of enlightenment. Earn a Hero Point when you help another character achieve a moment of enlightenment, clarity or a similar breakthrough.
Ashurite Only
Climber of the Green Mountain: You were an Assassin. Earn a Hero Point when a problem could be easily solved by murder, but you find a less bloody solution.
Elohim: You were a caretaker of nature and a follower of Yesu. Earn a Hero Point when you defend a natural wonder or protect the natural world from destruction.
Hatapu: You inherited an Assassin's mystic collar and its sorcerous power. Earn a Hero Point when your commitment to saving someone else from witnessing the horror and pain of death causes you trouble.
Pleroma: You tried to govern the ungovernable. Earn a Hero Point when you successfully persuade a group of people to aid their neighbors with a problem that does not directly affect them.
Persic Only
Immortal: You were a soldier of honor and skill, a member of the Immortals. Earn a Hero Point when your commitment to protecting the reputation of the Immortals gets you into trouble.
Khahesh: You wielded the magic of the Ahuras. Earn a Hero Point when your connection to the Ahuras becomes known and complicates a problem, rather than solves it.
Persic Rebel: You fought against the shah. Earn a Hero Point when you tell someone in authority exactly what you think of him, even when you really shouldn't.
Student of Firuzeh: You were trained by Firuzeh, one of the greatest living poets. Earn a Hero Point when you turn a rival into an ally, student or friend.
Sarmion Only
Chavra: You were one of the elite warrior-investigators of Sarmion. Earn a Hero Point when you choose to take on a problem alone, in order to protect others from the task's potential danger.
Chayalim: You were a soldier, trained in combined arms. Earn a Hero Point when you defy your superiors, refuse to obey orders or similarly buck authority in order to do what you think is right.
Divine Lyrist: You wielded the power of Chozeh, the magic of Elohah's promises. Earn a Hero Point when you keep a promise that it would be to your advantage to break.
Yachidi Doctor: You were a trained physician. Earn a Hero Point when you coerce, persuade, threaten, cajole or otherwise force a character to allow you to give them medical attention.
Tribes of the 8th Sea Only
Khadim: You wield the sorcery of trust and obedience. Earn a Hero Point when you retrieve your thiqa from another character.
Murshid: You were a trainer in the ways of survival. Earn a Hero Point when you help another character avoid danger through leading by example.
Mustakshaf: You were a ruin raider. Earn a Hero Point when your pursuit of ancient treasure and fabulous riches gets you into trouble.
Zahrah's Cousin: You trained with Zahrah bint Marwa al-Amin, one of the greatest living poets and mistress of history. Earn a Hero Point when you convince another character to commit to a course of action by appealing to their bloodline, family honor, national pride or a similar aspect of their personal history.

Advantages! Some notes - each nation has its own sorcery, but that sorcery isn't quite as restricted. The Art of the Second Prophet can be learned by anyone from Anatol Ayh or by any Dinist. Chozeh can be learned by anyone from Sarmion or any Yachidi. Khahesh-Ahura can be learned by anyone from Persis or any Yasnavan. Mithaq Alqadim is still restricted to just the 8th Sea Tribes, and Nawaru is actually extra-restricted. Nawaru cannot be learned in chargen except if you are both Ashurite and have either the Hatapu or Climber of the Green Mountain background.
1 Point
The Old Traditions: You know the rites of hospitality and may request them whenever you need food, water, shelter, medical aid or so on. You will be offered this by any other character, so long as they don't think it puts them in danger and as long as you promise to do the same for others. This does not work against Villains or their direct underlings, or any character that has reason to already dislike or distrust you.
Well Read: You always know where to find information about a particular historical subject. You know what texts to consult, even unique and one-of-a-kind ones, and which libraries have them. If no such text exists, then you know where to find the next best thing, such as a renowned expert on the subject.
2 Points
Ambuscade: When you are acting as a General in Mass Combat, you always count as having surprise over your foe. If the other General also has this, you both get the surprise penalty.
Amab Almadaa (Knack): You must have the Rhyme and Verse advantage. When you have fewer raises than your opponent during the first Bayt of a poetry duel, you may activate this to reassign the skills you have chosen between your three Bayts.
Cover Name (Knack): Costs 1 less for Ashurites. Choose any non-national Background as a cover identity. You may activate this to assume that identity for the rest of the scene. While using this cover identity, once per Round during a Dramatic Sequence, you may change your Approach to any Skill from your cover's Background. You may only have one cover identity at a time, and must repurchase this advantage to swap it out.
Delay the Inevitable (Knack): Costs 1 less for Persics. During a Sequence, you may activate this and spend any number of Raises to select any Consequence with a time limit. You may delay that time limit by as many Raises as you chose to spend. However, that Consequence can no longer be overcome or reduced by anyone via Raises.
Desperate Deflection: When you take Wounds, you may immediately spend one Raise to prevent all of them. The next time this round you would suffer Wounds, you double them and cannot reduce them in any way.
Kwa Damu: You must have the Rhyme and Verse advantage. If you gain 5 Raises more than your opponent in a single Bayt of a poetry duel, you automatically win the duel, period.
Rhyme and Verse: You are a Kavi, a poetry duelist. The first purchase of this lets you select one of Damu, Chamsin, Griot or Hakawati styles. The second purchase lets you select one of Goftar-e nik, Masquerade or Khol styles. The third purchase allows you to pick any one Skill you have ranks in. When you use this skill in a Kavita, you get a Bonus die. The fourth (and all subsequent) purchase, you may learn any one style you like.
Skirmisher: When you fight in Mass Combat as a Solo, enemy units lose (higher of Wits or Finesse) dice on all rolls directed at you.
Triage (Knack): Costs 1 less for Sarmions. You may activate this to identify a poison or disease, determine someone's injuries and how best to treat them, or save someone from an immediate medical threat, such as choking or a collapsed lung.
3 Points
Experienced Commander: When you begin Mass Combat attached to a unit, you may select a single Edge. The unit gains that Edge at no cost. Selecting a second Edge costs 1 Hero Point and grows exponentially from there.
Heedless Assault (Knack): When you inflict Wounds, you may activate this. The Wounds you inflict cannot be reduced by any means. For the rest of the Round, you may not spend Raises to reduce Wounds that you or any other character take.
Multi-Tasker (Knack) Costs 1 less for Tribespeople. When you spend a Raise on your action to activate an Opportunity, you may activate this to also reduce a Consequence as if you had spent a single Raise to do so.
Osda: Costs 1 less for Anatoli. You are considered an Osda, an honorable and well-spoken person in Anatol Ayh. You can recite classic poetry, know the protocols of Anatoli hospitality and are held in high esteem by those who honor the ideals of the Osda. These people will freely offer you food, drink, shelter and so on. Further, you get 2 Bonus Dice for any social Risks against any characters who respect the Way of Anatol Ayh and its Osda traditions.
Support Lines: When determining who goes first in Mass Combat, you may add (Wits) to your total of Raises for the purposes of going first only. You do not gain extra Raises to spend.
4 Points
Never Say Die: While you are attached to a unit in Mass Combat, that unit always rolls its full Strength, regardless of any damage it has taken.
Rally to Me (Knack): While you are acting as a General, on your unit's action, you may activate this to rally your troops with a stirring speech or similar. They recover (Panache) Strength.
5 Points
I've Been Waiting For This (Knack): Costs 2 less if Ashurite. You may activate this to meditate on a trial or ordeal to come, or a Villain you know you will face soon. You may not use this if the danger is present in the current scene. Until the end of the session, whenever you spend a Hero Point to get Bonus Dice or to give another PC Bonus Dice in a Risk directly related to the contemplated threat, you may choose a second PC to gain the same benefit. You may not use this to give yourself Bonus Dice. You may use this only once per session.
My Soul Still Shines (Knack): Costs 2 less if Persic. Choose a Trait. If you roll zero Raises using that trait, you may activate this to take one Dramatic Wound and gain Raises equal to that Trait. You may use this only once per session.
My Weakness Is Your Strength (Knack): Costs 2 less if Sarmion. When you have 3 Dramatic Wounds, you may activate this before making a Risk. For the rest of the scene, your 10s no longer explode, and all other Heroes' 10s explode, no matter what. You may choose to end this effect early at no cost.
Remember My Name (Knack): Costs 2 less if Anatoli. You may activate this before you roll dice in a Risk against someone you've encountered before. Remind them of what happened last time you met, if it went in your favor, or tell them how it will be different this time, if it did not. You get 5 Bonus Dice on all Risks against that character for the rest of the scene.
Step Where I Step (Knack): Costs 2 less if Tribesperson. You may activate this when you spend a Raise to perform any action involving movement, navigating a dangerous environment, avoiding a trap, leaping a chasm or similar. Another PC of your choice comes with you, avoiding the threats as if they had also spent a Raise.

Next time: New secret societies!

The Crescent Empire - EAGLE VISION

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - EAGLE VISION

The Alnniqabat Lilnusr, the Guild of the Eagle, date back to 1388, when a team of Assassins went to deal with Anatoli aggression. Empress Seyma had grown tired of capitulating to their threats, which had historically kept Anatol Ayh out of Ashur. She was not dissuaded by daggers on the pillow or even when she was sickened by poison. She swore that her Janissaries were no less skilled or brave, and that the cowardly Assassins should face them in battle. Mahmoud, leader of the team, came up with a plan. With the Guardian's blessing, he would show her the brutality the Assassins could stoop to, ordering his team to murder the Empress' children by drowning them in oil and leaving their bodies in her chambers. This, he said, would show her that they could get anyone, anywhere. Atef, another member of the team, objected. To murder innocent children for their mother's threats would be wicked. Mahmoud was not swayed, and the Guardian would not meet with Atef.

Atef did the only thing he could think of: he protected the children of the Empress against the other Assassins. When they went to strike, they found not children sleeping, but Atef pleading with them to stop and turn back. The Guardian, he said, must have gone insane if he agreed to this. Atef defended the prince and princess of Anatol Ayh with his life, yet he would not kill his fellow Assassins, either. He left them bloodied or wounded or knocked out, but alive. Only Mahmoud defeated him, and to Mahmoud's shock, Atef used his dying breath to plead for mercy for the children. It convinced Mahmoud of Atef's nobility and purity of spirit, and he relented, unable to slay the kids. He spent the rest of the night extracting his wounded team from the palace, including Atef's body. When the others awoke, he told them what happened, and they all pledged to honor Atef's sacrifice. This was the formation of the Alnniqabat Lilnusr. They are probably the most secret of secret societies, for they began in treachery to the Assassins. They declared themselves the watchers of the holy killers, determined to keep the cause pure and to ensure that the Assassins were righteous, to police each other and even the Guardian, their honored leader.

The Guild of the Eagle exists to keep the Assassins honest. Sometimes this means allowing them to do their task, if a guilty target deserves to die. Sometimes it means tipping off a target, causing a distraction or otherwise foiling a murder attempt. Sometimes it means convincing the Assassin to back off. And sometimes, it means placing themselves in the path of the knife, dying so that the target might live. In the decades following Atef's death, it became clear that the Guardian had, in fact, gone mad. More recently, he has changed, as if waking from a long sleep and seeing the corruption within the Assassins for the first time. Now, he works with the Guild to restore their honor. Many of the members of the society are Assassins who committed terrible acts, given a chance to redeem themselves by other Eagles. They have also, in the past, recruited non-Assassins, too. After all, with the Guardian's past orders, many Assassins were little better than common mercenaries, or worse. The Guild relentlessly hunts such hired killers, but they always offer the chance of redemption. After all, a person is more and better than their worst act.

Favor with the Alnniqabat Lilnusr is earned in several ways. Capturing a rogue Assassin is worth 5 Favor. Such rogues are treated as victims, not enemies - victims brainwashed and turned to darkness, but not necessarily by their own hand. They work to rehabilitate these rogues, to awaken them to the sins they have committed and return them to righteousness. Taking the place of an intended victim is worth 8 Favor. Of course, this is not done lightly - it is extremely honorable, but seen as a sign of a death wish. You can only dodge the blades of other killers for so long before they strike home. Getting an audience with a particular Assassin costs 4 Favor, though you usually won't need their name to do it - just their area of operation or target. The Assassin will usually hide during the meeting to protect their identity. At this meeting, any attempt to get an Assassin to do something, like delay their attack or trade info, gets 2 Bonus Dice. A visit to the First Garden costs 8 Favor, and during it you may meet the Guardian and ask for information from him, though it should be noted that the Assassins say he tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to.

The Angel's Hand know of the secrets of the Black Desert, deep in the 8th Sea. In a place deep within the Black Desert, hidden even from the Tribes, is an oasis and a palace. The Black Desert is nearly impassable by day due to the massive heat reflected off the black sand. Only by night can anyone reach its center. There, in a verdant oasis among the dark sand, are the ruins of Irem. The people of Irem fled to the desert as their city collapsed and the sands burned black. All that remains standing today is the Grand Palace, where the sun shines on the broken stained glass and reflects through holes in its domes. When it seemed the daevas were going to defeat the ahuras in the battle that blackened the sands, a few brave people rushed back into the city to assist the forces of Good against the forces of Evil. They turned the tide, and while the city lay in ruins, most of them survived. They dedicated themselves to fighting for Good and restoring power to Zenea, the deity of Ahurayasna. They considered themselves righteous asavans fighting evil dragvants. Outsiders knew them as the Angel's Hand.

However, the Angel's Hand survived beyond legends of Irem. Their membership now comes from all nations in the empire and from all levels of society. While most of the group are Yasnavan, they do not look down on Dinists or other faiths as long as they work for the greater good. The Angel's Hand will watch prospective members for a while before approaching them, to determine if they are worthy. If a prospective member passes this vetting, they are taken to the ruins of Irem and, in a secret ceremony, 'awoken to the worlds beyond.' They are given three things. First, a new name for use within the Angel's Hand. This name is always that of a bird, as birds that flock about the ahuras are said to be extensions of their will. The second is a piece of jewelry containing a shard of stained glass - any kind of jewelry will do. The stained glass is to remind the wearer of Irem and helps guide them back to the ruins. The last is a ritual scar made with black sand. A design is cut into the flesh, then rubbed with black sand, then sealed with a hot iron press. This is to remember that the battle against Evil is never painless. As one advances in the Angel's Hand, one receives more ritual scars until, at last, the final one is placed on the face, to display one's allegiance for all to see.

The Hand is a structured meritocracy with a strong emphasis on experience. They are frequently debriefed, discussing the actions of agents of Evil they have witnessed as well as their own plans. Yasnavan belief forbids members from lying to each other or fellow faithful, so these reports never contain boasts or fictions. When members of the group meet, they clasp each other's wrists and touch foreheads in a silent prayer. This recognizes that Evil cannot be fought alone, and so all members willingly accept aid from each other as long as it doesn't detract from the helper's own mission. Of course, their devotion requires constant vigilance. Veneration of the Five Ahuras and the spirits of the 8th Sea has waned, which disturbs the Angel's Hand. They suspect dragvants and daevas are behind it, growing more potent by the day. The Hand wish to prevent the disaster at Irem from ever being repeated.

The Hand is devoted to fighting Evil and specifically the daevas. They work to stymie dragvants everywhere, helping to return power to the ahuras and local spirits that help humankind. Going on a quest for the Hand, which generally means aiding another agent already facing a dragvant or daeva, is worth Favor equal to the Story steps required for it. Defeating a daeva is worth 10 Favor; the Hand despises these evil, corrupting spirits and see it as their duty to remove them from the world whenever possible. Getting the aid of the Hand for a Story costs Favor equal to the Story's steps, and the assistance may come in the form of Wealth, favors or the use of a Brute Squad with Strength equal to twice the Favor cost. An audience with an ahura costs 10 Favor. This must happen at Irem, and gives you an evening of conversation with an angel. (Technically, most ahuras are jinn, but don't call them that.) The ahura will answer questions honestly and may grant you mystic powers for a single Story.

Next time: Holy magic.

The Crescent Empire - Art Is Magic

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Art Is Magic

Al-Musawwir, the Divine Artist, calls on His followers to make Wonders, miniature reflections of his masterpiece, Terra. Each is wonderful, beautiful and imperfect, just as the world is. The Second Prophet made many himself, including his staff, which was carved with an epic about the world and which he used to absorb and even reflect magic. The Prophet said that those who found wonder in His art will be its guardians, and so the users of the Art of the Second Prophet, who create and use Wonders, are known as alharis - or alhuris, for plural - which means 'guardian' or 'sentry.' A Wonder can be anything - a beautiful necklace with a rare gem, a book that tells of world-spanning adventure, a statue of clay showing a dancer. What matters is that it is unique and reflects the wielder's view of the world, its people and faith.

The first time you buy Sorcery (Art of the Second Prophet), you get your Wonder. It is unique to you, and can be anything you want. Most alhuris make their own Wonders from beautiful or meaningful materials, but others are inherited or are simply objects of great sentimental value that remind the alharis of their faith and devotion. The main thing is: it's unique to you, and it represents your view of Terra and its people. Once you have your Wonder, you select two Miracles and one Path, which you receive the first Step of. Until you complete a Path, you cannot choose any other. Each time you buy Sorcery after this, you get the next Step on your Path. Once the path is completed, when you next purchase Sorcery, you construct a new Wonder, get two more Miracles, and start a new Path.

Miracles are the powers that do not require you to carry your Wonder. They show the protection that al-Musawwir grants to His creations, to watch over them and guide them. Any specific Wonder only ever grants two Miracles, and all Miracles require a Hero Point to activate.
Beckon: Your Wonder flies to your hand, avoiding obstacles and harming no one and nothing in the way. If someone or something is holding it, it pulls firmly (but harmlessly) until the grasp is broken, and it may not lift anything off the ground to any distance that would harm it. If your Wonder is somehow trapped, by magic or otherwise, the power fails. However, in most cases, this will not happen. The Wonder will arrive this Scene or the next - and it must be very far away, such as several day's travel by foot, to not arrive this Scene. It will fly at impressive speed before gently landing next to you or in your hand.
Effigy: You create a clay effigy of any animal that could fit in the palm of your hand. The effigy cannot be distinguished from a natural animal of its type, and it remains 'alive' until the end of the Scene, when it reverts to mere clay. While it is active, you may see through its eyes and command it telepathically to move, look at things and so on. You must have a ball of clay, mud or similar material to activate this, as it forms the effigy.
Flourish: You cause a plant to grow or heal at immense speed. This can make vines form a ladder, or make a tree tilt and grow over a canyon as a bridge - your limits are just the plant's natural capacity to grow to sufficient size. This cannot create vegetation and only works on existing plant life.
Purify: You render any water clean and healthy to drink for a Scene. This can be used on a source of water, such as a spring or lake, or a drinking vessel. The source or vessel will cleanse any liquid that passes through it of all impurities, making it drinkable with no side effects whatsoever.
Radiate: You or your Wonder glow for a Scene. The glow is as bright as an oil lamp, and you may dim or brighten it at will until the Scene ends.
Rain: You may control rain for one Scene. You can make it rain as little or as much as you want. After the Scene, the weather returns to normal.
Restore: You permanently cure someone's blindness, muteness, deafness, paralysis or similar malady. Until the end of the Scene, you suffer from the same malady in their stead.

Paths determine how you demonstrate your faith magically. Your Path reveals the teachings of al-Musawwir that you place over all others. Each Path has three Steps that teach wisdom and grant power. All Paths require your Wonder to be carried for you to be able to use any of their Steps. Unless otherwise specified, all Steps require a Hero Point to activate.

The Path of the Devout teaches you to protect yourself and others from magic. The Second Prophet often stopped magic used against him, and so can you.
Detect (Step 1): You learn to find magic, to better help you discover that which is used for bad purposes. Your Wonder gains the power to detect Sorcery and the supernatural; each reacts differently. It might glow or hum or become light as a feather or be drawn to magic like a magnet. This power is costless and always on. Your Wonder will react to any Sorcery used in an area in the past 24 hours, and you may tell exactly where it was used and what type of magic it was, though not who did it or how it was used.
Absorb (Step 2): You learn how to absorb magic used near you, teaching you that magic can often be used for evil, and that you can stop it. You may activate this immediately whenever another character uses Sorcery or a similar ability. Your Wonder absorbs the effect and negates it. You must do this before any effects of the magic are known, and may only use it once per scene.
Rebound (Step 3): You learn that there is a correct way to use magic, and how to demonstrate this to others. You may activate this on your action any time in a Scene after you have Absorbed an effect from someone else. You activate the power they used instead, and may choose new targets if the power is targeted.

The Path of the Humble teaches you that there are more important things than you, and that is wonderful. This allows you to keep your composure even at the worst of times.
Pacify (Step 1): You learn to spread an aura of calm, which you may direct at others so you can reasonably discuss what troubles them. You may activate this power to cause someone to become calm and tranquil. If threatened or attacked, they react normally, and they know you used magic to alter their mood. They will remain calm until the end of the Scene, or until attacked or threatened. If used in an Action Sequence, the affected character is under Pressure not to attack, which automatically reapplies at the start of each Round.
Project (Step 2): You learn how to project your thoughts, to achieve true understanding without obstacles like words. This manifests differently for each Wonder - some might whisper in a way only certain people can hear, or an angelic voice might speak in the ears of your allies, or they may just know what you intended to say. You may activate this to speak mentally to another willing character in the same Scene. You need not share a language, though they must be approximately as intelligent as a human for this to work - it won't talk to squirrels, say.
Unlock (Step 3): You learn that al-Musawwir guides your path, and this allows you entry anywhere you are needed. You may activate this to unlock any door, latch, windor or other passage that is barred with a mere touch of your Wonder for the rest of the Scene.

The Path of the Just teaches you that all life deserves a fair chance. Your abilities are used to protect those that need it, to feed those that need it, to make sure everything gets a fair chance to enjoy the beauty of al-Musawwir's world.
Nourish (Step 1): You learn that all people deserve to eat, for sustenance is life and life is a gift from al-Musawwir. Your Wonder allows you to feed the masses. You may activate this to feed any number of people in a Scene for a single meal. You need a small amount of food to activate this, at least enough to feed a single person. All food you currently have is consumed in the activation of this power.
Protect (Step 2): You learn that protecting those who cannot protect themselves is the heart of justice, allowing you to tap your Wonder to grant your strength to others. Activate this and choose another character in the Scene. The next time they take Wounds, they take (your Resolve) fewer Wounds.
Absolve (Step 3): You learn that violence is not always the answer, but sometimes cannot be avoided. You must control it and point it in a direction that will not harm the weak, and so your Wonder grants the power to redirect aggression at yourself. Activate this and choose another character in the Scene. For the rest of the Round, if they take any Action that does not attempt to cause Wounds to you, they take 1 Wound.

The Path of the Merciful teaches you to heal others, to make caring for the suffering your gift to the world. It shows that al-Musawwir watches over and cares for all.
Mend (Step 1): You learn to help the weak, using your Wonder to heal broken bones and other injuries. You may activate this once per Scene to heal 1 Dramatic Wound on any single character you can touch.
Penance (Step 2): You learn that al-Musawwir protects you even in your time of pain, and your Wonder channels His protection. After you activate this, the next time you receive Wounds, you deal an equal amount of Wounds to your attacker. You may use this only once per round.
Revive (Step 3): You learn that the greatest gift that has ever been given is life, and your Wonder allows you to grant this gift by calling on the mercy of al-Musawwir. You may activate this and take 1 Dramatic Wound to bring a character back to life. You heal them of all Wounds except for 1 Dramatic Wound. You and your target can never heal those Dramatic Wounds with any effect, even magic, and you lose the ability to use Revive. Both Dramatic Wounds manifest as noticeable scars, identical on both you and the target. Your target must have died within the same Scene you use this in.

The Path of the Pariah teaches that even if you are an outcast, it is your duty to show others that the world is beautiful and full of wonder.
Float (Step 1): You learn that even the smallest of gifts can be helpful, allowing you to hover. You may activate this to hover just aove the ground for a Scene. This prevents your footsteps from appearing and means your weight has no effect on the environment, as you put no pressure on any surface. You are not protected from environmental dangers, however. Floating over fire can burn you, floating over the ocean can get you drowned by a large wave. You may navigate as if you were walking normally.
Push (Step 2): You learn that any obstacle can be cleared from your path. You may activate this to move an object or character away from you, well out of arm's length. You cannot hurt or damage the target in any way, such as launching them straight up or off a cliff. You only move them directly away from you, and it stops if they are blocked by something. If you use this against a character, they can still move themselves, just not towards you. They could circle you, but cannot get closer. This effect ends immediately if you move closer to the taget.
Sanctuary (Step 3): You learn that if well rested, you can follow any path, and so your Wonder cna protect you and your friends to let you rest. You may activate this to create a safe zone. Overnight, you and any allies within may sleep undisturbed. The area is soundproof and is safe from animals and anyone that is hunting you. Any attempt to find you while it is active automatically fail unless magic is used, and the costs for any magical tracking double, both in Raises and any points spent. Once anyone wakes up in the safe zone, the power ends.

The Path of the Righteous teaches you to go where you are needed, and gives you the tools to get there is fast as possible as well as to have what you need there.
Guidance (Step 1): Your Wonder guides you to the correct path, wherever that may lie. You may activate this to know which direction you should go for the rest of the Scene to reach a particular destination. You tell the GM what you want to find - a source of clean water, where some people went, a specific city, those are all fine. The GM will tell you the direction to the destination directly, though not how far it is or what obstacles are in your path.
Hasten (Step 2): You learn how to get where you need to be faster, your Wonder granting you speed. Activate this to move faster than normal. In short distances, anyone that wants to match your speed must spend 2 Raises to do so, either fleeing or chasing. If you are traveling a long distance, instead you reduce the time needed to arrive by half.
Create (Step 3): You learn how to call something form nothing, to do what you need to do when you get where you need to be. Your Wonder may create it from sand or air or light - every Wonder is different - but you just pull it from nothing. Activate this to summon a simple tool or weapon, such as a hammer or sword, for a Scene. It functions exactly as a normal version, and it is warm to the touch. If used to attack, it deals 1 additional Wound on top of normal. It works only in your hands, vanishing if anyone else picks it up.

The Path of the True teaches you the beauty of words, allowing you to communicate with others, even animals, and to ensure that communication is truth.
Locate (Step 1): You learn to find what you are looking for, as your Wonder points you and pulls you in the right way, or perhaps floats to it. Activate this to find what you are looking for, such as a hidden safe or lurking person, as long as it is in the immediate searchable area.
Steed (Step 2): You learn to communicate with any beast, speaking to them as a person through your Wonder and gaining their aid. You may activate this to choose a non-aggressive animal large enough to support your weight. That animal will allow you to ride it for one Scene, obeying your simple commands without complaint. It will go in any direction, move at any speed it can, stay quiet if you ask, and so on. When riding it, you get a free Raise on any Ride Risk. If the animal is threatened or endangered for any reason, the powerr ends, and the beast forces you to dismount so it can flee.
Unburden (Step 3): You leanr that truth is the best form of communication. Your Wonder allows you to ensure truth is what is spoken. You may activate this to prevent a single target from lying for the rest of the scene. They must speak honestly to the best of their knowledge and ability, though they gain no supernatural accuracy - if they don't know the truth, they can't tell you it.

Next time: Chozeh

The Crescent Empire - Devotion Is Magic

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Devotion Is Magic

It is said that in the desert, Elohah appeared to Abram and Saraya, teaching them the ways of peace and guardianship. In their conversations, Elohah promised the pair that as long as they kept their promises to Him, He would keep His promises to them. These twelve promises of Elohah are the foundation of Chozeh, the sorcery of Sarmion. The promises are passed down to its users in the form of a poem that, tradition claims, is Elohah's own words as recorded by Saraya.

Twelve Promises posted:

All are my people and wondrous to me.
To my people, to preserve the peace,
I grant the strength of stars that they may hold tight to what is good.
I grant the swiftness of wind that they may act quickly in my name.
I grant the endurance of mountains that they may suffer a thousand blows and not falter.

All are my people and bare before me.
To my people, to increase their joy,
I grant clarity of the senses that they may know the world in all splendor.
I grant clarity of mind that they may untangle the knowledge they already hold.
I grant clarity of the heart that they may know themselves as I know them.

All are my people and safe within me.
To my people, to guard their rest,
I grant direction that they may not wander without purpose.
I grant refuge that they might find safety wherever they go.
I grant health that disease and rot may not steal what I have given.

All are my people and all are with me.

Since the time of King Solomon, however, no official copy of this poem is complete. Solomon saw the dangers in the final three promises, not contained in the poem above, and he ordered their knowledge forbidden to all but the worthy. However, even the mighty King Solomon could not purge the lines from memory, and so some families pass down the complete poem. This allows the lost powers to occasionally resurface. Based on tales and these events, the final promises granted the power of actively perceiving the future, granting life to the inanimate and binding gods and other spirits that were not of Elohah.

When someone begins to learn Chozeh, they spend time in prayer or contemplation. Only in true understanding can the power of the promises be accessed. Once understanding is achieved, the practitioner may call one of the three sets of promises, known as the Marvels, the Revelations and the Protections. These promises are then distilled to a single Dibre word, which is inscribed either on an amulet or on the body, to be later activated in order to access the power. The stanza containing the forbidden Promises is known as the Lost. To learn Chozeh, you must devote yourself to understanding one of the stanzas - generally not the Lost, because you probably don't know that one. Once you choose a stanza, you must meditate on its meaning and perform an act of charity based on its promises for others without the use of magic. This reinforces the purpose and importance of each promise, to ensure you understand them. For Sorcery taken during chargen, it is assumed these have already been performed; for later purchases, you must take these actions as part of the Story. The Marvels might see you delivering messages for others or helping build bridges, the Revelations might have you organizing the thoughts of others or convincing people of their own worth, and the Protections might involve granting hospitality to strangers or guiding the lost.

The first time you purchase Sorcery (Chozeh), you learn two Amulets from the same Stanza, and one Script for the same word as one of your Amulets. Every time after the first, you either learn one Amulet and one Script (which you must have the Amulet for) or one Tattoo (which you have the Script for). You must complete all Amulets and Scripts in a Stanza before you can start learning those of a different Stanza. Tattoos can be learned any time and are not required. To use the power, you must first create the Amulet, Script or Tattoo, then activate it.

Amulets typically take the form of a small clay or wood pendant inscribed with your promise's keyword. Once used, it crumbles to ash and dust. A Script is written on your flesh in ink, ash, blood, mud or other temporary substance that leaves marks. Once it is activated, the word disappears. You may no grant use of your Amulets or Scripts to others, and no one but you can destroy your Amulets and Scripts. You begin every Scene with one Amulet or Script prepared for each purchase of Sorcery you have, chosen when you activate them. After that, you need to make more. On your turn, you may spend a Hero Point to create an Amulet or Script, and can make any Amulet or Script you know, but have to choose which one it is when you make it. Created Amulets and Scripts lose their power after 24 hours. Tattoos are permanent and give ready access to a promise's power, but they have some social taboos - many religious groups in Sarmion believe tattoos are taboo, especially those that, like these sorcerous ones, alter more than the skin. Creating a Tattoo is involved. First, you need to tattoo the keyword onto an arm or leg, in as ornate or basic a design as you like. Once that's there, you must activate it for the first time via prayer, song or will. This binds it to you and fundamentally alters your body, causing one Dramatic Wound.

Once an Amulet, Script or Tattoo exists, you have to activate it. To activate an Amulet or Script, you recite the keyword and the phrase 'this is my promise.' Outside of a Sequence, this can be done freely, and any lasting effect remains until a Scene begins. In a Sequence, it costs one Raise to do. Amulets typically have an immediate or short-term effect, while Scripts have a more potent and longer one. Tattoos are activated similarly, but they cost a Hero Point to activate. Once they are active, you may freely invoke the Amulet or Script associated with that keyword. However, while a Tattoo is active, using other Amulets or Scripts costs 2 Wounds, not a Raise. You may have only one Tattoo active at a time.

Further, Chozeh is a covenant. You have three promises you must keep in order to use it properly, which is what powers the magic. These are: 1. Promote Peace. Chozeh ends conflicts, it does not perpetuate them. 2. Help Others. Chozeh strengthens you to strengthen the people. 3. Self-Defense. Chozeh is about survival, not sacrifice. If you use a Chozeh keyword to break one or more of these promises, your connection to it is weakened. You may still use powers from that word, but each activation causes you to gain 1 Corruption. There doesn't appear to be any way to atone for this, but I'd say that a Redemption Story could probably fix it. And yes, these powers are used by Sarmions that are not Yachidi. To a Sarmion, true knowledge of divinity comes from learning and working with your brothers, even if you are not of their faith. Chozeh was made to protect Sarmion, not just the Yachidi.

Marvels
Koach is the promise of strength, to open doors that are locked, to hold back attackers, to build homes and burn prisons.
Amulet: For the rest of the round, you do not pay Improvisation costs for any action using Brawn.
Script: Your muscles and joints warp and strengthen. You get 2 Bonus Dice to all Brawn Risks for the rest of the Scene, which applies retroactively - if your Approach was Brawn-based, immediately roll 2 more dice and add the result to your Raises.
Mahir is the promise of speed, to act before bad things can happen, to pull others to safety, to carry messages of truth.
Amulet: You may take one action immediately without spending a Raise, even if it isn't your turn. If this would cost multiple Raises, you must pay the extra Raises when you do the action.
Script: Your body and mind warp and speed up, such that the world seems to slow around you. You get 2 Bonus Dice to all Finesse Risks for the rest of the Scene, which applies retroactively - if your Approach was Finesse-based, immediately roll 2 more dice and add the result to your Raises.
Amidah is the promise of endurance, to withstand any disaster, to endure any attack without falling.
Amulet: You are wrapped in protective light, preventing the next 3 Wounds you would take.
Script: Your skin warps and hardens, and your pain tolerance increases. Any time you would take wounds for the rest of the Scene, you take 1 fewer Wound, to a minimum of 1.

Revelations
Yad is the promise of clear senses, to take in the beauty of the world or to shut it out entirely.
Amulet: One of your senses (you choose which) is warped and inhumanly heightened far beyond normal capacity for the rest of the Scene.
Script: Your senses fall under your conscious control, allowing you to block out stimuli to better focus. You are immune to Fear and Pressure for the rest of the Scene.
Daath is the promise of clear mind, to tap into the unorganized knowledge within and bring all mental resources under your control.
Amulet: Ask the GM three yes/no questions concerning knowledge your character either has or arguably could have. This is not divination, and you must ask all three questions at once.
Script: Your mind warps and sharpens, allowing you to pull in and synthesize all the information present. You may ask the GM (Notice) questions about the current Scene, and may save these questions to be asked at any time in the Scene.
Lebab is the promise of clear heart, to free yourself from self-hatred and uncertainty, to calm yourself and see the truth.
Amulet: You become able to sense the hearts of others. Choose one other character in the Scene. For the rest of the Scene, when they lie or purposefully mislead you, you know. You don't know the truth or their motives, but do know they are being dishonest.
Script: Your self-doubt fades away entirely, giving you utter clarity of purpose. For the rest of the Scene, your rolled 9s count as 10s.

Protections
Nivut is the promise of direction, the granting of purpose when lost, to let you find your way.
Amulet: You are drawn to something you can use. Create a free Opportunity, and you may immediately take one action that spends only one Raise.
Script: Your direction becomes clear. Ask the GM how to get to a place. As long as you are going the right direction, the Script glows on your body gently. If you mvoe the wrong way, it dims. If you willingly leave the correct path to do something else, even if the distraction is only for a few minutes, the effect ends.
Chasah is the promise of refuge, the calm in a storm, the place of safety and protection of others.
Amulet: You wrap the amulet around something. Anything so wrapped is hidden until the sun reaches its zenith, rendered entirely invisible, imperceptible and impossible to find. Any attempt to search for it fails, unless someone specifically suspects it is hidden by the amulet or is using magic to search, in which case it still takes 2 Raises to find.
Script: Your body warps, becoming able to free you of any bonds or locks. You slip free of any restraints and can open any prison doors. For the rest of the scene, you cannot be locked up or restrained in any way.
Rapha is the promise of health, the power to purify and heal, to remove pain from the world.
Amulet: You touch the amulet to food or drink, removing all poison and impurity from it. The Amulet may cleanse only one item.
Script: Your voice mystically gains the power of healing. Sing, chant or pray over someone that is wounded. They heal 4 Wounds.

The Lost Promises do exist; they are studied by scholarly orders sometimes. The keywords have been passed down in certain family lines and spread by rumor. Their full text, however, is extremely disputed. If you wish to use these, you will need their full text so that you can understand their purpose, going on a quest to recover the missing lines. This is a six-Step story. Two steps get you a Sorcery advantage, the other four reveal the lines of the Stanza, at one step per line. Once you finish, you may learn the Lost Promises. They are extremely powerful, and can be learned by anyone that finds your reconstructed stanza or learns it themselves. You must have at least one Stanza fully known before you can make this quest. The Lost Promises are: Nivua, the power of prophecy, which can tear open the veil of the future and draw forth answers. Shlita, the power of dominion, which can bind spirits and even gods, trapping them in the material plane in prisons of clay and stone. Chai, the power of life, which can animate the inanimate and direct it. And yes, there's folks out there that know one or more of these powers, most notably Chai, which was used in defense of Sarmion against the Numanari. They can help you on your quest!

You will also note that there are no mechanics for permanently mutating yourself by tapping into the full depths of the sorcery, as various NPCs did in pursuit of the defense of Sarmion. I consider this a great failing of Chozeh's mechanics, which could at least mention the ability but leave it entirely to the GM, as the Lost Promises are. (You may also notice that this shares a distinct mechanical similarity to the magic of Not Egypt. I don't know why; the two are not related in any way in the fluff.)

Next time: Wings.

The Crescent Empire - Wings Are Magic

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Wings Are Magic

Yasnavan holy texts speak of the ahuras, the righteous angels which fight the daeva, the evil demons. This conflict, called the Eternal Struggle, has been going since time began, and the winner will claim dominion over the entire world. These may just be stories, but most Yasnavans believe it, because the angels are real. Khahesh-Ahura means 'on the wings of the angels' and it is the magic that channels the divine spirit of the 12 eldest ahuras in grand displays of power. Its users manifest glorious, angelic wings of power - wings of fire, or shadow, or steel, or many other forms, using them to perform grand actions. They can be stronger or smarter than any normal person, heal from terrible wounds, use divine words to force others to obey, or even fly. While the first user of Khahesh-ahura used her power to overthrow a tyrant, of course, not all modern sorcerers are so honorable. Once the wings have been summoned, the angels don't actually check up on what you do with them. Both great heroes and terrible villains have wielded the magic power of the ahuras.

Every user of Khahesh-ahura is empowered with the legacy of one of the primary ahuras of Ahurayasna. The first time you gain Sorcery (Khahesh-ahura), you select one of the ahura whose Legacy you bear. Ahuras can empower as many or as few sorcerers as they choose, and are typically drawn to people who have similar views or traits as they represent. You also select two Legacies, which can either be Common Legacies or Rare, though you can only ever have one Rare Legacy - the one associated with your ahura. Every subsequent purchase gives you two new Legacies, and you may never have any Rare Legacy except your ahura's. You may use any given Legacy only once per Scene, and activating a Legacy always costs a Hero Point and causes your wings to manifest. (Each ahura gives you mystic wings, and the sorcery is extremely unsubtle as a result.) You cannot channel your Legacies without obvious manifestations of angelic power via your wings. There are some who say that Hediyeh, the Lost Angel, who was cast out of the family of archangels for unknown reasons, also grants her power sometimes, and that those who receive it can perform the sorceries without the manifestation of wings. Whether she even exists and how she was cast out is hotly debated, but those who say she can do this refer to her theoretical Khahesh-ahura as the Wingless, and stories do exist about them being around.

Anyone who knows how to manifest the wings of Khahesh-ahura can teach others how to do the same. As long as you have Yasnavan lineage somewhere in your family tree, you have the potential to learn the sorcery inside you. However, it is impossible to select or train for a specific ahura. Rather, the first time a new sorcerer summons their wings, the ahura that most closely identifies with them selects them and grants their wings. It is very common for a student to have an entirely different ahura from their teacher. Also, side note: you can manifest your wings at will without spending a Hero Point; this has no mechanical effects, but shows your power and may enable some neat narrative stunts. Note that by default you can't fly with them - that's a particular ability. (Hell, a bunch of them aren't even physical wings, but wings made of nonphysical stuff.) We also get a sidebar saying that people have, in fact, noticed that 'daeva' and 'dievai' sound similar, and that while there is no concrete proof that they are the same entities, several people in the world certainly believe they are.

Ahuras
Arsalan, Angel of Animals and Judgment is the twin brother of Zharfa. He oversees the life, health and growth of all animals, including humans. It was only by his skill that Vafa was healed after suffering a terrible wound protecting their brother. It is said that Arsalan may heal any wound with a touch, no matter how dire, and those who recover from terrible injuries are said to have been 'Touched by Arsalan.' Khahesh-ahura sorcerers empowered by Arsalan receive the wings of animals. Often these are feathered bird wings, but they can also be those of other beasts, such as bats or insects.
Dawna, Angel of Victory, is the eldest of the ahura. She is looked up to by all as a leader, for as long as she commands them in battle, they cannot lose. She was the first to grant her power to a mortal, allowing Ziba the Beloved to cast down and overthrow Azdaha, who was empowered by the evil Namirha. Khahesh-ahura users empowered by Dawna receive wings of glorious, radiant and pure energy, which burst forth from their back and can be blindingly bright to look at directly.
Farzaneh, Angel of Vengeance, was the secondborn ahura. She ignored Dawna's warnings, seeking to destroy a potent daeva alone. The daeva was stronger than she, and actually tore the flesh off her wings before sending her fleeing home, a tattered shadow of her former self. Rather than despair, Farzaneh took hold of the rage within her and channeled it into her new purpose - revenge. Khahesh-ahura sorcerers empowered by Farzaneh receive wings of bone. They are the only sorcerers whose wings are painful to manifest, and that pain is severe, as their wings burst forth bloodily from their flesh. (This does no lasting harm - it just hurts like a bitch.)
Nazanin, Angel of Time, is the ahura of which fewest stories exist. What is known is that she watches over the prisons of those foes too powerful for even the ahuras to slay. She is a lonely angel, for she may never leave her post, and her only interactions with her brothers and sisters are when they come visit her. Khahesh-ahura users empowered by Nazanin receive wings of ice. They are bitterly cold to the touch, and still, unmoving waters freeze over near them.
Omideh, Angel of Hope, is the youngest of the major ahura. She is a beacon for her siblings no matter how dark the situation may get, and it is said that even Dawna turns to her for aid and hope in the hardest times. Khahesh-ahura sorcerers empowered by Omideh receive floral wings, which may take the form fo tree branches, flower petals or vines growing down your back, among other things.
Parshand, Angel of War, is the greatest fighter of the ahura. He fights with a fiery blade crafted by his brother, Salar, and he is unequaled in martial skill. He is the only ahura that has fought in every battle of the Eternal Struggle, and there are few stories of him that do not in some way involve violence. Khahesh-ahura users empowered by Parshand receive wings of lightning, which arc from their back to ground on nearby surfaces.
Salar, Angel of Metal and Rulership, is the smith of the ahura, bearer of the crown and mace. Every weapon or piece of armor his siblings use was made at his forge. He is also the angel least likely to get involved directly in the Eternal Struggle. In ancient times he taught humans to obey their chosen leaders, but since that time has been largely insular and kept to himself. His siblings may love him, but even they cannot say they are close to him. Khahesh-ahura sorcerers empowered by Salar have iron wings, free of imperfection and appearing perfectly forged and crafted in every regard, for Salar is the greatest smith that has ever existed.
Shamisa, Angel of Light and Truth, is said to have never spoken a lie or half-truth, ever. Legend says that he was the only one able to see through the disguise of a daeva who had taken the form of Omideh, and so Shamisa incinerated the imposter with righteous flame. Khahesh-ahura users empowerd by Shamisa have wings of fire. These may be pure fire, molten lava or traditional feathered wings rimmed in flame.
Shayesteh, Angel of Honor, is the quietest of the ahura. She is scrupulously fair, and when a daeva challenged her to a duel to the death, she refused to act until she had been struck first - at which point she shrugged off the blow and slew her foe in a single strike. Khahesh-ahura users empowered by Shayasteh receive wings of shadow. Sometimes, these wings are apparently invisible on their backs, but a glance at their shadow reveals them easily if so.
Utabar, Angel of Wisdom, is the most tranquil of the ahura. Many of his siblings are reckless and easily provoked, but he stays back and gathers information before acting. He is no pacifist, however, and once he has learned all he can, he is swift to unleash his fury if he thinks it is needed. Khahesh-ahura sorcerers empowered by Utabar receive liquid wings, which might be classical wings made of water, or waterfalls flowing from their backs or other, stranger forms.
Vafa, Angel of Earth and Piety, is the only ahura that can rival Parshand for number of battles fought. While his brother focuses on directly smiting foes, Vafa is a protector. He famously placed himself in the way of a spear blow aimed at Parshand's heart, and no matter what his form, he still bears the scar from that injury. The wound did not even slow him down, though, and he was right there in the next battle, ready to protect the others again. Khahesh-ahura sorcerers empowered by Vafa receive earthen wings, often in the form of stone, crystal or sand. Many are said to be able to use their wings as makeshift shields in battle.
Zharfa, Angel of Death, is the twin brother of Arsalan. He is a somber angel, not a malevolent one, and is responsible for ensuring that mortal souls reach the afterlife safely. He takes his duty extremely seriously, and those who have near-death experiences sometimes report seeing him in the form of a gentle, sad man sitting by them, with dark feathered wings. He holds their hand and, as they awaken, whisper to them that it is not yet their time. Khahesh-ahura users empowered by Zharfa are given the wings of beasts, much like Arsalan's, but rather than vibrant wings, they are dying and rotted.

Common Legacies come in 10 varieties.
Awareness: Activate this to ask the GM the specific location of a person, place or thing. They must answer honestly and generously.
Brilliance: Activate this before rolling a Wits Risk. Pick one die and set it aside. That die automatically rolls a 10, which explodes if your 10s would normally explode.
Celerity: Activate this before rolling a Finesse Risk. Pick one die and set it aside. That die automatically rolls a 10, which explodes if your 10s would normally explode.
Command: Activate this to give a one-word command to another character, such as 'sit,' 'jump' or 'yell.' The target must do this to the best of their ability on their next action. However, they will ignore any suicidal or impossible command, and may interpret the command to some extent - someone on the edge of a cliff told to 'jump' is likely to jump up and down, not jump off the cliff. The target may spend a Hero Point to resist the compulsion.
Discipline: Activate this before rolling a Resolve Risk. Pick one die and set it aside. That die automatically rolls a 10, which explodes if your 10s would normally explode.
Flight: Activate this to be able to fly for the rest of the Scene.
Majesty: Activate this before rolling a Panache Risk. Pick one die and set it aside. That die automatically rolls a 10, which explodes if your 10s would normally explode.
Potency: Activate this before rolling a Brawn Risk. Pick one die and set it aside. That die automatically rolls a 10, which explodes if your 10s would normally explode.
Regeneration: Activate this to heal all Wounds you have suffered (but not any Dramatic Wounds).
Smite: Activate this when you lay hands on a person or creature with at least one Monstrous Quality. You cause (Resolve+Panache) Wounds.

Rare Legacies
Arsalan: Activate this and lay your hands on a character. If they have at least one Dramatic Wound, heal them of 2 Dramatic Wounds and take 1 Dramatic Wound.
Dawna: Activate this when you have more Raises than every foe in the Scene. You and all allies in the Scene get an additional Raise.
Farzaneh: Activate this when you are dealt Wounds. Deal that many Wounds to your attacker, plus (Wits) additional Wounds.
Nazanin: Activate this and choose another character. Until the end of the scene, that character cannot move from their current position unless they are in immediate mortal danger, such as if the area is set on fire, or they are physically moved by some other force, such as someone picking them up and carrying them.
Omideh: Activate this to all yourself and all allies to ignore the effects of Fear. All affected characters get 2 Bonus Dice on all Risks for as long as the Fear lasts, instead.
Parshand: Activate this to create a clearly mystical weapon from nothing - it cannot be just a normal weapon, but must be clearly magical, and cannot be a complex weapon such as a gun. The first time each round that you strike a foe with it, you ignore any form of supernatural damage reduction, such as Monstrous Qualities or Sorceries, and the Wounds you cause cannot be prevented in any way. This lasts until the end of the Scene or until the weapon leaves your hands, whichever comes first.
Salar: Activate this to create any single metal hand-held item. It can be a unique item, such as the key to a specific door. The item vanishes at the end of the Scene.
Shamisa: Activate this when you ask another character a question. They must answer truthfully to the best of their ability. You can also tell if they are factually incorrect, though you do not know what the actual truth is in that case.
Shayesteh: Activate this after making Raises during a Risk. Select one character that has more Raises than you; they lose Raises until they have an equal number to you.
Utabar: Activate this to ask the GM about a specific course of action you plan to take within the next hour. The GM will tell you if the outcome will be good, bad, good and bad, or neutral. This does not take into account potential circumstances that might change the outcome of your planned action.
Vafa: Activate this when an ally would be dealt Wounds. You take the Wounds instead, but reduce them by (Wits).
Zharfa: Activate this and lay your hands on another character. If you have received at least one Dramatic Wound, you heal one Dramatic Wound and cause one Dramatic Wound to your target.

Next time: How to be a genie.

The Crescent Empire - Trust Is Magic

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Trust Is Magic

If you were to ask most people, survival in the harshest environment imaginable would be all about self-sufficiency, iron will, the drive to do whatever it takes to live no matter who else suffers. They would say you have to take care of yourself first, even if it dooms others. They are wrong, and the Tribes know it. The best and only way to survive the 8th Sea is to care for and serve the community, to trust others. This is the secret that powers the magic of the tribes, Mithaq Alqadim, the Ancient Covenant. Only by trusting another is power gained. Only in trust is survival assured. Those that use Mithaq Alqadim are known as the khadam, and they understand this on a fundamental level.

The first khadam learned their power via communion with the jinn, the angels and gods of the 8th Sea. Through this communion, they learned how to take a part of their own souls and bind them into objects, known as thiqa - literally, 'trust.' A khadim then takes this object and gives it to another person, creating a mystic bond between them that allows both to survive and prosper. By making a thiqa, a khadim removes just enough of themself from the mortal world to perform feats similar to certain jinn magic. However, doing so leaves them vulnerable. If your thiqa falls into the hands of a wicked and untrustworthy person, their power can easily be turned to evil, for the holder of your thiqa has a lot of control over you. In many ways, it is the thiqa's holder that wields your power, and so a khadim must be careful to select who they trust. Many stories exist of foolish khadam who trusted the wrong people and were enslaved.

When you first purchase Sorcery (Mithaq Alqadim), you must decide what your thiqa is. Many young, foolhardy khadam make their thiqa something grand and beautiful - a sword with a jeweled hilt, a ring set with a beautiful diamond, that kind of thing. They are the ones most often in trouble, because such a thiqa is attractive to thieves and draws attention. A wise thiqa chooses instead an object that is more likely to be ignored - a leather bracelet, a sturdy hat, a waterskin. These are unlikely to be stolen, and so they are easier to keep track of. A thiqa can be anything you can hold in one hand - a coin, a hat, a lamp. You also select two Khidma ('service,' literally) that you know. Whenever you buy Sorcery after this, you get an additional Khidma.

Anyone carrying your thiqa gets several abilities. First, they can spend your Hero Points as if they were theirs, for any purpose. Second, they can summon you to their side at will. During a Sequence this costs a Raise, but it has no other costs. Third, they may require you to spend an additional Raise to take any action they don't approve of. Last, they may spend a Hero Point to escalate any Khidma you activate from Minor to Major.

Every Khidma has both a Minor and a Major effect. You may activate the Minor effect by spending a Hero Point and, in a Sequence, a Raise. You may only activate a Major Khidma if your thiqa is held by another person, and you don't have a choice in the matter. Your thiqa's holder must pay a Hero Point when you activate a Khidma for it to be Major. Period. They have no obligation to do so - they decide to do it or not, as they see fit, and they can choose to do it even if you don't want them to.

Khidma
Agonize draws on your intimate knowledge of how the soul works, what with having carved part of it off. While you cannot sever an unwilling soul, you can pull on one, and that hurts like a bitch.
Minor: Activate this and choose another character in the Scene. Next time they take an action this round, they must either spend an extra Raise on it, suffer 3 Wounds, or lose a Raise without taking an action, their choice. (That last one is mostly there because sometimes they won't have sufficient Raises to spend an extra but may wish to still avoid the damage over doing a thing.)
Major: The bearer of your thiqa may either choose a second character to apply the minor effect to, or may boost the power on your target. If they boost the power, the target suffers the minor effect twice on their next action. They may pay both costs separately - so they can pay 3 total Raises to act, take 6 Wounds to act, pay 2 total Raises and take 3 Wounds, or do nothing but lose 2 Raises.
Binding Words pulls on the ancient rites and study of the jinn, allowing you to better understand and oppose such creatures, or forge agreements with them, to avoid death.
Minor: Activate this to give everyone the ability to communicate with any Monster, spirit, jinn, ghost or similar being for one Scene. How this works depends on the critter - it may suddenly understand normal speech, or may create an empathic or telepathic link. It doesn't really matter. This has no guarantee of safety or compel the thing to do or not do anything, just lets you talk to it.
Major: Instead, you compel a Monster, ghost, jinn or whatever to obey you. You name a single, explicit task for it to do, and it can't refuse you. In order to do anything that does not further your command, it must spend an additional Raise. In order to do anything that directly opposes your command, it must spend a Danger Point. The creature is fully aware that you have placed it under a compulsion of slavery and probably isn't happy about it.
Harmony of Intent allows you to align your spirit with an ally, making teamwork intuitive and easy. It is difficult to describe the spiritual bond this engenders, which places your minds in perfect harmony for a period.
Minor: Activate this to allow one character in the Scene to ignore Improvisation costs for any action that uses your Approach until the end of the round.
Major: Instead, this can only be used when you and your thiqa bearer roll dice for a Risk. If you both use either the same Skill or the same Trait in your Approach, you may share dice between your pools to make Raises. You can take dice from your thiqa bearer only with their consent. They do not need your consent to take dice from you.
Khadim's Gift lets you bring your allies what they need. It's not quite granting wishes, but it's close.
Minor: Activate this to activate an Opportunity for another character in the same Scene. You may use this at any time, even in response to the Opportunity's creation, but you must spend a Raise to do so, even if it's not your action.
Major: Instead, you immediately create a new Opportunity, or activate an Opportunity for another character in the same scene. So basically the same thing? I think it might be 'you do it a second time' but I'm honestly not sure.
Shared Suffering lets you protect another from harm with your life force, absorbing their pain and wounds.
Minor: Activate this when another character in the Scene takes Wounds. Halve the number of Wounds they take, rounding down, and you take Wounds equal to the amount you prevented.
Major: Instead, this can only be used when your thiqa bearer takes Wounds. They take no Wounds, and you take half the number of Wounds they would have taken, rounding down.
Synergistic Assault lets you peer seconds into the future, allowing you to create otherwise impossible openings for your allies to exploit in battle.
Minor: Activate this when you cause Wounds to another character. Choose another character in the same Scene. They may immediately spend a Raise to take an action.
Major: Instead, this can be used when you or your thiqa bearer causes Wounds to another character. The next time you or your thiqa bearer causes Wounds to that character, they cannot be prevented.
The Messenger lets you communicate with your allies even over long distances, so they can stay safe but still contribute while you are in danger.
Minor: Activate this to be able to telepathically communicate with your thiqa bearer across any distance for the rest of the Scene.
Major: Instead, you and your thiqa bearer share all senses with each other. Anything one of you sees, hears, touches, tastes or feels, so does the other.

Next time: Nawaru, Assassin Magic.

The Crescent Empire - Lasers Are Magic

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Lasers Are Magic

In Ashur, only an Assassin may kill, because they have earned the right by dying many deaths. This right and these deaths are bound up into their mystical leather collars, and those who wear the collar and suffer the deaths also gain another power: Nawaru, the manipulation of light. Few in the Empire, let alone beyond, know of this magic. Those that do often find it odd that assassins would use light magic, and often they laugh at the tales of rooms plunged into utter darkness, shining weapons of light or perfect illusions only shattering with a touch. The Assassins say that without death, you cannot control light. They believe the power comes from the wisdom granted them by their repeated lives and deaths, which lets them tap into a higher plane of existence. It is said that with each knot in the collar, each life lived and died, they have the potential to learn a new turru, a new power of Nawaru. It is rarely seen as a gift, however, for each is earned by a hard, painful death recalled and relived. No sorcerer who has ever tried to learn Nawaru without a collar has ever succeeded - or survived the attempt.

As noted, turrus of Nawaru are less 'learned' and more 'remembered.' Each knot represents a death, and each death is the potential to learn a new way to tap into the plane of eternal light that exists beyond life. Each remembrance is fundamentally tied to remembering and re-experiencing the life that grants wisdom and the death that took you to that place beyond time and space. Thus, each Assassin 'learns' turrus in a different order, and few young ones share the same powers. When you first purchase Sorcery (Nawaru), and every time thereafter except the fourth, you get one Minor Turru and one Major Turru. On the fourth purchase, you also get a single Advanced Turru, of which three exist. You may never have more than one of them. You should, on selecting a turru, note what life and death you experienced to remember it, and how the two are symbolically related, though you need not be detailed. To use a turru, you must spend a Hero Point. Minor or Major turrus may be used once per scene each, while an Advanced turru may be used only once per story arc. (Which is fine because they are all insanely powerful.)

Minor Turrus
Brilliant Bind: Activate this to throw a flash of light that blinds your chosen foes - and only them. All blinded foes roll 2 fewer dice on all Risks. This lasts for (number of Sorcery purchases) rounds.
Cloak of Unseen Resplendence: Activate this to bend light around yourself, becoming invisible. Touching people, leaving footprints or moving things can still reveal you, but you remain invisible until you either release the spell or are knocked out. Attacking someone or taking Wounds also ends the effect immediately, but speaking, touching people or picking things up do not.
Cover of Darkness: Activate this to draw all light in a room (or in a small area centered on you, if outdoors) into yourself. Candles go out, fires are snuffed, even the sun dims. This lasts until the first of you releasing it, you leaving the area or the Scene ending.
Glowing Gate: Activate this to teleport through beams of light, transporting yourself from one patch of light to any other in line of sight. (This works best if there are shadows to differentiate different areas - high noon with no shade is a bit tricky, because it's all one patch.)
Guardian's Peace: Activate this to touch someone and give them a sense of calm and peace. ...yeah, that's it. You make one person calm. (It is mostly used to grant some peace to victims just before you kill them.)
Heaven's Flame: Activate this to summon a flame that gives off light and heat as a normal fire, but cannot be extinguished as long as you remain in the area. When you leave, either the fire goes out or continues to burn for (Sorcery purchases) rounds afterwards, your choice.
Light in the Shadows: You summon enough ambient light to brighten a room or illuminate your immediate area. It cannot be extinguished by any means. This ends either when you release it or at the end of the Scene, whichever comes first.
Spark of Intuition: Activate this to tap into otherworldly wisdom. You may ask a single simple question, such as 'am I on the right track' or 'should we follow that ship' or 'does this person deserve to die?' You receive a definite answer in the form of a sign, omen or sense of certainty. If the outcome of your question is debatable or uncertain, the answer is based on your agenda or desires; if there is a definitive, objective answer, it is based on truth.

Major Turrus
Blazing Purge: Activate this to set an area ten feet in diameter or smaller alight with holy (and largely harmless) flame. Any disease or taint is cleansed from the area temporarily, and Monsters in it take 4 Wounds immediately, plus 1 Wound for each action they take while in the area afterwards. Any blight, disease or uncleanliness is rendered harmless as long as the fire remains. This lasts until the end of the scene.
Blessing of Bright Tranquility: Activate this to calm a large crowd centered on you. Rioters became merely irritated and upset, fearful people become calm. This lasts for as long as you stay in the crowd, and for (Panache) rounds after you leave.
Dawning Revelation: Activate this to call on the power of the world beyond to learn one major piece of necessary information to aid you in your current situation. What you get will always be useful, but you have no control whatsoever over what information is revealed.
Glittering Mirage: Activate this to make perfect illusions of anything you are familiar with, including copies of yourself. Illusions last until physically interacted with or you order them to vanish, and you may maintain up to (Wits) separate illusions at once.
Guardian's Dart: Activate this to fire a laser at someone or something. If aimed at a character, they take (Finesse) Wounds. At an object, anything of handheld size or anything particularly fragile is instantly destroyed, while larger or tougher objects, such as wagons, statues or buildings, are partially destroyed and rendered unusable or unsafe.
Radiant Retribution: Activate this to make a small bomb of light energy which you can place or throw. The bomb does (Brawn+2) Wounds to anyone caught in its blast and will destroy most objects of wood, stone or weaker materials in a ten foot radius. You may have it explode immediately, or delay it for up to (Sorcery purchases) actions.
Stutter Step: Activate this when you would take Wounds. You evade by moving as fast as light for a single instant, preventing all Wounds from the attack.
Veil of Brilliance: Activate this to call down a veil of light as a wall up to 20 feet high and high or as a sphere of up to 10 foot diameter, to shield all behind or within it from attacks. It may absorb (Resolve+Sorcery purchases) Wounds before it breaks.

Advanced Turrus
Brilliant Illumination: Activate this to send your consciousness to the plane beyond, giving you understanding. Have a discussion with the GM about what you want to know, what you want to do and how your actions may affect your future and the world at large. This should give you an understanding of your actions and your possible options for steps to take next or future plans to make.
Form of Splendor: Activate this to turn your body into pure white light. Any poison or illness within you is immediately purged, and you cannot take Wounds in this form. You may choose either to harm or not harm anyone you touch. If you choose to harm, your touch causes 2 Wounds per Raise you spend. You may not change your decision while the power is active, and it lasts until the end of the round.
Wrath of the Heavens: Activate this to call down a massive laser, obliterating everything in a circle of 50 foot radius centered on a spot you choose. Nothing within the blast is left but smoking earth. You cannot make the blast smaller.

Next time: Mass Combat

The Crescent Empire - War! What Is It Good For

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - War! What Is It Good For

First we get a brief GM advice chapter. It's a mixed bag; its discussion of the themes of the Crescent Empire nations is good, as is its discussion on how to make the fact that the Crescents are by and large more superstitious, more often have a mystical bent and tend to be more likely to report crimes important and useful to your game is pretty good. Its emphasis on villains wielding the rules of hospitality and social expectation against PCs is somewhat annoying, though, especially for players who don't actually internalize all those rules. It does, thankfully, end with a note that the GM should remember that people are still likely to make allowances for heroes - the cops who arrest you for chasing a dude across rooftops are going to toss you in a cell, hang the key on a nearby hook and very conspicuously go out for lunch for two hours with their mother after announcing loudly that they really hope no one touches that key, because if someone got out, nothing could be done, if you've been doing heroism, for example, and your best friend's wife's cousin, the local bey, is gonna let you off the hook for publically fucking up a villain if it's clear they deserved it. Which makes the discussion of how villains will often try to trap you with the laws of etiquette even weirder, really. But I will admit, the Crescent politics are a thing I like and find interesting, so it's all relative.

Mass combat! This is a system designed to handle skirmishes of any size, from small engagements to massive national wars. To start any mass combat encounter, you do two things - determine the scope and pick Generals. Battle scope falls into one of four categories. Small Scale battles define units as being up to 10 soldiers, with each point of Strength representing 1 person. (Note: Units cannot go above Strength 10.) Medium Scale battles define units as up to 100 soldiers, with each point of Strength representing about 10 soldiers. Large Scale battles define units as up to 1000 soldiers, with each point of Strength representing around 100 soldiers. Massive Scale battles define units as up to 10,000 soldiers, with each point of Strength representation around 1000 soldiers. You can keep going in factors of ten but what the hell kind of battles are you running? The side with the fewest number of troops determines the scale used - if one side has 500 and the other has 2000, you're using Medium Scale, with one side having 5 Strength 10 units and the other have 20.

Each side needs a Hero or Villain to serve as the General. The General serves as the overall leader of the force and makes many of the choices involved in the battle. They determine how many actions their army can take in a Round, and they give orders to the various units. However, other PCs (or Villains) who are not the General can still participate, and at any point the General may choose to step down and give command to another character. Without a General, a side loses, period.

At the start of each round of Mass Combat, the General of each force makes a Risk to determine Raises. Most often this will be Wits or Panache plus Warfare, depending on whether one's leadership is tactical or inspirational, respectively, but the GM may allow other pools at their discretion. Each General can then spend Raises to order various Strategies. A given Strategy costs one Raise to order as an action, and each action can be used to order only one Strategy. If the General chooses to take an action other than ordering a Strategy, they can use multiple Raises as normal. The same Strategy cannot be used by the same army twice in a row in the same round. If you order a Clash, your next order must be something other than a Clash. You can use strategies more than once per round, you just need to not do it twice in a row - so Clash, Fall Back, Clash is fine. Last, a single unit may only be ordered to act once per round, unless every other unit in the army has been given an order already. If you have 5 Raises and 4 units, you have to order each unit once, and your fifth order can then be to any of them to do a second thing.

Every unit has a Strength rating. When it runs out, that unit is defeated. Every Hit in Mass Combat reduces Strength by 1. This is a big deal, because Strength is also the main dicepool used for units to do things. Further, if a unit takes more than half their Strength in Hits (rounding up) in a single action, they must test for Morale. To test Morale, you roll Strength, plus a relevant skill if the unit has a PC attached to it as a leader - usually Warfare or Convince, but not always. If they get even one Raise, the unit remains on the field. If they do not, the unit flees and is removed from battle. If a PC was attached to it, they may choose to spend a Hero Point and become a Solo rather than flee with the unit. More on PCs that aren't the General shortly.

Strategies
Clash: You order a unit to attack an enemy unit directly. They roll (Strength), dealing Hits equal to the number of Raises rolled.
Combined Arms: You order the unit to soften the enemy up with ranged fire, so an ally can charge. They deal 1 Hit, then roll (Strength). The next time their target is damaged this round, the target takes (Raises) extra Hits.
Fall Back: You must use this immediately after an action causes Hits to a unit. That unit rolls (Strength), preventing (Raises) of those Hits.
Flank: You order a unit to go for a finishing charge. They roll (Strength), and you spend all remaining Raises. They deal (Raises rolled+Raises spent) Hits to the target unit.
Ready...Aim...Fire!: You order the unit to go for ranged attacks to harry the foe. That unit deals 1 Hit, then rolls (Strength). The next time their target damages a unit, they deal (Raises) fewer Hits.

Now, other PCs! Any other PC must select whether they will be attached to a unit or fight as a Solo. If they are attached to a unit, they serve as its leader and improve its abilities. Any time the unit would roll Strength, the PC makes the roll and adds a relevant Skill to the pool, often Weaponry or Warfare but not always. While a PC is attached to a unit, they receive no damage from enemy attacks unless specifically targeted. Even if they are part of a Strength 1 unit that takes multiple Hits, they do not get any of the spillover damage. Further, the PC may overrule orders from the General. The General still gives an Order, but the PC may choose to ignore it and replace it with another Order of their choice, for any reason they like. They are bound by the same rules, though - they cannot use the same Strategy as the one used in the General's last Order, even if it was to another unit. A PC attached to a unit may spend a Hero Point to leave the unit and become a Solo.

A Solo PC is fighting alone. Solo PCs roll to gather Raises at the start of each round, as in normal combat. However, they lose any Raises that would place them in excess of their General's Raises. They may perform normal attacks against enemy units, as if in normal combat. They are not subject to receiving Orders from the General, and so can take a more active role, performing multiple actions in combat. However, they are also at greater risk, as they can be wounded, especially if multiple units focus in on them. (Despite it being mass combat, Wounds and Hits are treated as being identical in scale.) At any time at the start of a round, a Solo PC may spend a Hero Point to attach themselves to unit.

Actions are taken in order of who has the most Raises at any time, as in normal Sequences. However, if one side surprises the other, such as with a night raid or ambush, the enemy General rolls 2 fewer dice to determine Raises on the first round. Surprise only applies in the first round. Also, when a force is outnumbered by two to one (or worse), the smaller army gets the Underdog Bonus. Once per battle, a General with the Underdog Bonus may announce they are using it before rolling for Raises that round. On that roll, 10s explode and the General may make sets of 15 rather than 10, with each set of 15 counting as 2 Raises.

Some units are better than others, though, in ways different than just having more raw numbers. This is represented by Edges, and not every unit has one. The General may purchase Edges for their side by spending Hero Points. The first Edge for a given unit costs 1 Hero Point. The second Edge for that same unit costs 3, the third 6, the fourth 10, and so on. A unit can, in theory, have any number of Edges if you spend enough Hero Points, and the rising costs are for each unit individually. So if you have 5 units, you can spend 5 Hero Points to give them each a single Edge. If a Hero begins the battle attached to a unit, they may spend Hero Points to give that unit Edges at the same rate; the General may not buy Raises for that unit. The GM may also give out free Edges based on the fiction - if you have gone out of your way, say, to help the Sarmion royal family and they send you a unit of Chavra, it probably gets the Chavra Warriors Edge for free. If you are, for some reason, doing an ongoing military campaign, your units can also acquire permanent Edges through experience, based on how many battles the unit survives. After one battle, they get a single Edge. 3 battles after that, they get a second. 6 battles after that, a third. And so on.

Edges
Assassin: Ashurite units only. In the first round, if your army surprised the foe, 10s explode on all Strategies this unit performs.
Camel Cavalry: 8th Sea units only. The General may spend a Hero Point to make this unit's 10s explode as long as they fight alongside at least one other unit that has this Edge.
Castillian Black Powder: When this unit performs Ready...Aim...Fire!, their 10s explode.
Cavalry: When this unit performs Clash, their 10s explode.
Chavra Warriors: Sarmion units only. The first time this battle that this unit would take Hits, it takes 2 fewer Hits, to a minimum of 1.
Duelist: Any time this unit causes Hits, increase the Hits caused by 1.
Elephant Cavalry: Persic units only. When this unit performs Clash, the targeted unit must immediately make a Morale test.
Elite: Before all other units in this unit's army act, this unit can take a free action.
Guardian: When a character attached to this unit would take Wounds, the unit may take the damage as Hits instead.
Intimidating: When this unit causes an enemy unit to test Morale, the enemy automatically fails.
Janissaries: Anatoli units only. This unit ignores Morale tests and will fight to the death unless specifically ordered to retreat.
Medics: At the end of each round, this unit heals half the Hits it took that round.
Shield Wall: When this unit would take Hits, reduce the Hits taken by 1, to a minimum of 1.
Support Squad: When this unit performs Combined Arms, their 10s explode.
Unbreakable: This unit never has to test for Morale and never flees due to casualties. (Wait, isn't that supposed to be the Jannisaries' bonus?)
Wary: When this unit performs Fall Back, their 10s explode.

Next time: RAP BATTLE

The Crescent Empire - Your Poetry Is Weak

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Your Poetry Is Weak

The Crescent Empire takes honor and reputation extremely seriously. Ruining someone's reputation can be worse than killing them, because it splashes onto their family, too. Therefore, Kavita, poetry dueling, is one of the deadliest arts there is. Kavita is, in theory, invoked when two people hate each other so much that even a physical duel will not satisfy. (Competitive and friendly duels are relatively recent.) The two must stand before a judge and audience, only a few steps apart, and create a poem together. Kavitas have three Bayts (roughly, 'verses') and generally have only seconds between the two poets speaking their poems. The winner gains prestige and honor, and the loser is shamed by defeat. Some Kavita duels also include the loser suffering major loss of status or reputation, or even agreeing to a period of indentured servitude. The stakes are set before the Kavita itself, and duelists select the topic beforehand.

In the modern Crescent, three poetic themes are considered to be of acceptable use in civilized company. First is mutakarib, heroic poetry. These are tales of epic deeds and stories, of all kinds, including those from outside the Empire. You can even receite mutakarib poems about yourself, if you specialize in bragging or self promotion. Ramal is poetry in the form of religious parables and educational topics. It was favored by the famous Great Poet Damu, and many poems use fragments of his verses, along with lines from religious texts. Poems about the self in this tradition are about self-discovery and one's relationship with God or nature. Last, hazadj is poetry of love and romance. These are stories of sacrifice, betrayal and duty, and etiquette demands that the love within be pure and chaste, though going bawdy and making the audience gasp can work in your favor sometimes. If about the self, these poems are expected to share the scars of their love for the audience, but it is also expected that love will triumph in the end.

Kavita etiquette was developed by the Persic poet Damu around a century ago. He taught many, and he hated to see his pupils resort to violence for their disputes. At the time, Kavitas had no length limit and could go on for days. Damu realized that such duels were more about the body's endurance than the mind's skill, and to ensure his students honed their skill to a razor's edge, Damu declared that a Kavita must never last longer than one sunset or three Bayts. Various styles have been developed in the last century, and Kavi, as competitive duelists are known, typically follow one school or another. Kavi schools are informal, and while some have national origins, various Dinist pilgrims have spread them far and wide. Nobles and wealthy merchants who enjoy drama sometimes serve as patrons to the Kavi, and may call on these Kavi to speak for them in Kavita, in which case the patron pays any stakes rather than the Kavi.

Vesten Skalds are notable practitioners of Kavita in Theah, having imported it and its rules from the Crescent with Ragnar Odinsson's raiding and trading there. Famous skalds are extremely respected in the Empire, despite obvious cultural differences, and Alwarithli have been known to agreed rather more readily than they normally would to casual Kavitas with master skald Kavi, just for the honor of competing. (Casual Kavitas are more popular in Vesten than in the Empire.) Vodacce poets have attempted to earn the same renown, but an infamous event at the Imperial Court in Iskandar destroyed their reputation in the Empire. See, an ambitious poet named Piero Taglieri began his verse too quickly, tripped over his own words, repeated himself and ended up creating an entirely incomprehensible Bayt. Now, 'eating Vodacce pasta' is a common insult among poets, meaning to make disgusting and rude noises, but saying nothimg important. The effects of Kavita can be lasting, for good or bad, as you see.

It is considered entirely taboo to perform a Kavita on Dinist holy ground. Typically, a public square not far from a mosque will have a small stage or at least two pieces of elevated stone, to allow Kavita to happen and to have the Kavi be seen and heard by the crowds. It is also considered utterly vile, one of the worst things you can do, to draw weapons once a Kavita ends. Only the most shameless villain would ever do this. The loser must accept their loss and rebuild their reputation the hard way. A victor may choose to refuse the offered spoils, which dishonors neither side.

Once two Kavis have agreed to a duel, they must select a judge, or a panel of up to six judges if they cannot agree on one. Judges are typically respected members of society, such as beys, muftis, grandparents, elders and so on. The judges select the location of the Kavita and officiate over all of its aspects. Poems are judged as a complete piece, but a judge can slightly influence the outcome, which takes the form of giving a Bonus Die in each Bayt to the poet they currently favor or who most impressed them. This may seem unfair, but it reflects the confidence of an approving audience. The challenged party selects the poem style from the three acceptable choices.

Before a Kavita begins, each Kavi wagers Hero Points. A PC can wager Hero Points up to their highest Reputation, minimum 1. Villains wager Danger Points instead. The two are expected to wager the same amount, with the challenged party setting the wager. The actual fictional stakes may be as simple as public humiliation to forced indentured servitude for up to a year, to being forced to take on your opponent's name as part of your own. The wagered points should be proportional to the stakes of the Kavita. Typically speaking, young upstarts challenging famous poets are denied and laughed at, for they are unable to match the stakes the poet would surely demand. If they can goad such a poet into challenging them, though, they can set the stakes. Friendly rivalries do exist, and informal challenges and duels are not rare, if less common than in, say, Vesten. This allows a Kavi to practice their craft without having to go into full-on high-stakes competition for it, and typically such challenges have no stakes or wagered points, and no reputation is lost for losing.

The length of a Kavita is always limited. Three Bayts is normal, though more intense rivalries sometimes go on longer. All must end before sunset, however. Each Kavi decides which Trait to use, and which Skills will be used in each Bayt. No Skill may be used more than once, and the dicepool is Trait+Skill+Reputation, rolled after each Kavi has recited their verse. Whoever gets the most Raises wins the Bayt, gaining bonus dice for a future Bayt and moving closer to victory. In a tie, neither Kavi gets any bonus. If at any time a Kavi fails to make any Raises, they lose immediately regardless of any past round's performance, as they are unable to articulate their words properly. This is the worst possible loss, viewed as a more dire fate even than indentured service. If there is an overall tie at the end of the Kavita, it moves into sudden death. During sudden death Bayts, the roll is a Trait and Skill of each Kavi's choice, but still with no Skill ever being used twice. Villains lose 1 die per round of sudden death, and ties during sudden death mean another round. This continues until someone wins or both agree to a draw. (You can use any Skills, but presumably they must be related somehow to the content of your poem.)

The winner of the duel gains all wagered points, converting them to Hero or Danger as appropriate. A PC that defeats a Villain in a Kavita may choose to leave the points and instead drop the Villain's Influence by 1. Further, the winner has all applicable Reputations increased by 1 until the end of the session, or gains a new Reputation at 1 die until the end of the session, their choice. The loser loses their entire wager of points, and reduces the dice provided by all Reputations by 1 until the end of the session. There is also a sidebar saying that any player that recites their character's own poems should get a bonus die to encourage them.

Victory is based on points. The winner of the first Bayt receives 1 point, and 1 Bonus Die to use in any single later Bayt. The winner of the second Bayt gets 1 point and 1 Bonus Die to use in any single later Bayt. The winner of the third Bayt gets 2 points. Common in-fiction penalties for Kavita loss include doing something humiliating, such as being a waiter at a peasant's party, losing social reputation, indentured service, adding the victor's name to your own (in the form of `aqall min <name>, meaning 'less than <name>'), or the last one and also it becomes part of your descendants names for the rest of time. This is in broad order of badness. Yes, indentured service is not the least bad option.

As with dueling, there are Kavita styles. Chamsin style is led by Ruach, one of the Empire's most notorious poets - so much so that he never uses his true name and wears a veil to hide his identity. He is known to be a patriotic Sarmion and either a current or former Chavra warrior, and he has no patience for fools. His speed in battle is beaten only by his wit and sharp tongue, and Chamsin poetry is known for elegant but brutal insults, which come hot and fast. The style bonus is to always get a bonus die in the first Bayt due to this harsh opening.

Damu is the style taught by the wandering Kavi Ranya, who travels among the common people and spreads the history of Persis. She is an unlikely Kavi, having been entirely undefeated so far. Her entourage consists of indentured servants repaying their losses to her while studying her poems. She converts her rivals to disciples, and is strict, but caring. More flies with honey than vinegar, after all. Her style focuses on simple presentation of ideas and themes, so that anyone can understand them. She uses simplicity to convey profound ideas, and her style is easy to understand but hard to master. It is often used to write children's parables. The style bonus is to always get a bonus die in the final Bayt due to hammering the themes of the story home in the climax.

Masquerade is a style taught by the Montaigne poet of the same name, though his students know him by his true name, Raphael. His poetry is wildly popular and he is never seen in public without a mask. He uses a style that was formerly known as the Anatoli Divan style, but it was renamed due to his sheer mastery of it. His poems make the blood pound and the cheeks blush, making the mundane sound obscene and using complex and beguiling metaphors. His poetry books can be found from Inismore to the 8th Sea, and he is no less skilled in spoken verse. His poems call on his many love affairs - one everywhere he's stopped, it seems - and he uses them to explore the depths of romance, coupled with his flamboyant yet beautiful appearance. Many consider his verses to be modern classics. He gifts all who study under him a homemade mask, which they wear to all of theur duels out of respect for him. They often use metaphors relating plants or animals to romantic themes. The style bonus is, unsurprisingly, a bonus die to any rolls in a Kavita using the hazadj forms.

Gofter-e nik is the style of the Warrior Poet Asahn Ekhtiarzadeh, favored poet in Shah Jalil's court. His honesty and aura of genuine sincerity are famous, as is his small size and large, carrying voice. His poems are generally about the human condition in times of trouble, and the need to do what is right and just. Practitioners of his style attempt to take the moral high road in their verses, speaking of the virtues of honesty, justice and positive actions. The style bonus is a bonus die to any rolls in a Kavita using the ramal forms.

Griot is the style of Hamadou Mbaye, a griot from Ifri and a devout Dinist currently on pilgrimage in the 8th Sea and Sarmion. He is a muscular man, but very humble, with an infectious smile and, if insulted, a mastery of vicious words that is nearly unrivaled. Still, he forgives quickly. The style is not just his, having grown from the works of Ifrian Dinist pilgrims traveling the Empire. They specialise in panegyric-style poetry, using carefully worded praises of their enemy to form vicious, cutting attacks. Griot poets are generally pilgrims and teachers, exceptionally well-versed in religious poems and texts. The style bonus is that, once per Kavita, the Kavi may weave a cutting compliment into their verse, gaining a Bonus Die in a Bayt of their choice.

Hakawati is the style of Zahrah bint Marwa al-Amin, who is a historian of her 8th Sea tribe and her family. She considers family and history to be more important than all else, and she is able to recall with ease the details of stories millenia old. She teaches her tribespeople every night over meals, and leaders of other tribes turn to her for help in familial disputes, as have some kings. Her poetic style focuses on family and history, weaving in subplots from various historic events and darting between stories easily. She frequently uses references to her other stories in her verses, interweaving them skillfully and drawing on the oral history of her people. The style bonus is a bonus die to the second Bayt, as the tales are interwoven.

Khol is the style of Astrate Khol, a Numanari haimon - that is, a warrior. Her travels took her to Iskandar, where she learned that, despite her upbringing, words could far greater weapons than blades. She loves a challenge, and her poems tend to be long, grandiose and referential of Numanari epics. Her style teaches grand poems and heroic epics that stir the emotions of listeners. Often, those who hear her feel a pull to explore and adventure. The style bonus is a bonus die to any rolls in a Kavita using the mutakarib forms.

Next time: Regular dueling.

The Crescent Empire - Sword Fights Also Happen

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Sword Fights Also Happen

There is very little discussion of the dueling etiquette of the Empire, possibly because Kavita have taken on a lot of the same social role that formal dueling has in Thean society. We just jump straight into the styles. Badayah is the signature style of the small nomadic Badayah tribe of the 8th Sea. Despite their size, they are some of the most dangerous fighters in the sands, masters of ambush that are known to lie in wait for days under sand cover. They are the only teachers of their fighting style around, and every Badayah Duelist is given a peshknife to serve as their primary weapon. These are jagged-bladed knives that are kept razor sharp, and they leave extremely painful wounds, often requiring the attention of a doctor to heal properly. It is said that the sign of any dispute among the Badayah escalating to violence is the peshknife being drawn, and the Badayah say that the peshknife cannot be sheathed until it tastes blood. Badayah duels are often to the death. The most scarred Badayah Duelists are often the most argumentative or skilled of the tribe - or both. The bonus is the Badayah Laceration. When you wield a light weapon, such as a dagger, knife or short sword, in one or both hands, you may perform the Badayah Laceration Maneuver. You cause one Wound to the target, but leave them with a bloody, terrible injury. Each time they take an action this round, they take an additional Wound. They may spend (your Weaponry) in Raises to end this early. You may use this only once per round.

Fa'tahib is the traditional dueling style of the elite in the Empire. It goes back generations, and has evolved from just a combat style to a form of performance art as well. Exhibitions of Fa'tahib are common at celebrations, where performers use the traditional asaaya, a four-foot long heavy stick, to demonstrate mastery of forms via choreographed stick dancing, in which both fighters perform complex patterns of movement with the asaaya but never truly strike a blow. While this dance is traditionally performed by those who have the brute strength to wield the asaaya, a new and more acrobatic form has emerged, equally popular. This is often performed simultaneously with the traditional demonstrations, but requires agility and speed rather than strength. Many traditionalists consider this an insult - the traditional dance is meant to show one's ability to use a weapon, while the new one seems to be a mockery of this that treats it as a mere dance. The style bonus is the Fa'tahib Step. When you wield a blunt weapon in each hand - usually asaaya, but equally usable with clubs or maces - you may perform the Fa'tahib Step Maneuver. You prevent 1 Wound and select a Maneuver you will perform on your next action. If you use the chosen Maneuver, you increase the Wounds it deals or prevents by (Perform). You may use this only once per round.

Mubarizdun is the style favored by soldiers in the Empire. It is relatively young, dating back to the Imperial General Sepideh, who invented it for use by her most elite unit, the Mubar. The Mubar were notable for always being the first to the field, and for challenging enemy generals to send their best fighter for a duel against the greatest of the Mubar, having the pair fight to the death in an effort to destroy enemy morale. It is said that no Mubar ever lost such a duel. While modern soldiers still use Mubarizdun, the intimidation duel tactic has fallen from favor in recent years, though the style remains quite powerful. It is designed for heavy weapons and fights while demoralizing the foe with shouted insults. The style bonus is Mubarizdun Shock. When you wield a heavy weapon, such as an axe, sword or mace, in two hands, you may perform the Mubarizdun Shock maneuver. You deal 1 Wound, and the next time any enemy that saw you perform the maneuver deals Wounds this round, they deal (Intimidate) fewer Wounds. You may use this only once per round.

Yurusiyya is the style of horsemen. The horse and its caretakers are respected deeply in the empire, because of the difficulty of raising them in most environments in the Crescent. Yurusiyya Duelists believe that the care and use of horses is the highest art, and that mounted combat is the highest form of combat. They only ever ride horses they feel a connection with, and they say these horses are extensions of their soul. There are no formal academies of the style. Rather, new Duelists are trained by individual Yurusiyya masters who take them on as apprentices. Many masters claim their horses choose their students. As long as someone chosen by the horse shows aptitude, the masters do not question them. Yurusiyya Duelists are among the finest cavalry on the planet. Most are horse archers, but the style works well with any form of mounted combat. The style bonus is Yurusiyya Blitz. First, while holding a bow, you may use Aim in place of Weaponry for all Duelist Maneuvers. Second, when you are on horseback, your Lunge is replaced with Yurusiyya Blitz. When you perform Yurusiyya Blitz, spend all your Raises. You deal Wounds equal to (Weaponry+Ride+Raises Spent), split as you choose among number of targets in the Scene.

The End!

Next up: the New World.

The Crescent Empire - Survival in the Worst Desert Ever

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2: The Crescent Empire - Survival in the Worst Desert Ever

Once, all of the Tribes were Yasnavan, using the seasonal festivals as cues as to when to move tents. The greatest of these, the Ahura festival, celebrated the jinn with feasts, fire and processions to the ruins of ancient temples. Makeshift shrines still exist through the desert, often near watering holes, to give thanks and make offerings easily while on a journey. These offerings are increasingly important as the jinn have grown more numerous, and even al-Thi'b Dinists tend to leave gifts, just in case. Learning to navigate the desert and learning about the jinn go together, as the stories of the jinn mark out landmarks. For example, an unusual rock formation may be remembered as showing Sanaea and his horse at the spot where he first saw his wife, al-Iza. The next oasis may have a shrine to al-Iza, marking where she first landed in the desert. The stories of Ahurayasna are written in the sands and songs and stars, helping the Tribes connect to the old ways and remember the paths they travel by making them part of holy stories. Even the al-Thi'b learn these tales, to master the desert, and the Yasnavan tribes make a big deal out of stopping to recognize sunrise and sunset. The al-Thi'b and other Dinist tribes are often at a disadvantage in this environment, because staying true to al-Din means having to ignore the rituals that many secretly believe keep them safe. To pray daily, they must outline the walls of a mosque with stones, and to wash their hands they must use sand rather than precious water. Still, the Dinists do their best to adapt to the 8th Sea that is their home.

To outsiders, the 8th Sea is a forbidding hellscape. To the Tribes, however, it has many trails, marked by wells and watering holes, which connect people and ruins and trade. Some of these watering holes are natural springs on mountains, others waterskins tied between rocks to catch rainwater, such as it is, or ancient aqueducts. Mastering water is only part of surviving the 8th Sea, however. The jinn have returned there in number, with so many Dinists and others in more 'civilized' lands rejecting them. Tribespeople learn to read the wind and weather to predict rain and to recognize which jinn are dangerous and what signs they leave. Their survival depends a lot on animal herding, with each tribe staying in their traditional ranges, rotating locations through the seasons to exploit watering holes and shrub grass while leaving where they have been to regrow until the following year.

Tribes aren't singular units. Families move and shift at their own pace, choosing tent locations based on weather, proximity to resources and proximity to neighbors. After all, any tent in a spear's throw of another is part of the same protection group, and too many tents near each other can overwork the local sheikh and overtax their abilities. Responsibility for a sheikh's neighborhood isn't just about family, either. If a visitor or traveler is injured in a tribe's territory, a local family will take great pains to nurse them back to health. If the injury was bad enough, the local sheikh may even adopt the traveler to care for them for the rest of their life. Social relations in the Tribes rely a lot on honor and custom. When visiting a tent, a visitor should always stop a brief way from the entrance, on the pretense of fixing a sandal or a camel's burden, to allow the head of household to exit the tent and greet them. Guests are treated royally, but must be careful not to exploit this hospitality. Traditionally, they don't stay more than three days, and should avoid asking questions about anything the host does not express interest in discussing. Of course, in some cases, a host becomes so eager to give a guest what they like that they will fabricate stories to have an excuse to do so.

The family unit is centered on the tent, which can be packed and moved within a few hours. Tents are typically made of goat hair cut into sixty-foot strips. Once erected, the public area consists of the entrance, the kitchen area and an area full of pillows for sitting and entertaining guests. A couple's sleeping area will be curtained for privacy, though voices carry easily in tents. Tents of a sheikh or a leader of a large extended family will often be quite large, and there may be a second tent exclusively for animals. Tribespeople typically unwind in the evening with entertainment, chatting and the argilah. An argilah is a water pipe, which filters a fragrant herb similar to tobacco through water. Entertainment is often love songs accompanied by the rebab or recitations of poetry. Some sorcerers are also known to use smoke from their pipes to make dancing figures to accompany the songs or poetry. Typically, tribespeople marry within the tribe, though the al-Hisan and al-Jamal have been known to intermarry. Al-Thi'b forbid marriage outside the tribe unless the outsider willingly converts to Dinism and joins the al-Thi'b.

8th Sea cuisine must be practical first and good second, as the Tribes lack the luxury of traveling to the market to pick high quality foods. They eat what they have on hand, and never waste water. Goats and sheep form an incredibly important part of tribal life, as they provide meat as well as the milk used to make herb butter and cheese. Theft of a family's goat is punishable by death because it will kill the victim for lack of food and milk. Hosts welcome all visitors, even strangers, as guests of honor and feast them, called mansef. Typically, for a mansef the host will slaughter a lamb and mix the fat with rice to make a stew. All the neighbors drop in to join the feast, but the guest of honor must be first to eat. The host never eats until all others do. Hosts with the best food earn a good reputation in the tribe, and some travelers go out of their way to visit such families.

Clothing is also built on functionality before any kind of aesthetics. Days are often blisteringly hot and nights freezing cold, especially in winter. The locals favor long, sturdy robes of cotton or wool, called t'ob. These tend to be a few feet longer than the wearer is tall, gathered at the waist with a belt. Robe color usually shows tribal affiliation, but anyone can wear brown or black. Men and women both cover their heads with scarves secured by a ring of camel wool, and both often wear angular leather masks while traveling or when visitors come over. Masks were adopted during the spread of al-Din as a form of modesty and self-respect. They are also highly functional, keeping sand and grit out of the face.

The Quabilat al-Jamal, the Camel Tribe, believe themselves to be the oldest and purest of the tribes, dependent only on the camel and the gods. They aren't the largest tribe, but do control the largest territory, especially with the retreat of al-Thi'b. Al-Jamal tribespeople survive on herding, but are also known for breeding camels, unsurprisingly. Their camels are highly prized by all tribes for endurance and sense of direction. Most camels seem to have a natural instinct to find other camels, but al-Jamal camels follow trails to watering holes pretty much without human intervention, which is extremely useful in sandstorms. The al-Jamal must master the routes of the 8th Sea, and their coming-of-age ritual involves crossing the desert alone, with only a camel and some food, at the age of 13. Once the ritual is completed, they return with the camel and go through a rite of initiation invoking the jinn. This earns them their reins, which they carry for the rest of their lives.

The al-Jamal control a large portion of 8th Sea trade. They trade goat cheese to Ashur for fruit and dates, and they move most of the coinage and jewelry in the 8th Sea. With the angering of Saghira, they are also often hired to protect and guide other merchants through the desert. However, like all tribespeople, they trust family first and strangers last, and drive a very hard bargain for their service. Despite their distrusting nature, they are rarely warlike, and when they do go into battle, it is usually on a camel rather than a horse. Their war camels are excellent at long distance travel, until they charge at the enemy. Those camels that cannot fight perform a terrifying, ululating war cry to protect the warrior camel. Al-Jamal raiders do not take prisoners and have no particular bad feeling toward their foes - they'll usually just kill the leaders and let the rest go home. The richest of the al-Jamal, usually the wali and sheikhs, are permitted to have more than one spouse. This custom allows more to benefit from concentrated wealth, but also means that they are more likely to banish their romantic companions when they grow unhappy. Magic users that do not serve their leaders are often ostracized among the al-Jamal, despite the Empress' wishes, and so between these facts there's plenty of solo nomads among the tribe, tending small flocks for a bare subsistence living.

The Quabilat al-Hisan, the Horse Tribe, are the largest of the warrior tribes, and they breed and ride most of the horses in the 8th Sea. These horses are valued and sold at high prices throughout the world. Other tribes may own horses, but the al-Hisan developed the breed that thrives in the desert sands. Their unique fighting style also earns them a reputation that has grown so large it benefits the entire community of tribes. While all tribes have warrior history, the al-Hisan make it core to their lives. They learn to ride as young children, including the tricks used in tribal raids. They are trained either to rish in and fight in close combat before quickly withdrawing, or to focus on ranged support with the aid of magic and bows. They can often recite epic deeds of their forebears dating all the way back to the Katabi of Raqmu. It is rare but not unheard of for a warrior to learn both styles, and the tribe gathers each year to test their skills and broker marriages and horse trades.

Marriage among the al-Hisan is sealed by the trading of fine horses between the families of the couple. Horses are so vital to al-Hisan life that they even decide who leads the tribe. A wali who gains their position by inheritance may be challenged to a duel of horsemanship, with the winner taking over the leadership of the tribe, with all its benefits. The al-Hisan, like the al-Jamal, are Yasnavan, especially now that the jinn are showing up in numbers. Their skill in managing both spirits and foes has been very good in protecting their herds, and some of their sorcerers have even reported their power growing, suggesting a ginnaya may be favoring them. Even so, they have had to fight several of the darker jinn, and they don't always win those fights. The al-Hisan do still tend to be wealthy and to look down on their al-Thi'b neighbors, even sometimes resenting them for forcing the al-Hisan to protect them.

Next time: The Wolf.

The New World

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post



7th Sea 2e: The New World

John Wick's entire intro is basically 'I have no idea how to write Mesoamerican cultures. Fortunately, I hired people who do.' The primary scholarly voice behind this was apparnetly Anastasia Kotsoglou who, I believe, did a pretty good job of at least picking interpretations that are scholarly and historical from which to then run and 7th Sea-ize the various groups here, with the help of a lot of minority writers. So...good work, guys? Let's see how you did.

The proper name for what Theah knows as the New World is Aztlan. Long ago, it was united as the Aztlan Empire, whose old gods walked the earth and who made machines that even now people do not understand how to repair or use. An even came, the Fall, which lost the Aztlani the favor of their gods and saw the empire destroyed. Today's Aztlani are descended from the survivors of the Fall. Literal gods do still walk the land, but they are understood less, and no empire units all of the continent. Some want to reunify Aztlan, but it won't be easy, and each new nation has developed its own unique culture.

The Aztlani gods do walk among them, granting magic and power in exchange for worship. These gods have physical bodies and are people. Some are more involved than others with their people, but every Aztlani can recall seeing a god at least once, if not more. Gods often call on heroes for work or may even need to be saved by them. The gods are not always helpful, however. They have their own agendas, and are not heroes or villains. They may help or hinder either as they like, but are beyond such simple classification. They do, however, generally want good things for their people, and they do often like heroes. However, not all gods still walk the earth. The old gods no longer do, having long ago been sealed away. They were violent, dangerous beings who currently would like nothing more than to conquer Aztlan and force its people into bloody worship, as they did in ancient times.

Aztlan is used to change, given its many hostile landscapes. Stability is found only in the pockets of civilization its people have created and defended from the jungles and deserts, which actively resist attempts to map them given how quickly things change. They have had contact with Theah for a little more than a century, and in this time both groups have learned from each other. Travel between the two continents is not all that rare, and people do travel back and forth. Theans are found in Aztlan usually in small groups, typically those that have decided they prefer to live amongst the Aztlani. Thean districts in cities are rare. Theah made a very bad impression during first contact, and large groups of Theans are deeply suspicious to most Aztlani. Over in Theah, the largest number of Aztlani immigrants lives in the Flower Quarter of Odiseo.

Both continents have influenced each other. Aztlani food and engineering is now common (relatively speaking) in Theah, while guns are now found throughout Aztlan, and Thean ship designs have been adopted to increase Aztlani travel speed. While Aztlan's engineers have always been excellent, they never really focused on naval technologies much. Most Aztlani are relatively accepting people that enjoy learning and discovering new things, and they tend not to mind individual Theans - it's just when Theans gather in large groups that problems seem to happen. They find people from Theah to be exotic, strange, often untrustworthy but worth learning from, even if their ideas on divinity are silly and backwards.

There are three major Aztlani nations. The Nahuacan Alliance sits in the north, ruled over by a council from each of its four greatest cities - Milllahco, Tecuehtitlan, Oloxochicalco and Nexhuatipec, each dedicated to one of the gods of the Alliance. The only one that stands above this council is the Great Speaker, who is dedicated to speaking for the people and questioning the will of the gods. The Nahuacans are both a warrior people and one that believes firmly in law and order. They agree that Aztlan must be reunited, but few agree on how to do this. The current Great Speaker is often considered too young for the job, and the two strongest military forces of the Alliance are now at odds, as their leaders seek to control the Great Speaker.

Tzak K'an sits in the middle, in an area of jungles and Syrneth ruins. They are a group of largely unrelated city-states who are connected by culture alone, rather than any central government. Many of these city-states are dedicated to a speicfic god or god-king, and are generally ruled by different leaders. Their unifying factor is a shared respect for science, exploration and knowledge. Their inability to unite as a single entity leaves the mvulnerable to those that wish to conquer the continent, and the city-states themselves are now gearing up for an internal war which may collapse their rich culture.

The Kuraq Empire lies in the southern mountains, worshipping Suway, the god of death. They are ruled by their undead empress, Asiri Inkasisa, who has been in charge for a century. Their culture is built on veneration of the dead, and the dead walk among them in everyday life. The Empress is unhappy with current borders, hoping to unite all of Aztlan under her rule, driving out all other gods but Suway, the one and only. She has begun a God Hun, to destroy all of the other gods in Kuraq and, eventually, Aztlan itself. The commoners are tired of this corrupt leadership, and have set up a divinely-backed REsistance, in efforts to dethrone Asiri and return all gods to their rightful place in the empire.

Aztlan is a very, very old continent, with a history that stretches back further than any can recall. It had, in ancient times, civilizations of advanced technology and magic when Theans were barely organized at all. And yet, it is also a new world - new to Theah, yes, but also because the fall of the Aztlan Empire changed it utterly, marking it out as a new place, full of ancient ruins. Understanding the past and coping with the chaotic present is the constant challenge of the Aztlani. They have had nearly a century of conflict with invaders and each other, and they cannot afford to ignore the rest of the world. The gods desire worship, and they don't especially care who it comes from, while newcomers keep arriving on Aztlani shores.

Next time: The history of Aztlan.

The New World - Lost God-Kings of Time And Space

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Lost God-Kings of Time And Space

The history of Aztlan begins well before any of the nations of Theah existed. In a time of ancient darkness, the god-kings of Aztlan ruled over all of the civilized world as the sole point of light, their cities reaching to the heavens and communicating with the stars themselves. Some scholars claim that they had mastered the cycles of life and death the guide the universe. Under their rule, the continent of Aztlan stood apart from the mundane world, watching it flow but being disticnt from it. No one, even the most well-versed Aztlani scholars today, knows how the god-kings did such a thing. But it is known that they were majestic, graceful beings whose subjects knew their perfection. Their will alone made the crops grow, parted the jungles to make roads and buildings, kept peace. Disputes between people did not exist often, and when they did, the god-kings themselves would settle such conflicts. Today, such an empire seems a hallucinatory dream, a fevered imagining in a world of feuding and squabbling over resources and territory. However, all Aztlani agree that, in ancient times, the Aztlan Empire ruled over the entire continent in perfect harmony. However, such perfection could not last.

The Fall of the Aztlan Empire was surprising, quick and final. In one moment, the god-kings looked over their rule, timeless and secure, vain and perfect. In the next, it was ruin. The Empire ended well before they even realized that it was coming. The Aztlani fled the ancient cities and abandoned their homes. The old temples were looted and vandalized. The jungles and deserts, no longer held at bay by the magic of the god-kings, swept over the land like a plague. The earth itself turned against the Empire. No one knows precisely why. Some inner madness, perhaps, r an invasion from some distant enemies, or an offense the god-kings made to the gods. No one alive can say. Each civilization has its own stories of the Fall, its own explanations about why the Empire ended, but not even the gods themselves know the truth now. The Fall was an apocalypse, and end of the world, and the historical record is lost. However, its effects were clear. The god-kings vanished, their cities fell to ruins. Many ancient magics were lost forever. As the Aztlani struggled to survive, their culture seemed on the brink of annihilation. The scholar Chicuei Atzintli has summed it up as 'the bright candle of Aztlan burned in darkness, and the darkness grew tired of its arrogance. Who was such a candle to defy the end of all things?'

Eventually, however, the survivors did regroup and rebuild. They reclaimed the continent, hoping to tame the land as the Aztlan Empire once had. While they were not god-kings, they saw the Old Empire as a model for rule, even if many doubted they could unify the continent. When cities were raised and temples rebuilt, however, they found a strange new reality. The Fall had changed the continent itself. The jungle could be fought back with blade and fire, but it no longer held a consistent shape, and no longer retained any kind of ordered spatial existence within itself. The desert crossing was no longer just about preparing supplies - the sands would shift beneath feet, changing the path itself and taking you back where you came from. As the centuries passed, the land grew more consistent, but it has never returned to the pure solidity it had in ancient times. Whatever the Fall was, it was more than just a political event - it changed the land itself, and the new Aztlan was something alive, a cycle of chaos that would not remain constant.

As the Theans clawed their way out of early feudalism, the Aztlani reclaimed some of their great cities. They found the technologies of the old Empire foreign now, unknowable, but did their best to relearn how to use them. Some things were rediscovered. Others were lost. Three great poltical institutions emerged - the Nahuacan Alliance, the Tzak K'ani city-states and the Kuraq Empire, each distinct and independent. Aztlan would no longer be one people, and had no god-kings.

The many faiths and many gods of the Tzak K'ani drove them to be the earliest to reclaim cities after the Fall, rebuilding them into city-states that called forth the magic of the stars. Warfare dominated early Tazk K'an, but in the end, a fragile truce emerged. No one person would rule the city-states in their loose alliance, and they would remain independent of each other. Today, the Tzak K'ani are in decline, their detente falling to open war between cities as they make alliance with foreigners. Many believe that these days are the end of times once more, the closing of a great cycle. Only one thing has remained constant: everything changes. Why should now be different?

Centuries after the Tzak K'ani city-states were founded, the first great cities of the Nahuaca were built. While each Tzak K'ani city stood apart, the Nahuaca's four cities came together in alliance, ending their own conflicts with an agreement to share power among those worthy of rule. As Tzak K'an falls now, Nahucan rises. The Alliance's military victories against Thean forces have proven their strength, and their rigorous administrative bureaucracy has allowed them to easily integreate new territory. Many whisper that they may be the ones to reunify the continent.

Even younger than the Nahuaca, the Kuraq Empire has claimed the south, unified by an Empress. Once, it was a place of diverse city-states, but they were brought to heel under the power of the dead spirits wielded by potent leaders. Soon, they held all of the southern lands. While their rulers have often been despotic and stagnant, the most recent, Empress Inkasisa, has transformed the Kuraq Empire from a state to a totalitarian machine beyond any of her predecessors. Her agents are all over, hunting her foes even as a rebellion grows against her.

It is difficult to describe these events in terms of dates - all three nations have their own local calendars, which are not consistent with each other. From the Thean perspective, in 1553, an obscure sailor named Cristobal Gallegos asked the Castillians for funding to seek a sea route to Cathay, in an effort to get access to eastern goods without offering money to the hated Crescents or traveling through Ussura. King Carlos I funded him in an effort to give his nobles an outlet for their aggression rather than have them turn on him. While his astronomers warned the king that Cristobal had vastly underestimated the size of the planet, the king and his council ignored them in pursuit of wealth. Gallegos set forth in 1544 with ten ships; he returned with three. More on that in just a moment.

The old gods of the Empire were gone. They had been alien, resplendent beings; the new gods that emerged from the jungle and desert were not. They often appeared mortal, hiding their true nature in flesh and bone. These gods, unlike the god-kings, had no interest in rule. They wanted worship, not obedience. Honor us, they would say, and you will be rewarded. Worship us, and you will be shown the true path. Belive in us, and your enemies will be destroyed. And so, the people did. The gods never disappointed them - even when Theah arrived. Cristobal Gallegos made landing near the Nahuacan Alliance, greeted with cautious but open arms. They believed they'd arrived in Cathay, attempting to communicate in the Khazarian language, whole the Aztlani believed they came from the south, or were some remnant group they'd never met before. It didn't take long for both to realize things were different, however. Gallegos attempted to introduce the Aztlani to Theus and the Vaticine faith, teaching them his language with religion. In return, they taught their own language and told him of the new gods. Gallegos and his crew remained in Nahuacan for nine years before heading home, taking with them stories of gods written on sheets of gold as a sign of goodwill, along with his own writings about their exchange of ideas. He left with a promise to return with trade and wealth.

He confessed that he did not, in fact, reach Cathay, when he got home - but he had found a new land, unknown to anyone, and proved it with the ten sheets of gold engraved with heathen gods, and twenty converts whom he had brought back as proof that the locals could understand Theus. His crew spent their new wealth in San Cristobal, spreading tales of the people they'd met and the golden cities in distant jungles. Aztlan became a sensation in CAstille, a land where anyone could go to seek their fame and fortune. Soon, expeditions were launched for all purposes - exploration, trade, conquest. The VEndel League established the Aztlan Charter, a specific fund purely to award to those brave enough to sail west, across the Serpent's Sea, and the Castillians made a huge effort to recruit and supply expeditions, seeing great opportunity to extend their influence before anyone else was ready.

Unfortunately, it didn't work all that well. While some Odisean merchants were able to set up on the eastern Nahucan shores, other attempts to bring home the wealth of Aztlan dailed miserably. Many ships never got there, distracted by the Atabean or waylaid by pirates. Others landed, but were destroyed by the jungles before making any contact. EVentually, well-funded groups did manage to probe the heartlands of Aztlan, usually making contact with the Tzak K'ani before heading inland to Nahuaca or Kuraq. Most of these parties died to disease, natural hazards or local resistance, but enough succeeded in making someone extremely wealthy that they kept coming.

One such expedition was funded by Don Fernando Medellin, a minor Castillian noble who hit on the grand and certainly not stupid idea of pretending to be a god in Aztlan to win local support. Unfortunately, the god he was impersonating happened to be around that day and didn't appreciate it. While he was shown mercy the first time, he was so certain of his plan that he tried it again further south, ran into the god a second time and get fucking smited. Other adventurers also failed. Franco Gonzalez, a poor but ambitious explroer, managed to become the first to meet the Empress of the Kuraq, where he decided to try and play the god gambit too. He wasn't killed - just chased out and humiliated. He spent five years brooding, then returned to kill as many Kuraq as possible. Little is known of how that ended for him, though the few terrified survivors of his group claim that he and his murderous followers were torn apart by the corpses of those they killed. Several other expeditions have vanished in the Tzak K'ani jungles. The locals just say this shit happens sometimes. Some Castillians believe it is a conspiracy by the Tzak K'ani to kidnap or kill them, but to anyone who actually pays attention it's clear that the jungles are just an awful, awful place that you want to avoid.

Despite these early issues, relaitons have settled into a cautious piece, with each continent making the best of what they can. Merchants, priests and scholars have had the best lot of it, trading goods and knowledge and ideas. The Theans who dreamed of colonial conquest have largely been thwarted by luck, military failure and gods. Castillians are easily the most dominant Thean group in Aztlan, and a few have even managed to integrate themselves into local politics. Don Francisco Schulz, son of a Castillian noblewoman and an Eisen war hero, set out to conquer, but quickly realized that conquest wasn't a great plan in Aztlan. Now, he serves as a local guide to new Theans in Nahuaca, as he knows all the local merchants, speaks the local lanauge and owns a large house in the city of Pepechotlan, which he claims was given to him by the Great Speaker himself.

Aztlan and Theah have deeply influenced each other. The potato has been imported from Kuraq and found a ready home in Eisen areas ravaged by the War of the CRoss, as well as as Ussura and Inismore. The Inqusitiion shouts angrily about 'Legion's Apple' but pretty much no one is listening to that. Tomatos were brought to Vodacce, and have now become extremely popular in sauces for pasta. Marinara has been invented and is much beloved. Thean livestock has proven vital to the Aztlani, with horses and oxen allowing the Nahuacan Alliance to cultivate ever-larger areas and expand their food production. Thean agricultural techniques have entirely replaced Tzak K'ani slash-and-burn farming, and manure has replaced ash as fertilizer, with crop rotation and single-crop fields replacing the old mixed plantings of maize, squash and beans. Kuraq farmers are growing Thean crops in research stations, experimenting with soil and temperature to decide which ones are suitable for general cultivation.

Next time: Modern Aztlan

The New World - Today In The Land Of Unmappable Jungles

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Today In The Land Of Unmappable Jungles

Modern Aztlan is, of course, not without its dangers and troubles that have very little to do with ancient history in practical terms. Each of the three nations have their own strengths and weaknesses, and all of them are afraid that war will break out across the continent - a fear encouraged by the Kuraq spies and saboteurs in the other two nations, and the Alliance's sheer military might. The Tzak K'ani, of course, trust each other even less than their foes. Despite all this, there is still hope. The Kuraq rebellion grows daily, and Tzak K'ani diplomats and mediators believe that the Alliance's refusal to just attack immediately is a sign of political maturity at long last. First contact with Theah has done much to remind the Aztlani that they aren't alone in the world and that they are more like each other in many ways that matter.

The gods now lurk in the background, meddling in mortal affairs with little care for the politics of the nations or even those of foreign visitors. They are unknowably vast creatures, potent beyond reason, who are as likely to pick out a hero and order them on a quest as to destroy a royal lineage to prove a point to some other god. They do whatever they like, and Aztlani heroes know that opposing them is a risky thing indeed, though sometimes standing up to a god is necessary.

You might expect the Aztlani to have open shipping lanes in the west, heading to Fuso and Kammerra for spices and silks. Rumor has it that once, the Aztlan Empire did trade with the lands that would become Khitai, but after the Fall, such expeditions became exceptionally rare. Castillians who came seeking western passage to Cathay were shocked to learn that western travel is nearly impossible. While the Nahuacan Alliance and Kuraq Empire both have shipping lanes up and down the west coast, neither heads further west. If asked to explain, they simply say that ships that sail into the western sea do not return. Theans who have tried the journey despite their warnings rarely return themselves. One who did, Captain Angela Ines Sancha de Solando, said her crew was devoured by a darkness that rose out of the sea itself, though she refused to speak of anything else she had seen, save for one phrase: los baldios negros.

The jungles and deserts move and shift often, revealing ruins left behind, often Syrne in origin. The New World is renowned in Theah for its uniquely numerous and distinctive Syrneth sites, often coated in untranslatable glyphs and runes and of an architecture unlike any Syrne ruin in Theah, Ifri or the Crescent. When Thean archaeologists came, many believed the runs were the creation of some other, non-Syrne race, perhaps a competitor of the Syrneth. However, as they conferred with their Aztlani counterparts and explored the connections between the ruins, the truth became clear - the Syrne made these as surely as the Star Map of Montaigne, the Vodacce Catacombs and the Aeries of Ussura.

The Inquisition may work to eradicate the artifacts and treasures of the Syrne, but others are trying to find the truth, working closely with Aztlani scholars (most of whom are Nahuacan or Tzak K'ani). In Nahuacan, Ayotia is the home of the biggest depost of intact ancient machines in the nation - or, perhaps, the continent. It was a peninsula long unexplored by the Nahuacan, but drew much attention after Thean contact. Nahuacan archaeologists had given up on the site due to the danger of the machinery, and merely took casts of the etched runes on the outside of the machines. When the Theans learned of them, however, the Nahuacan were happy to give directions in the knowledge that the foreigners would likely fail and, if they did find something new, the Nahuacan would reap the benefits. What they ended up with was a lot of unskilled workers, extremely opinionated Castillians and Dr. Corker O'Shae.

Corker is easily the main archateologist from Theah working in Aztlan now. She is Inish but Castillian-trained, and it's because of her dedication that Theans know much of anything about the ancient machines. She works closely with the Nahuacan to maintain one of the biggest dig sites in Aztlan, on the southern peninsula of Nahuacan territory. Her 1662 thesis revolutionized the view on Syrne ruins for both continents when she proved that the stone used to make the machines had not been carved, but rather molded and shaped, as if it were steel. Her work, copublished with Nahuacan researchers, discredited many earlier theories that the sites were not machinery but merely decorations made by Aztlani using primitive tools. She turned the entire Thean consensus on its head and has inspired a generation to prepare to come to the New World in pursuit of collaborations. She is often found with her hair tied back in a braid or ponytail, wearing a broad hate to shade her pale skin and with an almost stereotypical dark coat and light shirt. One of her Nahuacan partners, Xihnahui Xihuitl, has given her the nickname Itotia, 'the woman with hat,' which O'Shea claims to hate but actually loves. Her work is, in theory, about getting tenure back in CAstille, but her work on the peninsula is consuming her, and she is unwilling to delegate for fear of the Inquisition. (She has also apparently gotten into a complicated relationship with Xihnahui.)

In the east, a group of Thean and Aztlani archaeologists have around a dozen or so digs throughout Tzak K'an, as the jungle shifts and reveals new ruins. The most notable is run by Finnen "Finnegan" O Beigleighinn, in the jungle west of Olom Pa'. The Olom site is a prominent dig by the Txak K'ani chapter of the Explorer's Guild, led by Ix Tukun. Finnegan is less interested in old machines and more in human-scale artifacts, which often has him dealing with dangerous materials. Olom is a huge underground ruin, and it's all the puzzle he could ever want. His companion, Riley O'Lochlainn, does not like the caves. She's the one that has to fight the monsters there when Finnegan finds trouble, after all. She's a young Inish boxer who is renowned in Tzak K'an for her bravery and cheer, and she's saved the Olom expedition many times by squeezing into small spaces, fighting monsters or beating up Inquisitors or thieves. Finnegan is a graduate of Castillian universities, trained by Eduardo Villalobos de Inez y Lobianco, one of the original Explorers. Villalobos is too old to head to Aztlan himself, but Finnegan tries to keep him updated. He is unaware that many of his letters have been intercepted by the Inquisition, which now plans to assault and seize the dig.

Caxazul is the primary ruin being investigated by Atlani archaeologist Ix Tukun. It was already an important cultural site, but Ix uncovered evidence linking the Aztlani ruins to their Thean counterparts, and she believes she has found a gateway the Syrne used to travel between the two continents. She is a founding member of the Aztlani Explorer's Society, having traveled in Theah as a youth, and she has been calling for more resources, which the Society happily sends - especially its Porte mages, who are eager to learn more about this supposed gateway. However, Caxazul is a politically volatile site, due to its cultural heritage, and it's hard even for locals to do research there.

The Kuraq Empire has little in the way of Syrne research being done by Theans, as the Empress has decreed she will not tolerate any Thean intervention in Teqsimuyu and also discourages her own people from doing independent archaeology. Rebels, desperate for resources, will occasionally work with Theans who will pay goods or money for access, but few permanent digs exist. Inquistor Calderon has recently reached out to the Empress in hopes of allying with her. He has proposed to trade money and weapons in exchange for Inquisitorial access to Kuraq's Syrneth sites. The Empress is suspicious, of course, but cannot deny that he is the enemy of her enemies...but then, she views most of the world as enemies. She has yet to reach a decision.

The old machines are, in general, the most puzzling of the Syrne sites. They are scattered across the continent, immense devices of crystal, obsidian or hemtite shaped to some unknown purpose. Thean efforts to map and explore them have expanded, but there's much still unknown. The Aztlani believe them to be more than just ruins in foreign architecture. Their attempted translations of some writings and their study of certain arfifacts found inside suggest the struectures have some unified purpose. They have no idea what purpose this is, however, though it might be tied to the Fall. Investigating the machines is more difficult than it first appears, however. Things go missing or are destroyed around such sites, and entire expeditions have vanished. Someone or something seems to want to keep the ruins a secret.

The Aztlani Empire was itself vastly more advanced than modern societies in Aztlan or Theah. Much was lost to the Fall, but even now, Aztlan has more advanced technology in some areas than Theah does. Thanks to interactions with the gods and attempts to recreate Aztlani Empire writings, the Aztlani have advanced math, art, science and architecture. Their weapons, armor and ships may seem primitive compared to Thean goods, but they're functional enough, imbued with potent magic, and the Aztlani have never been sailors anyway. Their engineering is something else entirely. Irrigation, sewage and architecture are quite advanced, and their music and art rivals that of even Montaigne. Their rich quantities of precious metal and stone are used for decorations and jewelry, and their medicine, astronomy and physics are quite advanced, though less so than their archaeology, which many Aztlani consider sacred. The Aztlani are in awe of their own past as much as the future, if not more, and all seek to understand the lost god-kings.

Thean weapons have proven very useful to Aztlani armies on the tactical level, of course. Their cavalry tactics are somewhat limited by the terrain, but still embraced, and a massive horse breeding tradition has begun in Nahuaca and Tzak K'an. They raise smell, hardy breeds able to handle the heat and climates of Aztlan, and the idea of the baggage train was a welcome innovation, with horse-drawn wagons now in much use for transporting supplies and soldiers. The KJuraq prefer mass infantry, which may be why their neighbors seek cavalry superiority. Kuraq's focus has been on studying gunpowder, and when they learned that black powder was made out of bird guano, the offered the Vendel trader who mentioned it a king's ransom in gold for the secret. It's unclear whether he told them and took the gold or he was killed - certainly no one's seen the man since. While guns are in use by all Aztlani nations, they are still rare, and mostly traded on the black market. The Vendel League doesn't want them to have native-made guns, but the Kuraq are studying gunsmithing from pirates paid in gold, and it's clear that it won't be long before the locals can make guns by themselves.

Thean metallurgy has had a more mixed reaction. Nahuacan warriors are often trained to see their obsidian macuahuitls as extensions of themselves and have been slow to adopt steel weapons, as obsidian is no less good against lightly armored foes, and while they may be unsubtle, they are terrifyingly effective. If it isn't the equal to steel or dracheneisen for armor, well, the Aztlani aren't much for armor anyway. Only the Kuraq Empire has tkaen to steel with any real enthusiasm, seeing it as the natural progression from the copper spear and axe-heads they'd used more often than obsidian. The mountains of Kuraq are rich in iron ore anyway, and steel has proven easier for them to figure out than gunpowder.

Trade between Theah and Aztlan across the Ateab has grown massively, with each Thean nation aiming for the biggest share. Castille has te best trade routes so far, in part because they have more people in Aztlan than any other nation. For a time, their goals were humble insects - the cochineal bug, discovered on cacti by a CAstillian monk. Their powdered bodies produced a bright scarlet dye unknown in Theah and unequalled by any other dye. Vaticine vestments now use the dye, whose origins and production are closely guarded. However, l'Empereur has tried to steal the dye by employing sorcerers. When a few of these vanished and a few more were found dead in the rainforest, the dye craze cooled, and now, the Nahuacans have begun selling it to Montaigne at exorbitant prices. The other Thean nations are more interested in metals, rare woods and gems, which Aztlan has a lot of. CAstille handles most of its own trade, and its soldiers will often hire out to Montaigne and Eisen vessels looking for goods - if they can pay. For their part, the Aztlani are most interested in finished goods to reverse engineer and industrial techniques. The Vesten are extremely annoyed by the Aztlani hunt for knowledge over wealth, as it threatens their guild monopolies. The Nahucans and Tzak K'ani have benefited heavily from the introduction of horsedrawn cariages for overland trade, while Kuraq has had much less benefit for both political and technological reasons - their neighbors don't like them and their roads are bad for wagons. The Aztlani may lack in Thean shipwork, but they're catching up, making larger trade canoes and reed boats, even some double-hulled designs that can go out further. It's not going to be long before someone gets the bright idea to kidnap a shipwright for his skills.

Next time: Religion

The New World - Praise Gods

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Praise Gods

This section opens with an explanation by a converso from Kuraq (and an Inquisitor, albeit one who seems a decent sort) explaining that he converted because he had seen the culture that came from multiple gods, and the culture of Castille, and he saw their resistance to l'Empereur of Montaigne and wanted the same for Kuraq, so he felt conversion would help with that. However, it should be noted, the average priest in Aztlan considers Thean priests to be, at best, entertaining. Over the past century, many Aztlani have attended Thean services at some point, but few are able to bring themselves to worship a god that they can't tlak to. They find it odd that someone omnipresent and omnipotent will only use a handful of human intermediaries, the Prophets, rather than acting or speaking personally, even when those Prophets are murdered. After all, in Aztlan, the gods walk the earth and protect their people. Therefore why worship a god who does not?

Theans often find it appalling that the Aztlani seem to have so little respect for Theus. The Aztlani were often interested by the offer of salvation and bliss beyond the mortal coil, but after learning they couldn' speak directly to Theus, they tended to lose interest. Castillians were often shocked to learn that in Nahuacan religion, your afterlife is chosen by how you die rather than how you lived. Attempts by the Vaticines to learn how death and the afterlife work for Kuraq have been ignored and several early missionaries were disappeared. The fact that all Aztlani faiths are polytheistic in nature is often instinctively horrific to many Theans, who believe monotheism is progressive and any form of polytheism is inherently backward. Despite all this, Theans have insisted on sending missionaries to Aztlan in efforts to convert them, despite the fact that it fails fairly consistently. Some Aztlani find the idea of monotheism fascinating and do convert, but they're relatively rare. Recently, some Inquisitors have suggested that more Aztlani might respect Theus if his will were enacted more forcefully - a seductive idea, given the struggles missionaries often face.

In truth, both the Aztlani and Thean perspectives miss quite a bit and also have quite a few points. The Aztlani are correct that a theoretically all-powerful, all-knowing, all-benevolent deity must have answer for the horrors enacted in its name, such as the War of the Cross. However, there is also some merit to a god that allowps the flock to find their own way, providing only gentlue guidance. The War of the Cross may say more about Theah than it does aobut Theus. The priests of Nactlicue may argue that this is irrelevant - that the dead and the fields that burned don't care, of course. The Aztlani experience certainly does seem to agree with one thing - that understanding the horror humans can do is required for progress. Even Kuraq and Nahuacan agree with each other that the old gods punished their followers for laxness with natural disasters, or at least that divine interference played a role in the Fall.

To the extent that the Kuraq will discuss any theology with outsiders, they see their gods as forces of entropy, and they rarely speak kindly of the gods. The Tzak K'ani, on the other hand, fight each other at the order of gods, burning entire cities because the stars favor one god over another. The interventionist gods of Aztlan push humanity towards divine goals rather than human ones, anf attributing the Fall to the divine means that the locals do not have to take much view of their own role in it, if there was one. HJowever, these gods have also protected their people from the greed of Theans, and it is impossible to say how much worse things might have been without them.

The War of the Cross greatly reduced the amount of Theans coming to Aztlan, but the Vaticine has become quite interested in them afterwards. The Church has had no funding for widescale invasion, but have had some sucess in conversion, and Cardinal Verdugo has seized on these conversos by sending his old ally, Don Alanzo Ruiz Calderon, to Aztlan. Verdugo has declared that the Inquisition's purpose in Aztlan is to destroy Syrneth influence, claiming that the old machines and arfiacts are sorcerous, demonic things, and that the governments there are clearly corrupted by such influence. As such, Calderon must exercute the Pogrom, granting him broad authority over the Castillian military there and the Church presence. The Pogrom is an open secret, and many local parishes actively attemtp to resist, but CAlderon is a dangerous, persuasive man. The lack of centralized response from Aztlan's governments has made it worse - whenever he pisses someone off in one region, he just packs up and moves on, taking the best of the artifacts and resources he has access to.

Calderon operates with almost no oversight. Verdugo trusts him, and as long as the reports keep coming in about destroyed artifacts, he can do whatever he wants. If those reports are padded or favricated, no one in Castille knows. Calderon does destroy those artifacts he can't figure out how to to use or which are not useful to his goals. The others, however, he collects as weapons, in the ventual goal of using them to eradicate Aztlani heretics and expand room for Castillian colonies. Thankfully, his objectives prevent even those alliances that he might otherwise have made. He recently attempted to recruit Azeneth MEdellin, daughter of Don Fernando Medellin, but failed when she realized how committed he was to Verdugo. Medellin may want to destroy Apocoatl, but she's got no interest in widespread destruction of ruins or artifacts.

Long before Calderon took his current position, he killed Don Felipe Aldana, orphaning a pair of young men named Sebastian and Miguel Aldana de Soldano. Don Felipe had angered Calderon by taking a full tax on Calderon's many holdings. After the man's death, the boys were adopted by their distant aunt, Andrea Bejarano de Zepeda, who taught them how to fight and inducted them into Lost Vagabundos. After all, their father's murderer was rich, powerful and connected - they'd be in danger if she didn't train them. And so she gave them hope that they might, onde day, be avenged on Calderon. Calderon disappeared a few years later, and neither boy knew where he ended up. Still, Miguel, the more hot-headed brother, demanded that they scour the earth for him, and Sebastien would not allow his brother to do it alone. They reached Aztlan eventually, hearing of Calderon's actions, and worked with an expat named Tomas Ruiz del Gallegos, though he operated under the name Vaughm Santez, who told them that Calderon had managed to get his hands on a mask of El Vagabundo after murdering Santez's friends. Santez, the sole survivor, said the mask had been heading to Kuraq, where Los Vagabundos and Die Kreuzritter had come together to help resist the undead empress. Santez was a Kreuzritter agent that had volutneered to deliver the mask, but he'd been betrayed. Sebastian and Miguel swore to help retrieve the mask and get their revenge, and they know work out of Tzak K'an, where rumor has it that Calderon has secretly taken over a city-state and plans to start a huge civil war. The boys now play the part of idiot bravos, drinking and playing around in Pojok K'anche in an fefort to get Calderon's attention and distract him so Santez can steal the mask before they get their revenge.

So before we discuss what the gods are, let's say what they aren't. Many Thean scholars have prorposed that they are manifestations or representations pf a single god, or that different gods are just reinterpretations of the same god by different cultures. This is not true. The Aztlani gods are not manifestations or representations. They are living beings, complex and with distinct abilities and desires. In many ways, their personalities resemble those of humans, and they can take on human form, but they have power, knowledge and perceptions far beyond those of humanity. The primary reason for this misunderstanding is because of Vaticines attempting toi reconcile their perspective with Aztlani ones, and attempt to make the gods play an equivalent role to Theus, often having difficulty accepting the idea of hundreds or even thousands of individual, distinct and accessible deities.

The Aztlani don't even see religion the same way. For most Theans, religion is something you do. You go to Mass, you learn the credo, you get baptized, you get married, that's religion. The Azlanti know that the gods are real, not just some idea to believe on or some outside judge. They are real, immortal beings of immense power that demand - and deserve - worship. When you pray, you are not speaking to a void, you are communicating with a divine being. The gods are always listening, and sometimes they talk back. The entire structure of the Aztlani worldview is built on this experience of divinity. Faith is not a concept they understand - the gods exist. Period. It's a fact, like chairs. After the Fall, it was the gods who explained the structure of the world to the Aztlani, who told them their history and the truths that are the basis for their advanced science. However, the gods are not infallible. They are immortal, but they have the same foolish passions and worries as people. Some have even died, though they can easily return to life in the same way a human can wake up from a sleep. The death experience is not one any god wants, however, so they avoid as much as normal people, if not even more.

While the minds ot the gods are, in many ways, unknowable, they share the same basic desires as any person. They want to enjoy their existence, be honored by heir lessers and be respected by their peers. Any time circumstances intrude on this, bad things tend to happen. This is the main reason the Aztlani are so devout in their practice of religion - they know that without their devotion, the gods will let bad things happen to them. Aztlani gods are extremely powerful, and while some choose only to take on a few followers - maybe just one nation or even just a few cities - most desire the worship of all humans, and so they appear to anyone willing to listen. You can find various aspects of these gods worshipped in most every nation in Aztlan, often under different names, so that a death god of Kuraq is known to the Nahuacan by a different name entirely. There is only one god that refuses to play by these rules - Apocoatl, the great feathered serrpent. His form may be different to each nation, but his name never is. Some say he is one of the old gods, somehow still of the world, while others say he is just the most potent of the new gods. Either way, he's clearly a head above the other deities.

Next time: Cosmic Truth

The New World - Cosmology

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Cosmology

The gods teach that reality is a single unit in which all things are interconnected. All life has a role to play. All Aztlani creation myths posit that the world was made by a creator, either a parent god or possibly gods, who either disappeared or sacrificed themselves as part of the process of creation. The world was the result, populated by the living gods and mortals. The god-kings that follower the creator worked within the creation, despite their power, and even they had to honor the creator's sacrifice. However, this doesn't mean the universe is stagnant or unchanging. Far from it. The Aztlani hold that the entire universe is a cosmic cycle of death and rebirth, as shown by the sun's rise and set, the moon's wax and wane, the growth and harvest of seeds.

In theory, all of reality can be reduced to a dynamic balance of opposition. Life and death, chaos and order, that kind of thing. All are a part of it, and no force may exist without its opposite. The role of the gods is to watch over large parts of reality, such as the stars or the natural cycles. By their efforts, the world remains habitable. The gods may not violate this order, and so wise Aztlani do not pray to them for anything but that they continue to preserve reality. If a drought comes, the gods cannot send rain, because the drought has a cause. Perhaps a ceremony was not done properly. Thus, all that can be done is to ensure that things are done properly next time, so the next drought does not happen; the gods fixing it would require them to bend reality to human will, and they aren't going to do that.

In Aztlani religions, there are considered to be three main parts of reality, three separate spheres of existence - interconnected, but apart from each other. They exist independently, and typically the inhabitants stay in their own realm, but they are close enough to move betweeen them. These worlds are not found in the cardinal directions, and geographical orientation is useless in describing them. The Overworld and Underworld aren't up or down - those names denote their status. The exact specifics and names may vary between cultures, but the Aztlani agree on some general characteristics of these worlds.

The Overworld is the dwelling of the gods. It is from here that the gods rule over nature, and it is here that the sun, moon and stars exist in their primordial form. Thus, careful observers may determine the movement of gods based on the movements of planets and stars. It is generally considered that the Overworld contains multiple strata, usually 13 layers, and that the uppermost is always the one the gods live in. According to the Kuraq, only the noble may enter this area after death, while in Tzak K'an, it is said that this honor is given to those who die in battle or to women who die in childbirth.

The Middleworld is the physical world. The Nahuacan say it is on the back of a giant marine monster that is also a giant toad, while in Tzak K'an it is said to be just one of many realities that can be considered a Middleworld. Besides the cardinal directions, it contains one major location of importance: the Axis Mundi. Each culture says it lies somewhere different, but all agree that it is in Aztlan and is the true center of the world. It is vital, for it is the point from which the directions radiate and which connects the three realms. Most beliefs hold it to be the most appropriate place from which to communicate with the gods, and therefore a lot of work has gone into building great temples where it is believed to be, which generally also end up becomign the political centers for their nation, except for that of the Nahuacan, who believe the axis mundi was inhabited and destroyed by the god-kings of the Aztlani Empire.

The Underworld is where the dead go. It is commonly said to be of nine distinct, descending levels, through which souls must journey to find their resting place, usually on the lowest level, or they transcend to the overworld. It is widely believed to be possible to enter the Underworld via certain geographic landmarks, often caves or lakes. These, especially the watery ones, are often said to have healing properties. However, the Underworld is also a place of decay and disease, full of terrible punishments. Most Aztlani scholars or priests say that these are required to purify the soul for its ultimate destination. Still, tales of the Underworld are usually considered not to be for the faint of heart. Of course, Kuraq disagrees, dealing with dead spirits on a daily basis. They believe that the others are idiots that squander the greatest power.

While every Aztlani culture has its own gods, calendars and beliefs, there are a few ceremonies that are widespread. Because the Aztlani hold that all things are connected and that humans exist to serve the gods by worship, the core of Aztlani religion is not about belief and faith, but about responsibility. You know the gods exist, and that you exist to empower them to maintain reality. Therefore, it is your duty to offer your thoughts, prayers and sacrifice to sustain them. This is seen as a mutually beneficial relationship. Humans give of themselves for the gods, who then preserve reality for humans to live in. This cycle is the core of Aztlani life.

Besides this practice of personal worship and devotion, there are also communal ceremonies. These tend to be transcendantal rituals with immediate results, provided by the divine conduit that helps to bridge the mortal and divine. The rains may come, the winds may shift, the sun may darken. The deity involved may even appear in physical form, if the ritual was of great significance. The rituals vary by culture or even city, as even small communities have gods with personal ties to them. Generally, however, they all follow a certain pattern of activities done in the same order, generally with an obsessive attention to detail. A few steps are nearly universal for large or important ceremonies.

First is the Declaration of Purpose, in which participants attempt to connect to the chosen deity. No manifestation of power has yet happened, but the step creates a vital state of mind to commune with divinity. Typically this includes a sort of pre-gamed prayer, meditation or chant, often in a separate location, to prepare for the ritual itself. Once this is done, the Establishment of Protection is performed. This ensures the safety of both the ritualists and the god, and typically involves both physical and mystical protections. Once a ritual is started, it tends to be hard to stop, thanks to these protections. Often, this involves renewing or inscribing sacred markings. Next is the Banishment of Unwanted Beings, in which the ritualists ensure no other spirits can interfere. This is because every ritual involves the offering of power, usually in the form of a figurative sacrifice, which can attract unwanted entities. Typically, they are warded against by communal prayer, chant or dances designed for the purpose. As a note - this is no longer human sacrifice. Human sacrifice was once common, but has now been almost universally abandoned, and its practice is publicly despised by most priests.

Once all of the above conditions have been met, the leader of the ritual enters the Trance stage, briding the mortal and divine. While all ritualists have equal responsibility for the rite, only the chosen conduit may communicate with the god effectively, in both directions. This is always very taxing both physically and mentally, which is why it is done only by the trained. Often, the conduit loses consciousness, speaks in tongues or dances to nonexistent music. After the ritual is completed, the Closing is performed to sever the conduit's connection, in order to prevent others from abusing it. This is usually similar to the banishment stage, but often in reverse, breaking or erasing marks made during cleansing and liberating the energies involved. Finally, the Recovery and Restoration phase is performed, to return ritualists to a greater sense of self, removing the state of divine liminality. Typically the leader of the ritual will perform a secret series of sounds or gestures to 'awaken' the others. All of these may be done very differently as needed, and are often more organic than a step-by-step list.

Besides specific ritual, the Aztlani also have festivals - loosely structured ceremonies that are now in common use and whose meaning has largely been lost by all but those who are conduits or who care about esoterica. They are, therefore, the easiest experiences of divinity to take part in, even for children or outsiders. These are public exultations of the gods, reenactments of their tales by music and dance and story. They are times of celebration and education. They typically honor all the gods, though a few are dedicated to a single god and done only on specific days. Festivals usually correspond to astronomical events or seasonal patterns. The Nahuacan also often celebrate after military victories, while Tzak K'ani festivals are strictly calendrical. Local festivals are banned in Kuraq, as the Empress seeks to focus everyone only on state-sponsored festivals. The sacrifices involved are almost always symbolic, and the priests will generally, if pressed, explain that it was never about flesh and blood, but about devotion and surrender to a higher power. There are various stories about why the shift from real human sacrifice to symbolic sacrifice happened, but all tend to agree it was a shift due to negotiation with the gods. The symbolic sacrifice is maintained as a preservation of tradition, and general involves the burning of effigies or ritualized slaughter of animals, which are then cooked and eaten by the festival-goers.

Next time: Conduits

The New World - THE CONDUIT

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7th Sea 2e: The New World - THE CONDUIT

Aztlani expect that only properly trained people can bridge the mortal and divine worlds. These people have many titles and names across many cultures, but their job is universal: maintain the connection between human and god. They are kings, queens, priests, oracles, shamans, healers and diviners. As a general term, they are conduits. All cultures agree that their job is of great import, requiring only the best, most trustworthy and trained people. This is even more important when they're also the rulers. Because these are usually elected by a council (as in Nahuaca) or directly appointed after death (as in Kuraq), their training is even more rigorous than those of 'normal' conduits. Conduits keep communication open, lead rituals and help praise the gods. However, because the gods can also walk physically in the world, they can also just choose people to talk to, who do not need to be conduits. Indeed, the gods often select people who have no formal training at all to teach lessons for them.

Children that wish to enter divine service are required to receive at least some formal education, whether that means a priestly academy or a mentor of great wisdom. This education generally covers a wide variety of things, such as literacy, astronomy, music, dance, proper etiquette in addressing gods and ritual performance. The aspiring conduit must also pass a number of tests designed to show their knowledge, wisdom and humility. Only a few ever finish this basic training, and even those that fail are considered to be wise, knowledgeable people in whatever they decide to do after. While priests are the most common conduit, they are not the only ones, and a culture may acknowledge several roles that serve as conduits. For those that pass their tests, well, now they have to dress and act the part for their superiors while serving as assistants to more experienced conduits. Those that survive this intensive on-the-job training end up taking on the full role of conduit almost without realizing it. They're just given more and more responsibility until one day they realize they're doing the job without ever really having been formally told their apprenticeship is over.

That said, being a conduit doesn't mean you get immediate access to the divine hotline. Conduits are chosen by the people, not the gods. The gods will talk to them, sure, but the gods also pick their own people to talk to. A conduit is just the community's chosen speaker. Even if they rarely directly commune with the gods, they hold great social power, and have a very serious responsibility to their people. The gods just rarely give a shit. Of course, the gods are most likely to give guidance to those that know the proper forms and rituals, which in theory should just be the conduits, but others interact with the gods directly anyway, as the gods decide they need a human for some reason or other.

Rulers, especially those seen as partially divine, are expected not only to deal in the mundane governance of a nation but also to speak to the gods on its behalf. Only one who understands the gods is worthy of rule, in Aztlani eyes. Thus, a ruler must not only be a skilled administrator, but also scholars of the divine, to use their power properly. That is why many Aztlani cultures see their rulers as semi-divine beings of exceptional nature. Some Theans misinterpret this as a cult of the ruler rather than a reaffirmation of their worthiness; the Aztlani are more than able to bring down a 'divine' ruler who proves no longer worthy.

The book now moves into a section written in character for the monsters bit. It is presented as excerpts from a Castillian explorer's notebook on Aztlani legends, and notes that most native Aztlani would not agree with many of his conclusions. The Ahuitzotl (rough translation: 'spiny aquatic things') resemble a dog, but with a hand on their tail, spikes, smooth black skin and an insatiable craving for parts of the human body. They prefer shallow waters, grab victims with the tail-hand, and drag them to the depths, then eat their eyes, nails and teeth, but nothing else. The locals claim they were made by the rain god Tlacatpochtli, and that they serve him. They eat those body parts, it is claimed, because that is where the soul lives, and they are to deliver chosen souls to their god. Oddly, neither they nor any other monster in this section receives stats.

The Ohuican Chaneque are a species of sprite-like creatures said by the Nahuacan to be nature elementals defending the land against intruders. They are able to shapeshift into various forms, and apparently attempt to lure people into the Underworld. It is said that those who escape them often have no memory of what happened in their absence, and they are often blamed for inexplicable disappearances. They are also claimed to have the power to terrify the soul out of the body, which they will then trap, causing the victim to die horribly if they cannot retrieve their soul. There is a similar Tzak K'ani species known as the Aluxo'ob, and there are also noted similarities to certain Castillian and Montaigne legends about deuendes and gobelins.

Quinametzin are said to be ancient giants, in Nahuacan legend, which built many immense, now-ruined pyramids. Many of these constructions have been deemed impossible by Thean architects, who can find no means by which such perfect structures should exist on such a large scale. Certainly the Nahuacan of today lack the technology to construct them. Nahuacan legend claims the Quinametzin were destroyed because they angered the gods and did not perform proper worship. Apparently there are a number of Nahuacans attempting to find descendants of the Quinametzin as part of the Nahuacan Restoration Movement, so that they can regain the technologies used by these lost giants. It is unclear if such descendants either exist or have that knowledge.

The Victims of Ehecah Totech are a group of people who received the attentions of the god Ehecah Totech, who is both lord of agriculture and plants, and of disease, war and flaying. The locals claim these people were skinned alive, that the god might wear their flesh. Skinless bodies left behind after this ritual do not die, but instead become a form of monster obsessed with stealing the skin of others to cover themselves with. However, their touch causes any skin they wear to decompose quickly, so their quest can never end. Fortunately, it appears that no new Victims have been made in a very, very long time.

B'olon T'oon, the Nine Strides, are not gods. They are the spirits of destruction that appear at the end of a world, at least according to the Tzak K'ani. They appear to have nine legs; just about all other reports on them are contradictory. Various groups have encountered them, but always under very bizarre circumstances and usually just before vanishing without much trace. There are no known survivors of any encounter with them, or at least none that remained sane. They appear to have some sort of message, but it is unclear what this message is.

Camazotz, the death bat, is both the name of a Tzak K'ani god and the name of the bats that live in the Tzak K'ani underworld, Xibalba. They are described as immense, skeletal bats who can tear off a human head in one strike. It is said that, if provoked, they can leave Xibalba in such numbers as to blot out the sun, and have done so at least three times in the past. They may also be found just wandering around outside any area that leads to the underworld - that is, any sufficiently weird cave or well. They are aggressive against outsiders and attack quickly. There also appears to be a related species of bat-winged person that brings the deals of Lord Tohil, presumably a god, which are never good.

The Manikin are said by the Tzak K'ani to be the remnants of the gods' first failed attempt to create humans. They are human-like beings carved from wood, who walk undetected amonst living people, but who do not speak and have only a mindless gaze. They don't appear aggressive or dangerous, though the author certainly seems to be terrified of the one he saw, which was a wooden copy of himself. It is unclear where the things come from or what they do.

Next time: More weirdo stories.

The New World - THE CONDUIT

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7th Sea 2e: The New World - THE CONDUIT

The Tzak K'ani say that Terra is just one in an array of worlds, and they speak of the Pet Mo', the 'descendants' of a deity that is no more. This name is used in reference to 'the One True Sun,' shot from the sky by the Hero Brothers of lore. For some reason, a Vodacce treasure hunter is looking for these descendants, beings said to possess some of the same power as the original Pet Mo' deity, seeking knowledge of the "previous" world that predated Terra. Apparently the Pet Mo' can give this knowledge, for a price, though it is unknown what that price might be, nor what other abilities they have inherited.

The amaru is a large, two-headed serpent, with one bird head and one puma head. These creatures have been seen around the Kuraq Empire, and seem to have the ability to vanish or teleport. The locals claim they can transcend the earthly plane and go beyond, probably to the Ukhu Pacha, as the Kuraq Overworld is known. It is said that the amarus may be the guardians of paths to this celestial realm. They are also identified as servants of Suway, the god of Death and patron of Kuraq's Empress. Some even say they serve as the god's eyes and ears, which would make them very powerful tools of the empire, if true.

The Inkarri are those leaders of the Kuraq who die and are not mummified, thus trapping them in the physical world and denying them their right to become ancestors. These beings are dead and dismembered, but remain alive. It is claimed by some that, in life, they angered the rulers of Kuraq, and it was feared what they might do in the afterlife, so they were dismembered and had their body parts buried in far-off locations, that they might never communicate their will to their descendants. It has not worked, if so. The Inkarri vow to rise again and take revenge on those who offend them. One legend says they were "pieced together by the Death God in the bellies of the lost city of Kachu Paul" - and using their patched together bodies, they now seek out vengeance.

The Kuraq claim that the previous world ended in a terrible flood brought down by the gods, though they don't say why. The story merely says that the creator, Ninaq'ara, summoned many spirits to unleash the flood around Lake K'ayra, and only two humans were saved, who have lived in the area since. These are Nawpaq and Iskay, who warn the Kuraq that if they do not repent of their wicked ways, the Unu Pachakuti, the water spirits of the last flood, will come again. Many ignore them, but others fear that if they don't do something soon, the floods will come and kill them all, pointing to the recent climatic disasters and heavy rains as proof.

The Oqe Phutiy are spirits associated with a belief that the wak'as, the sacred places, are angered by the presence of foreigners. They are said to possess some Kuraqs, causing them to dance and speak cryptic messages declaring that all Theans must be driven from Aztlan. They speak in strange voices and claim to be the will of the wak'as. Some reports also have the locals worshipping these manifested wak'as, but others do not.

The chapter then has a section on notably dangerous deities, again written in character. Ayar Kochi is the brother of Manqu Chapaq, and he is known to be a giant trapped under the Hark'apa Mountains, imprisoned by his brothers within the Llakipakuy Caverns. It is unclear why, though the Kuraq agree it was probably related to his violent behavior. He is said to be extremely strong, able to destroy a mountain with one hurled stone. His brother, Manqu Chapaq, is no longer alive, but speaks through various vessels and says it is imperative that Ayar not be allowed to escape, no matter the cost. He has offered great riches to any who will go into the caverns and ensure that Ayar is safely locked away and sleeping. An entire priesthood remains dedicated to him, hidden in the Kuraq armies, and pray to him for strength.

Nacatlicue, the Deadly Mother of the Nahuacans, wears a skirt of writing snakes and many necklaces of human hearts, hands and skulls. She is the meeting point of life and death, and she was slain by her daughter Coyolxuahqui with the aid of 400 of her other children. Even in death, she brought forth the god Huitzilopochtli and swore to slay all her betrayers. And so, as her head was severed, the patron god of the Nahuacan emerged to avenge her. After this, she continued to exist, though her beautiful face was replaced by two bloody snake heads. She brings both life and death, and her wrath continues to grow against her traitor children. If it were unleashed, no one could be certain who would be caught up in it. She is worshipped across Aztlan, and she is known to guide the Nahuacan in agriculture and farming. While her priests no longer perform blood sacrifices, they are happy to post-hoc declare her blessing over deaths in her name.

Lum Pak' and Cabrakan are the gods of Deepest Earth and Earthquake respectively. The Tzak K'ani say Lum Pack' is a giant caiman, so potent he could make mountains until he was turned to stone by the Hero Brothers. Even now, mountains occasionally just appear, then vanish some time later, which suggests he has broken free somehow. His counterpart is even more dangerous, with no regard for life or worship, though there are currently fewer earthquakes in the area now that the mountains have apparently started moving. This might be good or bad. Both gods have a handful of worshippers, but Cabrakan does not speak to his followers, ever, save for the rare and confusing vision. Lum Pak' meets with his priests regularly in the city-state of Yok'ol. While Most Tzak K'ani do not believe any would truly worship him, the cult of Lum Pak' exists and is quite dangerous.

Next time: the Nahuacan Alliance

The New World - Conquest

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7th Sea 2e: The New World - Conquest

The Nahuacan Alliance has proven its might in battle and conquest. It stretches from the eastern shore to the west, united all of the many Nahuatl-speaking states of Aztlan - whether they want it or not. The Nahuacans have a rigid social hierarchy, yet also a strong appreciation of heroism and excellence regardless of class. Their sorcerers wield powers derived from the heart of their culture and the beasts of their land. Their armies have subjugated every state in their region. They are strongest - it is what it means to be Nahuacan. However, they are now at risk from within. Chichahua Tlatoa, the Great Speaker, is young and untested. He lacks the influence and power of his predecessors. The leaders of the Eagle and the Jaguar, the two greatest military forces of Nahuaca, are fighting to control him, either by influence or conquest. He knows they plot against him, but he can do nothing to stop them. It is only a matter of time before one makes an overt move. Nahuacan is a nation of culture, order, wealth and security - and a nation of robbery, tyranny and uniformity. It is home to great heroes and to great villains.

The current Alliance spans the full northern third of the continent. While it covers a wealth of environments, most of its interior is hot, dry and arid, full of deserts cut through with roads and way-stations between its great cities. The people of the Alliance are not a monoculture, but the Alliance is as much a cultural thing as a civic one. Some things remain consistent. Most of the history of Nahuacan's origins is about conquest and battle. Before the battles, though, was the doomed Aztlani Empire. It was a time of myth and mystery, and many of the core Alliance states claim to be the inheritors of the Empire. Others say that the Aztlani Empire was an entirely different people, a progenitor culture whose life is now unknowable. The Nahuacan do agree on one thing about them, though: they know why they failed. At the height of Aztlani power, the imperial government, ignored by the decadent god-kings, grew complacent and undisciplined. Petty crime was rampant, and bandits and witches seized political power shamelessly. The imperial armies were thinly spread and ineffective at keeping the peace.

Feuds tore the Aztlani Empire apart, and the god-kings, who would not lead with purpose, failed to intercede as their empire fell to simultaneous natural disasters. Only one coalition of families, associated by friendship, kinship and marriage, managed to flee into the wilds. They found caverns under a mountain, where they could survive, sheltering in a system of seven caves. As the Aztlani Empire burned around them, they slowly reverted to the ways of their ancestors - hunting, gathering, hiding from predators and bad weather. Long after the Fall, four beings entered the caves, calling the elders of the families there. One had skin black as obsidian and eyes like sparks. One was blue, like fire. One had no skin, her bloody muscles exposed to all. And the last was a white-feathered serpent with calm and sad eyes. They said they were four children of an ancient god, a casualty of the lost age, and that they were the new gods, come to protect humanity from itself and lead them back to civilization.

The people who would name themselves Nahuacans came forth from the cave, desperate and afraid but trusting these new gods. When enemies came from the south, the god of blue fire uncoiled his belt into a kilometer-long burning serpent, scourging the foes and sending them fleeing into the night. When enemies came from the east, the bloody goddess seeded the land with her blood, bringing forth great cacti to ward off the foes. When enemies came from the north, the black goddess breathed forth a blinding mist, then sent moths and bats with wings of obsidian to stab the foes to death in the confusion. When enemies came from the west, the serpent-god grew to the size of a great pyramid and devoured them all.

Even at that ancient time, the weapons and armor of the Aztlani Empire was legendary, unable to be replicated after the Fall. The fine weapons they had made were scattered to the winds. The Nahuacans had few of them and could make no more. Instead, they learned to use what they found around them to fight. They made simple yet deadly weapons from obsidian and copper, armor out of plants and feathers. They learned the ways of the forest, studying new tactics to outmaneuver better-armed foes - skills they would later use several times to defeat Thean forces. Every Nahuacan, even children and elders, learned to fight. Even the young and old could set spears against a charge, while greater warriors stood ready for anything more complex. They learned which techniques worked best, drilling in every spare moment. The Nahuacan military tradition was born out of fear and desperation, but it worked, and it has lasted, unbroken, to today.

The Aztlani Empire had feared magic, which was used only by hedge wizards and witches on the edge of civilization, who used wicked powers for the benefit of those too desperate to go anywhere else. The Nahuacans, now, were in that wilderness, had become those outsiders. They begged their gods to teach them sorcery, that they might be able to defeat evil on their own. The gods said magic was not evil, and would happily teach them how to use it. Each of the gods taught a different sorcery. Itzzohualli, the black goddess, taught the Nahuacans to see possible futures in a mirror hidden by a smoke curtain. The white serpent, Apocoatl, taught them to bring forth their souls in animal shapes, taking on the traits of a beast-totem or even summoning it. Fiery Tlehuitzin taught them to channel spells via arranged bird feathers, to protect against harm. And skinless Nacatlicue taught the power of sacrifice, that the death of something sacred to a god, or a death affected by a god's purview, could call forth an apotheosis and draw the dead to live again in the godhead. These powers spread through Nahuacan society, and their sorcerers could stand, spell for spell, against any witch. They used the divination to foresee enemy movements, used the power of beasts to move properly in battle, and sacrificed captives to strengthen their gods. In the modern day, many Nahuacans fear and reject such magics as dangerous, as the ancient Aztlani did, but no one can deny their worth after the Fall.

More and more people joined the Alliance, but the sheer numbers brought division and strained resources. Each of the four gods was strong and wanted worship of themselves above the others. In-fighting was common, as the gods encouraged their followers to attack each other. It took only a few years for the Nahuacan to fragment into four groups, each ruled by a different god and priesthood. Itzzohualli's people went north, where the volcanic valleys were thick with sacred obsidian. Apocoatl's people went west, where they began to dredge and clear the swamps, building temples above dark water and learning to use the plants for food and medicine. Nacatlicue's people went east, where they found rich grain fields and fertile lands. Tlehuitzin's people went south, where the hunting was good and the people were hardened by the dangers of the forest, using fine bird plumage to make art and magic.

In this time, the four great cities, Milllahco, Tecuehtitlan, Oloxochicalco and Nexhuatipec, rose to power. Many city-states rose around them, stockpiling weapons and worshipping other gods, though it was clear the four gods of Nahuacan had the true power. Oloxochicalco developed a standing army first, then Tecuehtitlan, as their surplus of food allowed them to separate out soldiers to train in martial arts and attack weak neighbors. The other two cities rushed to raise armies in response, but could not afford such large ones, instead focusing on smaller orders of elite troops. The specialists of Milllahco were the Ocelomeh, the Jaguar Knights, who were fast and stealthy, using poison and darkness to murder foes. Nexhuatipec's were the warrior-priest Cuaumeh, the Eagle Templars, who used magical feather suits that could block any blow and so became the heaviest, most durable of Aztlani fighters. Each state rushed to repay their gods for the glory, sacrificing crops, goods, animals and people to strengthen them. For centuries, the cities fought each other, no one rising over the others, as when one became strong, the other three would unite against them, then collapse to squabbling.

Each war brought with it new military technology, new tactics and strategies, and many new human sacrifices. At last, all four armies marched to battle at the intersection of their borders. Their gods towered over them, their manifestations made immense by sacrifice. However, before the first conch could sound the battle call, one officer emerged from the forces of Nexhuatipec and gave a speech saying he would not fight for the aggrandizement of a god, that he was tired of all the fighting, and that he was done, even if it meant he would be killed. He dropped his helmet and back banner and macuahuitl and just sat down. Tlehuitzin, the most warlike god, reached down and picked him up, lifting him to eye level - but rather than eat the man, the god agreed. The man was right, he said, and that while he loved war, war was only sacred when fought for an ideal or a passion or survival, and that the current wars had no import at all. And so, his priests strode forth to perform a ritual of sacrifice - but rather than a human, they broke their weapons in sacrifice. For the first time in centuries, the gods were reunited, and they sat upon the ruins and took the human leaders and spoke to them. The four city-states spoke as brothers and sisters once more, and the Nahuacan Alliance was formed. That warrior that spoke out first was named the Great Speaker, a new duty that placed him above any other in rank, and was given the new job of arguing with the gods on behalf of humanity.

One new law unified the Alliance: every human killed by other humans must die for the greater good of all, or must not die. There would be no more human sacrifice, even if this meant the gods should weaken. The gods, exhausted by the destruction of what they loved, agreed. Not that this meant the end of war for Nahuaca - far from it. The four martial traditions were now united, sharing their knowledge and skills. The seat of the Alliance was formed in the center, Pepechotlan, a neutral city meant for all gods equally, which would be home to the Great Speaker and elders of each of the four great cities. While each city continues even now to have vast political power, Pepechotlan is the city that unites them. The alliance has produced the most devastatingly effective army in Aztlan, and over the next two centuries, every nearby city-state would end up within the Alliance, either by diplomacy or armed conquest. Those who resisted faced the full brunt of the Nahuacan military, their capitals ravaged and rebuilt in the image of the Alliance.

Odisean explorers made first contact with the Nahuacan in 1576, when they set up coastal factories to make clothing, art and manufactured goods for trade with the locals. At first, it was all quite benign and profitable, though the Theans primarily wanted precious metals, rare woods and so on over Nahuacan crafts. (And also cochineal insects.) However, the Nahuacan grew nervous when they heard about Tzak K'ani talking of Thean technological marvels and plentiful iron. The Nahuacan looked over Thean weapons and materials, their heavy armor that broke obsidian blades and their guns and crossbows that could pierce any non-magical armor, their horses that were unstoppable in open land. They realized a Thean invasion could be catastrophic. This was not helped by the Castillian grandes that came seeking the wealth and artifacts that lay inland.

Next time: Thean Misadventures

The New World - Bad Decisions

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Bad Decisions

Thean contact brought some Theans attempting to conquer the Nahuacan. It did not go well. Lord Adan Armando, for example, had troops with poor morale due to the difficulty of travel, and while they were the superior force in open fields, thanks to horses and steel against feathered armor and obsidian, the Nahuacans refused to fight there. They fled at the sight of crossbows and guns, heading into the jungle. The Theans gave chase and soon realized it was a trap. Their horses were unable to operate in the jungle, and they were pinned down by arrows and slingstones. As they moved deeper, the Nahuacan skirmishers surrounded them, and the longer it went, the worse it got. Nahuacan forces could cross the jungle at amazing speed, using strategically placed supply caches to survive while the Theans struggled with the terrain and figuring out what animals were even safe to hunt. Eventually, Armando's expedition was lost, overwhelmed and outmaneuvered by Nahuacan elites. They were unable to retreat, cut off in the jungle, and those who didn't die to Nahuacan blades died to starvation or poisonous food.

Then there was Fernando Medellin, a minor noble who headed to the New World to escape his overbearing parents and low wealth. He'd been a failure as a lawyer, notary and merchant, and he eventually just gathered up a crew eager to avoid fighting in the War of the Cross, borrowed some money and set sail for Aztlan. He made landfall in a small Nahuacan state northeast of Oloxochicalco in 1631. The locals told him anything he wanted to know, explaining the Nahuacan Alliance and their resentment of its overbearing leaders, and described the gods, who often took on strange human forms and demanded tribute or obedience. Medellin came up with a plan without actually asking after that last bit too deeply. He would tell the "idolatrous savages" that he was the god Apocoatl in human form. Outright assault was clearly foolish, but this trick would work, surely.

Medellin gathered a few hundred allies from disaffected vassals of the Nahuacan Alliance, marrying a few local women who served as his translators. He had some initial problems, but nothing his superior weapons couldn't beat - he was only facing an overconfident militia, after all, who'd never dealt with steel or guns. And so, Medellin went into the great marketplace of Oloxochicalco. The locals had never before seen such pale skin or people with beards, so they gave him space. He spoke to them, declaring that he was Apocoatl, come to rule them. The crowd fell silent until a little girl came forward. She told him that, firstly, Apocoatl was a snake, not a man. Second, he was standing not 50 feet away. And, indeed, Apocoatl's serpentine visage emerged from the crowd. He had come to help alleviate a drought, but now he had some punishment to hand out. Being the gentlest of the Nahuacan gods, he simply had his followers chase Medellin back to sea. Everyone had a good laugh, confident Medellin had learned his lesson.

Then he pulled the same gambit in a different vassal state in the south. This time, Apocoatl and his priest set Medellin's face on fire in front of his shocked and horrified wife and child, cooking him alive. Apocoatl his not appeared to his priests since the event. His absence was kept secret at first, but now the rumor has spread - he has gone dormant beneath the swamps, sleeping off the memory of killing a human for the first time in centuries. Medellin's wife was Tzak K'ani, and she escaped back home with her child, swearing vengeance on the god that humiliated and killed her husband.

In the wake of that event, the Alliance has spent a few decades beefing up border security. The Ocelomah remain on alert in the east, coordinating the local militias and setting traps for any military expeditions. Nahuacan merchants in the Atabean or even Theah send home reports on troop movements. Despite all this preparation, the Nahuacan leadership remain worried. They know the Theans will learn to fight as they do before much longer. They cannot rest easy and assume that potential foes will not learn how to handle the terrain. Further, Medellin's daughter, Azeneth, has tried several times in the past few years trying to track down Apocoatl's resting place for revenge. Fortunately, her last attempt was stopped by the Theans Hieronimus Frederick von Wetherald and Sonja Adalgild, who were warned of her efforts by the Pochteca and felt obliged to stop her as fellow Theans. They tried to convince her to abandon vengeance, but could not. Sonja died defending her best friend in the ensuing battle.

So, how is the Alliance run? It is driven by a volatile equilibrium of ideals and beliefs, which fuel its vast bureaucracy. It must oversee an empire of many ethnicities - both Nahuacans and their smaller vassals. They are an exceptionally legalistic society, and while many joke about their labyrinthine bureaucracy, most truly respect the laws and customs that keep them united. The government is built on its judiciary. The judges are the most senior officials, having spent decades as couriers, secretaries, clerks, teachers and lawyers before receving their rank on the Supreme Court of Pepechotlan or one of the lesser courts in every city or town. Judges preside over pretty much any dispute, holding themselves to an exacting standard of fairness, honesty and wisdom. Nothing makes people more nervous than the possibility of judicial corruption. If a judge is found guilty of misconduct or gross incompetence, they may be executed or sentenced to life in slavery.

Slavery was the fate of Ehuatii, a highly placed judge on the Supreme Court whose clerk published evidence of eight years of bribes. He fled north to hide in the wilderness, where he now stays, sending minions to stir up unrest among the slaves of the Alliance. Many slaves are in favor of revolt for very good reasons, but few are aware their erstwhile revolutionary leader is doing it just because he wants to be back on top and doesn't actually care about abolishing slavery. (We also get a sidebar noting that Nahuacan courts are extremely lively places, and if the PCs end up in court, bombastic speeches, appeals to emotion and personal attacks are the norm for such scenes. Further, if they get convicted, judges have wide latitude in sentencing and are most likely to give actual heroes a chance to redeem themselves by taking on some kind of quest as their sentence, such as retrieval of an artifact or fighting off rebels or invaders.)

The judiciary run the elementary schools, which all citizens are required to attend as children. They were originally founded by the military to teach martial arts and first aid, so that everyone would be able to support the standing army, but the judiciary took over when the curriculum expanded to literacy, math and basic law as well. Most Nahuacan peasants are not fully literate, as the system is mostly meant to allow compliance with government edicts, but the bright and lucky can go from there to secondary school, advancing their place in society. The courts proper have two jobs. First, they use official inquests to check on the economies and lives of the people, and second, individuals, even of low rank, can sue each other. Larger courts have lawyers who help people with suits, though the best charge fees to help with court upkeep. Scribes and sculptors keep track of the records of all cases and rulings. In the past, judges and lawyers memorized these rulings, and the sculptors merely inscribed the most important facts in stone on public walls. However, since Thean contact, some jurisdictions have swapped to stoneless records, using the more convenient but perishable paper.

While the four main Nahuacan cities have defined courts with sitting judges, outlying villages or vassal states have a harder time maintaining permanent formal courts. Instead, they will be visited by traveling judges, who move along a circuit of towns, hearing cases at each stop and then moving on. They hear cases as they travel and will sometimes hold court on the road or do justice in the jungle. The Nahuacan deeply respect judges, especially the traveling ones, and they are given preferential treatment, lodging and food at any town they stop in. Many towns deal with minor issues on their own, asking for the judges to help only with terrible crimes or complex issues. Traveling judges also often take it on themselves to track down and catch dangerous criminals. Some judges stick to a single circuit to build rapport, but most travel the entire nation, rarely visiting any single town more than once a year.

The military represents the pride of Nahuacan, and it exemplifies both their great virtues and their worst flaws. Skill in strategy, tactics, melee combat and logistics are what earns most praise in Nahuacan society. Every child learns self-defense if able, and is expected to drill occasionally in case the militia needs them. Even small villages maintain an armory to use for fighting bandits or wild animals. Typically, peasants use slings and tepoztopilli, a form of long spear with obsidian blade for cuts and thrusts. The standing army is the real power, however. Teens can sit a special entrance exam for it to earn social rank. The top are invited to join priestly seminary, with all the responsibilities that entails. Those below them go to military academies - less rigorous and more dangerous, but definitely just as prestigious.

Military cadets learn full literacy, math, advanced weapon usage, tactics, strategy, logistics, rhetoric, negotiation and leadership. They are also taught basic crafting skills so they can be more self-sufficient on campaign. Cadets alternate between living at the academy and going out on patrols or campaigns under senior soldiers. Working as assistants to other soldiers teaches them practical skills in the field rather than just rote memorization. Even at the academy, however, training is extremely physical, with mock battles common and students vying to join wrestling and Ollamaliztli teams to get the attention of the upper ranks.

Next time: Life in the army

The New World - Armed Force

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Armed Force

Rank among the armed forces is measured in captives taken, expressed via uniform ornaments. In the time before the Alliance, this was the best route for advancement, as sacrifices needed to be living, and strong foes could count as multiple captives. Now, such sacrifice is forbidden, but capturing foes for questioning is still going to get you promoted, and they make good bargaining chips. Retired officers often become instructors or headmasters of military academies or seminaries, and it is rumored that the only reason Director Xochitl of the Ocelomeh has not herself retired to a teaching job is her suspicion of her counterpart, Grand Master Ome Tochtli of the Cuauhmeh. Ranking officers also often liaise with the merchant corps, who often serve as Nahuacan's scouts, diplomats and logisticians. In war, the army relies on caches of supplies and materiel stashed throughout their territory to prevent supply trains from becoming burdened and slow. Even in peace, vassals must maintain these or face a fine. (Or worse.)

The army is pretty much entirely infantry, divided into regiments from different geographic areas, each led by a colonel from the same area. Experience can vary widely in a regiment, with rank shown by ornamentation on battle dress. Every warrior memorizes the chain of command so that they can obey orders even in the chaos of battle. Colonels and other officers wear large back banners so that runners from other units can easily find them to relay orders. Most of the soldiers use a simple wooden shield and quilted cotton armor, balancing protection with very light weight. The best fight on the front lines, armed with shield and macuahuitl, while those behind use long spears, and the rear fights with bows and arrows, slings and atlatl darts. Berserkers with two-handed macuahutils often cover the flanks.

Outside battle, soldiers train endlessly. They fight, play sports, study or serve as scouts on rotation. A single scout rotation lasts one week and is made of three to four warriors of different ranks, in the hopes of teaching each other new things. Scouts change location, companions and route regularly to stay fresh. When they return, they report anything of note and then have several weeks to train before their next rotation. Warriors may request more frequent rotations, but rarely do, as scouts do not muster with the regiment when war happens. PCs within the military almost certainly have more freedom, rise in rank faster and quickly take on leadership roles as heroes. They are given personal missions or sent to lead small groups for major events. They often serve as forward scouts, rearguard or infiltration and extraction specialists.

The four priesthoods of the four gods of Nahuacan are still the largest and most potent forces in the Nahuacan government. All priests are sworn to a life of poverty and take oaths to forgo good food and drink beyond that which is granted them at festivals. Their clothing is strictly controlled - a simple habit and any battle honors they have earned, that's it. They have a very rigid hierarchy and schedule of duties. However, with all these limits comes power in politics. Priests train at ancient seminaries that sit at the heart of each major city, as long as they score well enough on the examination taken at the age of fourteen to qualify for service. It is a grueling exam that covers many topics, and children of social elites typically do better due to having more free time to study and help from their parents. However, even peasants attend primary school and may score well enough to attend. The seminaries are austere, intense schools, and even those who do not graduate are respected for attending. Students live in windy dorms, spending their morning cleaning and doing chores and their afternoons studying and training. They learn full literacy, history, math, poetry, governance, art, engineering and strategy, and they typically choose a specialized field or major within the first or second year of study.

Priests go to war with the army and serve as officers on behalf of the government and chaplains for the warriors. Martial training is rigorous, but takes up less time than for students of the military academies. After graduation, a student may choose which priesthood to join, but will usually join that of their home state. Each priesthood operates its city's and state's government, serving as governors, chaplains, teachers and administrators as well as spiritual leaders. Established priests will often scout promising graduates, mentoring them as replacements for when they retire or die. Each priesthood follows a strict hierarchy led by a High Priest or Priestess, often the eldest of the priesthood, at the top. The various priesthoods tend to specialize based on their god's purview. Nacatlicue's has many doctors and agricultural specialists, Apocoatl's has artists and philosophers, Itzzohualli's runs hospices and funeral parlors to care for the grieving and the dead, and Tlehuitzin's has many architects and chaplains. Not all priests enter the government, and some simply make a living using their knowledge to help people. In remote areas, priests often have to do multiple jobs at once or do one job for many villages or even an entire vassal state.

The Southern and Northern priesthoods also run the military religious orders. These consist of the best warriors of these priesthoods, plus soldiers from any origin who impress the orders' leaders and are invited to join. Itzzohualli's order is the Ocelomeh, who specialize in black ops, recon and sabotage. They are poisoners, assassins, spies and saboteurs, and they're very good at it. An ocelotl must not only be fast and deadly, but also creative, quick-witted and brave, able to out-think foes. The Cuauhmeh, on the other hand, are the famous soldiers of the front. They wear the best armor and shields, using magical feather patterns to ward off even bullets. They are the soldiers who hold the line, the strongest and toughest there are. These are the two opposite sides of the military doctrine, and before the Alliance they were bitter foes. Now, when they work in concert, they are terrifying. Often, members of both orders will work on elite teams together - especially PCs. They are famously difficult to corrupt and renowned for their skill.

The Great Speaker is chosen by a council of elders drawn from all ranks of Nahuacan life. Whenever the last Speaker dies or retires, they elect a new one. The Great Speaker's job is explicitly to argue with the gods and their priests on behalf of the people, and to serve as the head of state - that is, the governor of governors. They must maintain the balance of power between the states and branches of government, keeping power struggles from tearing the Alliance apart. It takes a strong will, the ability to recognize and correct your mistakes and those of others, and strong rhetorical and leadership skills. The Great Speaker may never be selected from the same city twice in a row, and is advised by the Executive Council, as the body that selects them is called. It is a very stressful position, and many retire well before they die.

The Speaker may authorize human sacrifice in times of great need. It has never been done yet, and ideally will never happen, though some extremists believe in doing it in times of widespread fear. The Great Speaker during Thean first contact a century ago famously floated the idea after bureaucratic inefficiency and his own incompetence cause widespread panic and economic failure. The Ocelomeh performed a popularly supported coup and either exiled or murdered him depending on who you ask. The current Great Speaker, Chicahua Tlatoa, is only 24 - the youngest ever to hold the rank. He's doing the job, but many see him as weak, untested. They push him in ways no other Great Speaker has had to handle. Ome Tochtli, head of the Eagle Templars, believes he can subvert the Speaker and control the Alliance through him. His counterpart, Xochitl of the Jaguar Knights, is aware of this and attempts to influence the Speaker first in hopes of protecting the man. Chicahua is brighter than either of them suspects and is trying to keep both at bay, but is not sure how long he can do so while also running the government.

So far, Nahuacan has never failed during an invasion of another city-state. Often, they win without a fight as the foe surrenders rather than see their capital plundered and their temples burned. It has earned them control of a third of the continent. Their taxes on vassal states are high, requiring not only money, but also art and slaves. They are considering expansion towards Tzak K'an in the south, the Wabanahkik of Quanahlotye in the north, and the Atabean in the east. However, unlike prior conquests, these areas are not ethnically or linguistically close to Nahuacan, and they will be harder to take and hold culturally.

Of the three, Wabanahkik (Quanalotye) is the least likely target. The merchant Centlalia recently returned from a decade working there and has reported several established Thean colonies, as well as the Wabanahkik light infantry, who are some of the best in the world and masters of Nahuacan's own infantry tactics, but specialized in defense of their temperate forests against more numerous foes. Also, they know how to use guns better than the Nahuacan do. The Rahuri of the Atabean are a different challenge - they're in no position to beat Nahuacan in a fight on land, but the Alliance has practically no naval experience at all. The priests are reaching out to Thean sailors and shipwrights, trying to hire them as trainers and advisors, but those seafarers are often wary due to stories of Medellin's death. Further, it is known that Apocoatl trusted the Rahuri to be custodians of the Sea of Monsters, and any plan of conquest would need to pass him first. Problem: he's still asleep. Nahuacan expansionists would love to take the Atabean, but the difficulty of creating a naval tradition they don't already have means they're more likely to instead be diplomatic and offer protective vassalage rather than threaten conquest.

Thus, the Tzak K'ani are the most viable target for invasion. They most resemble the Nahuacan culturally, and they'd probably lose against a concerted assault. This could earn a whole lot of new vassals and resources. However, there's three big problems. First, sending the army into Tzak K'an would leave Nahuaca undefended against Thean invasion. Second, the border states already have enough rebellion issues - wouldn't having a subject people who don't even speak Nahuatl make it worse? Last, most of Nahuacan leadership simply see the government as more than a way to gain power - the Alliance was formed to benefit all, even subject states. If the Nahuacan are to be true leaders, they have to win hearts and minds, not crush them - and therefore another invasion may not be the moral act right now. However, the Nahuacan are a warlike people and do not like to sit and wait without a target for their aggression long. (It doesn't help that 'we should run the entire continent' is essentially Nahuacan policy; the question is just how they should end up uniting it - diplomacy or war - and whether subject cultures are to be preserved or not.)

Next time: Other Nations

The New World - Gods Talk

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Gods Talk

The Kuraq Empire makes the Alliance very uncomfortable - especially because of how much they remind the Alliance of themselves. The Kuraq have a somewhat less robust martial tradition, but until Theah manages to figure out jungle combat, they are the main military threat to the Alliance. Invading the Kuraq mountains is simply unviable - altitude sickness is a bitch, and the Nahuacan tactics would be no good in mountain terrain, especially against mountain specialists. Worse, the fact that the Kuraq obey the dead is a terrifying prospect for a people whose dead merge with their gods. The Nahuacan trade extensively with the Kuraq to give their merchants more chances to gather intelligence. The big competition right now is over Tzak K'an. The Kuraq are just as capable of taking and holding the city-states as Nahuaca, and the prospect of losing that territory to them is unthinkable even if an invasion force to the south would be very thin-spread and have trouble. If the Kuraq invade, the Nahuacan probably will as well.

And then there's the Theah issue. Each of the gods has a strong opinion on the matter, and each of the priesthoods has rallied around their god. None of them want to back down, and so the Alliance is utterly deadlocked on what to do about the Theans.

Divine Views posted:

Tlehuitzin: Have Fernando Medellin's misadventures taught us nothing? Never mind their technology and their trade: Theans may have things we want, but they have nothing we need. The unauthorized factories they erected years ago are a continued affront to our sovereignty. Let us not risk invasion - let us drive them from our shores.
Itzzohualli: Imagine what we could do with muskets, cannons and galleons! Imagine if we could cross-reference their medical knowledge with my comrade's in the west! Let us invite them in, show them hospitality, pay them handsomely for what they know - but keep a careful watch on them. Their betrayal will never come - because we will betray them first!
Apocoatl: We will profit far better by diplomacy and mutual understanding than we will by showing them our teeth. Let us give them no reason to invade us when our friendship is far more mutually beneficial. I am sure they have learned from Medellin that to attack the mighty Nahuacans is folly. When I awaken, I expect you all to have learned to get along.
Nacatlicue: I am happy to support whatever you three decide to do, but please decide quickly, because if and when the Theans come, they're coming to Oloxochicalco first.

Nahuacans tend to have brown skin, dark eyes and black hair worn straight or in various styles. Soldiers prefer topknots, for that tiny bit of extra head defense. Facial hair is very rare, and strong muscles are common due to the lives of manual labor that are common even among the nobility. The climate means they wear mostly light cotton clothing, while the rich adorn themselves in gold, wood and turquoise. Earlobes are often gauged. The Nahuacan self-describe as proud and forthright, always ready to help and always proud of their nation. Their vassals and others in the region that dislike them tend to say they are self-important bullies who butt into everything around them, trying to solve everyone's problems with violence or imperialism. (This is not untrue, often; the Alliance is definitely imperialistic towards others.) The stereotype is only reinforced by the military custom of starting every battle with a shouting of obscene, creative insults to raise allied spirits and dishearten the foe.

The four states of Nahuaca are broadly each diamond-shaped, meeting at the center in the city of Pepechotlan, with four roads leading in the cardinal directions to the four main cities. Some of the cities are connected by rivers, but most are connected instead by roads. While Theans often claim the Nahuacan lacked the wheel before they arrived, they are wrong - wheelbarrows existed, as did wheeled toys. However, the largest domestic animal in the region was the deer, far too light to pull carts or barges, so there was little use for wheeled conveyances. The Nahuacans are slowly but steadily adopting them as they get more horses and other Thean beasts of burden.

Nahuacan cities are meticulously planned; they do not develop haphazardly, ever. A strict grid scheme is used, with a central market plaza overlooked by a massive stepped pyramid dedicated to the city's patron god (usually one of the main four). Administrative buildings and schools are kept near the pyramid, as is a stadium for Ollamaliztli games. Even small towns will have a modest ball court. Noble mansions will be kept in a walled area, and typically will show some amazing Nahuacan architecture, with stone foundations raised above the earth, fine stucco and adobe walls and supporting beams of wood. Noble houses are built on a microcosm of the town itself, with a large central courtyard surrounded by important meeting rooms, offices, living quarters and so on. The commoners live in larger districts, with simpler one-room adobe or wattle-and-daub houses. Typically they will cluster around central patios for communal meals and crafting facilities. Merchants and wealthy artisans often spend most of their time in their guildhouses, but also own more spacious apartment complexes with multiple rooms and stone used in their construction, albeit still in the commoner district.

Engineering and architecture are a major focus of Nahuacan study across all classes. Nobles especially enjoy studying engineering to better make use of any land they own, or to design increasingly impressive homes to show off. A recent architect, Ix Nacahualli of Nexhuatipec, rose to fame by designing a modern aqueduct system that can be seamlessly integrated into walls, temples and other public buildings, which has kicked off a huge fad for public works projects. (As was the goal by Nexhuatipec's priests.) Farms are less grid-based, but still highly planned, surrounding the cities. Conventional farms are present for either cotton or maize, or hillside farms similar to the Kuraq, but Nahuaca is most known for its floating gardens, in which a rectangle of mud and plants are stabilized with stakes and piled to a meter above the surface of a shallow lake, using willow trees at the corners and edges to prevent erosion. Typically, a single family will work a number of floating gardens, rotating them through various crops. Often they also raise dogs, turkeys and other domestic animals nearby.

Nahuacan social class is rigidly defined. Laws control what each class may wear, so that their caste is obvious at a glance. The Nahuacan say these laws bring order, but subject peoples with more social mobility tend to hate them. Judges are of the highest social rank, for they know the laws entirely and are its final arbiters. Anyone may become a judge, but few do so without first being priests or soldiers. Judges apprentice to other judges, often working as a clerk or assistant for years before being allowed to take up the job. They are not sworn to austerity, unlike priests, though the town they care for typically pays any expenses they have. While they occupy a privileged position, they must always maintain strict neutrality to do their duties. In small towns, corruption is rooted out and replaced quickly. It's easier to get away with in large cities, though if discovered it will ruin you just as easily. Judges rarely care about social class in others, as all are equal before the law. Their previous social standing is likewise irrelevant.

Priests were nearly all-powerful before the Alliance was formed, as each state was an ironclad theocracy. Now, they remain powerful, but the Great Speaker and the rising power of the other classes (especially merchants) limits them. They are privileged still, but their lives are very demanding. They must master multiple disciplines and wear only simple clothes, but all must honor them. Tensions between priesthoods, other priests in your own priesthood and other powerful figures in society are inevitable, and priests can be just as ambitious as anyone else. Their duties can be extremely diverse, though politicians and warriors are most common among the priests.

The nobles inherit their rank, but it is growing shaky. Before the Alliance, only nobles could be priests or soldiers. That changed fast, and social mobility rose as a result. Family traditions and wealth still set nobles up to succeed more often, but any caste could rise to priesthood or the military. Nobles primarily serve as landowners rather than politicians, managing sets of farms or city precincts and collecting rent from their tenants. Nobles may also become officers, priests or merchants (though that last sacrifices noble status). Many nobles have begun to worry, given the primacy of these three other castes in wealth and power, that their titles are growing very irrelevant.

Merchants are, technically, peasants, and must dress like any other peasant. Practically, however, they stand outside the hierarchy. Anyone of any class may become a merchant or guild artisan by setting their life aside to become an apprentice. Many nobles, priests and warriors end up deciding to do just that alongside commoners. Merchants, after all, control the Alliance's flow of goods and money. They are also the best spies the nation has in other lands, and the military often invests in their ventures, as they often bring reports of new technologies and troop movements. The guilds are secretive, however, trading information between themselves and hoarding it closely. Even the government isn't sure how much they are holding back. One of the most far-ranging merchants of Nahuaca is Gonzalo "Lalo" Terrazas, who oversees the Flower Quarter of San Felipe in Odiseo, managing it as a Nahuacan expat community. He makes excellent money as a guide and fixer for New Worlders in Castille and a salesman of Nahuacan curiosities and foods to Theans. No one has yet realized he's sending home messages about technology and military forces.

Artisans, like merchants, are technically peasants yet very respected. Visual art is a massive deal for the Alliance, because appearance is a big deal for them in general. Looking good and owning beautiful things brings pride and unity. Thus, the finest artists are exalted nearly as much as war heroes - which may be unsurprising, given that some artforms, such as featherwork, are also magical. Artisans of skill can wield a lot of political influence in towns and villages, and may demand political favors for their services to the powerful. They also serve as the Alliance's cultural ambassadors, spreading Nahuacan culture to vassal states and outsiders. They are also the leaders of the Alliance's growing anti-slavery movement. While some artisans still own slaves, they by and large consider slavery to be counter to the ideals of their craft guilds. When a noble or priest makes a slave do inferior work, the artisans who dedicate their lives to the craft lose out. While the abolitionist movement was originally formed out of desire for profit, the most outspoken artisans have now made it a moral issue, too.

Commoners and slaves make up the majority of Nahuaca. They work on farms, manage gardens, labor for public works and construction, serve as valets and aides to the higher castes. They serve in militias sometimes, or as various camp followers for the military such as cooks or porters. They also work to maintain the supply depots that allow the Nahuacan army to move so quickly. While their life is hard, they have excellent access to public services such as temples, hospitals and courts, albeit at a lower level of precedence. Commoners in need of medicine often use folk remedies or hire hedge witches to avoid the lines at the hospitals. They do attend school as children, which can give them a path to higher ranks if they show aptitude. Slaves are a subset of commoners, and closer to indentured servants than chattel. No one may be born a slave, but adults can sell themselves into slavery to pay debts or benefit their family. Slavery is also a common sentence for various crimes, ranging from public drunkenness to murder, and for serious crimes it can last for life. Prisoners of war often become slaves, too. While enslaving prisoners of war and then later releasing them to return home can build up resentment in vassals, it also spreads Nahuacan culture.

Next time: SPORTSBALL

The New World - Play Sports

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Play Sports

Physical fitness and athletic achievement matter a lot to the Nahuacans, as a martial society that expects all to contribute. Athletic trials are part of any festival, and the best athletes of the schools and military meet in huge arenas to run races, obstacle courses and show off skill with bows or the atlatl. Before the Alliance formed, they also were known for bloody gladiatorial combat in which captured enemies wielded macuahuitls with feathers instead of blades against captured animals, monsters or armed soldiers. That's much, much less popular in the modern day. Instead, gladiatorial combat is fought with nonlethal clubs and protective armor, thoguh they remain brutal, and sometimes one or both fighters will be mortally wounded before disarming or defeating their foe. Wrestling has grown to eclipse even this in popularity. Every child learns to wrestle just as part of growing up, and while soldiers have the advantage in gladiatorial battle, any strong farmer might become a champion wrestler, which is a unique chance given the otherwise low chances of social mobility in adulthood.

Wrestling competitions begin with the ritual exchange of insults, often deeply personal and elaborate. Athletes are, after all, public figures whose lives and exploits show up often in works of art. In the ring, the Nahuacan wrestling style is quick, acrobatic and energetic, using even the arena as a weapon as they throw, jump and tumble around in pursuit of a pinfall. Victorious wrestlers have the right to wear elaborate capes and masks in a colorful exception to the normal sumptuary laws of Nahuaca, even if the wrestler is a priest or peasant. The current Alliance wrestling champion is Don Tumbaga, a former yam farmer turned priest turned wrestler. He is extremely popular among the peasantry. And yes, they are giving you implicit permission to be a luchador here.

Equally popular to wrestling is ollamaliztli, a brutal team sport using a large court and a heavy rubber ball. The teams compete to keep the ball in the air by hitting it with their padded hips and forearms, trying to volley it past the enemy goal line. The game is highly combative, with checking and tripping being frequent. Various forms have evolved independently throughout Nahuaca and Tzak K'an, and the sport is also growing in popularity in the Atabean, with several prominent teams working out of Fort Freedom. The best teams go on international tours sponsored by the mercantile guilds, testing themselves against rivals across the continent.

Nahuacan poetry is a rich, varied tradition, and impromptu sharing of short poems on religious, emotional, natural or romantic subjects is common after meals. Short and pithy verses in praise of gods or heroes are often painted on the sides of temples and government buildings, and many recipes or battle orders are prepared in poetic form to aid memory. The first such work to be translated into Castillian was Nezahuatzin's Odes, originally painted on the walls of the mayoral temple in Milllahco, where he ruled from. Art is also central to society - even moreso, for visual art. Sculpture, painting and reliefs are everywhere, and richly illustrated tomes known as codices are fundamental to the education system. The common use of pictures helps make up for the poor reading level of most peasants when used in government communication. Public works projects often see heavy competition between sculptors and painters to earn the lucrative decoration contracts, and beautiful artwork is a matter of national pride. Art in its various forms makes up a bulk of Nahuacan exports, including pottery, clothing and other worked goods sold to the Rahuri in exchange for animal parts, the Tzak K'ani for honey and dyes, and so on.

Nahuacan food is one of the few things that makes no class distinctions at all. Most foods are based on one of their garden crops - maize, beans, squash, chili pepper, amaranth and tomato. Visiting Theans at first assumed the tomato was a giant poison sac, much to the entertainment of the locals. These meals are augmented with fish and game meat, especially invertebrates such as scorpions, maguey worms, stinkbugs, fly eggs, fly larvae, beetles, grubs, dragonflies, ants and grasshoppers. Tradition says that fish and insect recipes date back to the first peoples of Aztlan. Fruit and honeydew ants are the main desserts. Cocoa beans are used both as food for the rich and a kind of currency. While the cocoa standard isn't as widespread in Aztlan as, say, the Guilder in Theah, merchants have been using it for some time to express the value of goods in terms of cocoa beans or, for arger denominations, in cotton cloaks. Cocoa is hard to grow in the north, so most of it comes from trade with Tzak K'an, and more hawkish priests often bring this up as a reason to conquer Tzak K'an - that way they can grow their own money.

The most common alcohol is iztac cocli, a thick white drink that tastes like sour yeast. The brewers' guild makes a lot of it, but only nobles, priests and officers can buy it, though nobles can then freely distribute it to their tenants and slaves in controlled amounts. Rumors of low-quality bootlegging for trade or black market sales are investigated closely, though arrests are quite rare, as the guilds are very good at coverups. Public drunkenness is considered extremely scandalous and also illegal. First offense is a hefty fine, second is a term as a slave, and the third is death.

Nahuacans tend to be deeply suspicious of sorcery, and its open practitioners typically live on the edges of society. Those who come to them do so furtively and full of guilt, concealing their actions from others. While sorcerers are not hunted by mobs, they tend not to have a lot of friends or make much headway in social interactions. There are three main forms of sorcery practiced in Nahuaca and none of them are, as a note, mechanically done in the same way as normal sorceries when we get to that. First, there is the divination taught by Itzzohualli. This is done by using a secret mix of plants to burn, then gazing through the smoke onto a reflective surface, traditionally a mirror. The visions are generally dreamlike and nonsensical, requiring cross-referencing with astrological charts to make sense of.

Feathercraft is the second and probably most accepted form of magic. Hunters go to great lengths to capture birds with brilliant plumage, and the feathers then go to the Featherworker's Guild to be used to adorn clothes, weapons and armor. Certain feather patterns are not merely beautiful, but also magical. These sacred patterns, when blessed by the master artisans via prayers to Tlehuitzin, may imbue a sword, shield or armor with supernatural durability and other powers.

The third currently practiced form of sorcery is nagualism, the method Apocoatl taught to express one's core in the form of an animal. The nagual is neither a spirit guide nor an animal transformation, however - it's a way to externalize your identity and focus on your personal strengths, associated with an animal. By meditating on these traits and studying the animal in the wild, the nagualist masters their weaknesses and enhances their strengths as expressed through their mind and body. Experts can also manifest their nagual as an external being, a companion animal that is both part of you and can act on its own and converse with similar animals. These externalists are the source of the common belief that a nagualist can turn into an animal or that the nagual is a spirit guide from nature.

Religion! The Nahuacan say that if you die in a way sacred to a god, you apotheosize and merge with them. Your mind flows into theirs and your body is transformed, either as a new manifestation of the godhead or merging with the god's form. In ancient times, this happened largely by chance and was rare, until humans determined what causes of death were holy and the priesthood began to form and seek out sacrificial victims. Some were willing, choosing to merge with the divine. Most were not. Most controversially, some priesthoods at one point captured and sacrificed a god to a god, and that always ended up being a huge deal. Some gods liked it; others were shocked and horrified enough to wipe out their own priests. After the Alliance formed, human sacrifice was outlawed. Priests still sometimes sacrifice animals or items to the gods, but this is largely ceremonial. None of the major gods today would accept a human sacrifice. Small cults to lesser gods may still practice it, however. When discovered, they are wiped out brutally, as human sacrifice is considered abhorrent to most modern Nahuacans.

While the Nahuacan acknowledge the existence of many gods, the main four of the nation are the ones they generally worship, though lesser gods are respected and often adopted into the pantheon after conquest of a vassal state that worships them. The gods of Nahuaca are primal, capricious beings, though they accept homage from all in exchange for their blessings. The gods may change forms, but often prefer a single recognizable body when meeting their people. (Not always, of course.) The gods have no leader, though if they did, Tlehuitzin, God of the South, would want the job. He is the god of the direction South, the city Nexhuatipec, the sun, fire and war. He is easily the loudest and most prideful of the four gods. He typically appears as an old man in a very old-style military uniform, with a feathered headdress and a fiery serpent he wears around his waist. This is also his weapon. Sometimes he appears as a ball player, and he enjoys playing sports with his worshippers. He is a blunt, brash deity who never uses metaphor or understatement - he says exactly what he means, although he has an annoying habit of answering different questions than he is actually asked, or not answering at all to instead complain about young people. He is the inventor of the Nahuacan and Tzak K'ani calendar, which he wears on his back. Copies of it are often used as his symbol, and it also represents the solar disc.

Nacatlicue, Goddess of the East, is patron of Oloxochicalco. She is not one of the two major war gods, but did invent war in order to protect her people's crops. She later retired from war as a purview to oversee agriculture instead. It is said that she peeled her skin from her body to water the ground with her own blood during a drought. She appears as a woman of unclear age, with the skin past her waist peeled down that she might wear it as a skirt. She also sometimes takes the shape of a warrior, especially when she acts to protect her people. She speaks in parables and platitudes, answering questions with short fables involving children and talking animals.

Next time: More gods

The New World - God Times

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - God Times

Itzzohualli, Goddess of the North, rules over darkness, obsidian, night, moon and death. She is a goddess of obscuring fog and strange riddle, of murder in the dark and careful lies. She answers questions with riddles and half-truth. No one knows her true form, as her approach calls fog from the ground, lengthens shadows and makes them merge until only glinting obsidian spark eyes can be seen. Sometimes she takes the form of a predatory beast or a woman with obsidian-black skin. Her priests say she is a creature built from black serpents, but many suspect even this is not her true form. She is the patron to the Ocelomeh, empowering them with nearly superhuman senses, light feet and deadly obsidian knives and spears. She claims the city of Milllahco, nestled in the slumbering northern volcanos.

Apocoatl, God of the West, rules over Tecuehtitlan, deep in the Nahuacan heartland, where the rivers and wetlands teem with life. He is the Storm Serpent, and he enjoys swimming in the rivers with great speed. He is a predator, but he takes no joy in it, seeing violence only as a means of survival rather than a thing to be proud of. He teaches the secrets of pure water and medicinal plants to his priests, who are doctors, herbalists and philosophers. His is the magic of the nagual, the secret of tapping into the totemic animal symbolism to gain its power or incarnate it as a companion. He appears as a great serpent covered in wet feathers, sometimes white and sometimes rainbow-colored. He has never taken a human form, and he is the most straightforward of the gods, though he tends to be terse and dislikes speaking, which seems to tire him.

Besides the four main gods, lesser gods that rule over specific plants, trades or other limited purviews are known through the Alliance. They have their own temples and small priesthoods, though the Nahuacan centralization means they tend to end up under the command of one of the four main priesthoods. Many small gods are patrons of a single town or, more commonly, a vassal state. They are generally friendly with the major gods, though their followers may not be. Separatist rebels often rally around a local god's priesthood and symbols, sometimes without checking if the god is down for it. On more than one occasion, the Nahuacan army has destroyed or re-consecrated a small god's only temple as part of their work in stomping out revolution. This typically ends with the god involved vanishing forever.

On the eastern coast, several towns have welcomed the Vaticine into their lives, intrigued by the messages of Castillian missionaries about peace and scientific inquiry. Many Nahuacans find the ideas, at least, intriguing. The missionaries have built Thean-style churches, mixing their alien practices with indigenous worship patterns. Nahuacan who attend these Vaticine services still hear local music and poetry and eat festival foods, but the messages of unknown Prophets are peppered throughout. Most Nahuacans have trouble grasping the concepts behind Thean religion. It seems to be based on the existence of a god no one speaks to directly, except for a few prophets who aren't around to answer questions. The absence of the god appears to be part of the point, as the religion preaches 'faith' in an entity that can't be perceived, as though people should be respected for a claim that they can't prove. It is hard for many Nahuacans to swallow.

In fact, it's so different from the native religion that some Nahuacans see no dissonance in practicing both simultaneously. This dual practice often makes no sense to Thean Vaticines who care about there being a single, specific truth, but most of the missionaries see it as a necessary evil and a first step on the path to enlightenment. For other Nahuacans, the existence of the Vaticine is an offense against Nahuacan culture, identity and power. They refuse to associate with any conversos and occasionally burn down churches or the homes of Vaticine believers as an act of patriotism.

Not everyone in Nahuaca accepted the ban on human sacrifice. Some fundamentalist sects of the four main gods have decided that sacrifice is holy and proper, even if their god disagrees. These sacrificial cults hide among the people, using coded language and secret meetings. They kidnap those who will not be missed, like the poor, slaves and criminals, then sacrifice them to the gods and hide the bodies. They typically believe that sufficient sacrifices will reawaken the gods to their pre-Alliance state, redeveloping their hunger for human life. The gods do not actually want anything to do with this, but they are rarely able to stop it unless they happen to be nearby when it happens. The cults often work with evil sorcerers and other outcasts. Recently, during a siege of a city in revolt, it was discovered that some cultists had been sacrificing people to Tlehuitzin to empower their weapons. While Tlehuitzin could sense the sacrifices, he couldn't tell where, and was too far away to stop them. The idea that a god's power can be tapped without their consent is terrifying to Nahuacan leadership. Besides the major gods, there are also some minor gods that enthusiastically accept blood sacrifice, claiming it will empower them to throw off the yoke of the Alliance from their conquered city-states. Their followers generally resent the Alliance and seek any way to hurt them, but the blessings of these gods are generally very small compared to those of the major gods.

Places! Oloxochicalco, in the east, is the richest of the four cities due to Nacatlicue's blessings of fertility. Their abundant food let them grow faster than the others, and they remain the largest of all Nahuacan cities. While most of the locals are farmers or doctors, their military is still significant, to defend the crops. The city has few floating gardens, instead growing fields of maize. The peasants greatly outnumber all other castes, even more than elswhere, and they are given respect for that, if nothing else. The city often trades with the Atabean, and it is known for its supply of exotic goods as a result. They are also now preparing for war, out of distrust of Theah and the knowledge that they produce most of the Alliance's food - without them, the Alliance might starve. The local combat engineers are heavily engaged in experiments as to the best use of crossbows and cannons as well as advanced military wall construction.

Nexhuatipec is famous for its massive pyramids and temples in the southern desert. Tlehuitzin chose the area to teach his people self-reliance, and he even abased himself before the lesser gods of weaponry to teach his people how to fight and hunt. Thus, they created atlatls and many antidotes to beast venoms. The city's people are renowned as tough even by Nahuacan standards, as well as being reliant on raiding if they can't get any food traded to them. The Eagle Templars are their great pride, as the order was born there. A plurality of Great Speakers have risen from Nexhuatipec, and it has more government buildings than most cities, including the headquarters of the army's Field Marshal. It also has a larger noble precinct than any other city. However, its economy remains at risk. It's too large to subsist on the local game and fruits, but its land is poor for crops and its nearby lake is not great for gardening. Most food is traded for, and in bad years, crime spikes. A standing police force, the City Watch, has been created under the control of a ranking noble and former war hero - unique in Nahuacan, where the law is usually enforced by militias and judges. The city is also known for its medical research using jungle herbs, which are used to treat all manner of ailments. The favorite cure is hot chocolate for stomach problems, and not just because it tastes and smells good.

Milllahco is surrounded by dormant volcanos, named for the many nearby obsidian deposits. The land is fertile, but hard to work due to the steep terrain, and the city is surrounded by terraced farms. The locals cannot claim to be the best mountain fighters, as the Kuraq Empire exists, but they are excellent skirmishers and the city is the homeland of the Jaguar Knights. Their headquarters, the Huey Tleteptl (or 'lava spire') towers over the city still, and is often used as a name to refer to all Nahuacan intelligence operations. The city has always prospered due to local mineral resources and the ability to trade with the Quanahlotye lands in the north, and many guilds make their homes there. Local guildhouses often double as museums, showing off the pieces that weren't really viable as government installations. Historically, the mines have been controlled by the nobles, but the merchants are better connected for trade, and better at profiting off what they get. The tension has led to a number of recent arguments in the markets and at least one fight.

The Huey Tletepetl is named such for its shape and material - a massive tower built out of lava stone, polished to a bright sheen. It can be seen from anywhere in the city, as it is built on a high ridge and is quite tall. The bottom floor serves as offices and meeting rooms for the Jaguar Knight leaders, while the upper floors are sleeping quarters for over a thousand Knights, with the lowest ranks living at the top. This gives them a great view, but means if the place is attacked, they have the worst access to any fighting. Just about any intelligence gathered by the Jaguar Knights ends up in the tower. Director Xochitl lives there, working out of a first floor office and living out of a suite on the second floor, right by the stairs. This means she can come and go freely with few noticing, and also means she's the first line of defense against any theoretical invasion.

Tecuehtitlan is a western city that, without Apocoatl's aid, would have been a charnel pit. He taught the settlers how to purify the marsh waters and build the floating gardens. They found plenty of food with his help, and the local herbalists learned to use plants that grew nowhere else. The city is built to a more haphazard plan than most, due to the terrain, and floating gardens actually exist throughout the city rather than just around it. Apocoatl's temple complex rises from the swamp at the base of a local mountain, and the priests use the god's power to purify the swamp waters, granting them healing properties. The locals, in the old days, developed many medicines and poisons to ensure their forces recovered faster and had an edge over the other cities. The place is still an intellectual and cultural hub, with renowned schools and seminaries as well as the Alliance's supreme court. It also hosts the Alliance sports championships due to the ease of reaching it by riverboat.

The Grand Ollamalitzli Court sits in the shadow of Apocoatl's temple, dominating the central plaza. The immense arena is painted with many scenes of gods and heroes, a symbol of physical skill in a city of scholarship. The city's people fucking love the sport, and they're known to host some of the best teams in the nation. The games are often used as an excuse to practice backroom politics and dealmaking, with the nobles and priests taking part in plenty of ambitious powermongering and espionage during games. Gambling is a constant, so much so that it is not unknown for gamblers to sell themselves into slavery to pay off their debts. The court is designed to reflect Apocoatl's rituals and symbolism, with the court representing the universe and the ball representing the sun, to reflect an eternal struggle of light and dark. Even the gods have been known to show up and to use the games to settle arguments between themselves. Such games can often go on for days without a victor being chosen, as the gods themselves play, leading divinely chosen teams with skill unmatched by mortals. They often hire on mortal champions to serve on these teams, sometimes as proxies for the gods and sometimes as teammates. Those mortals rarely survive the games, but if they do, the gods reward them handsomely.

Next time: The Not Aztec leadership

The New World - God Bed

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - God Bed

Altepetal Hill is around seven miles east of Nexhuatipec, covered in plants and animals from across the Alliance. It is fed by a freshwater aqueduct from Mt. Quetzloc ever since the tlatoani Acomiztli I remade it from the barren waste it had been, over two centuries ago. Pilgrims that visit are now greeted by the immense summer palace at the hill's base, full of poets and scholars. The water gardens provide an ideal venue for rendezvouses and contemplation. Marble stairs trace a steep path up the slope, past tier after tier of crops and flowers and waterfalls towards the summit shrine. The shrine is always attended by Apocoatl's priests, who chant endlessly here in a maze of reflecting pools that make up the most sacred of the Storm Serpent's shrines. Past the maze is Apocoatl's pool itself, a circular stone basin set into the hill's eastern face and flanked by jade frogs representing the Alliance's cities. When the Theans came, Apocoatl sensed the terrible threat of disease with them, and he used his magic to bind a part of his essence into his sacred basin. Now, the waters of the basin are so pure as to cure any disease. While the water is limited in supply, it was enough to preserve the Nahuacans from annihilation. In the years after, control of the Hill gave Nexhuatipec a monopoly on the healing waters, allowing them to pursue culture and art with less need for armed forces. However, Apocoatl's blessing has a price. Now, Apocoatl is so intimately tied to the pool that damage to it will physically harm him. At least one group of Theans has attempted to infiltrate the shrine, and other saboteurs will surely try eventually.

Pepechotlan lies at the center and is the capital of the Alliance. It is built on the edge of an immense lake, and it was originally just a small fishing village. When the first Great Speaker objected to human sacrifice, he felt he needed a neutral location where all gods would have equal footing, and so he asked each city to send riders, and where they all met he would build the new seat of power. The capital still maintains its neutrality, with each god having a temple and High Priest in residence and each city leader having a representative. and of course there's also the high judges. Their law shapes and informs decisions across the entire Alliance. The Elder Council also meets there to advise the Great Speaker. Many view it as the seat of power, but that's honestly not true - that remains in the military headquarters in each city. While the two elite forces have offices in the capital, they traditionally only go there when summoned by the Speaker. Both military leaders currently spend a lot of time in the city, however, which is considered a bad omen for the Speaker.

Nahuiachahuitin is an oasis, four springs in the harshest northern desert. The springs were found, or perhaps conjured, by the priest Mizzolotl, a man of plain bearing but strong words, who denounces the privelege of priesthood and nobility as harmful to the Alliance. Ever since he arrived, the disenfranchised of the Alliance, the poor and the slaves, have been flocking to the oasis village. It is a now a place of rogues and dissidents, and they have declared themselves independent of the Alliance and of all nations. Many of its adobe huts are still being built, and a small temple has begun construction. The villages plant farms on the pool banks for beans, maize, even cotton. The pools are wonderful, but they can't provide everything. Mizzolotl's followers often raid the northern hamlets and towns, or even head out to the Atabean Coast. They steal anything that might be useful, and often also bring new residents back with them - not always willingly. Mizzolotl does not like the raids, but he is often too busy with his own goals to enforce strict law. Small military detachments from Milllahco have been sent home battered or have vanished entirely. Nahuiachahuitin is a highly defensible position, surrounded on all sides by open desert with no cover to hide in and white sand that reflects light very easily. The air is dry, the sun hot, and there's no shade at all. The rebels can spot attackers long before they are themselves seen, thanks to tall dunes that hide the village on the only clear approach. They ambush attackers repeatedly until surrender or death. They are well-trained fighters with a solid grasp on tactics. Milllahco is now analyzing the threat they pose to the political stability of the Alliance. So far, the rebels have proven difficult to crack - but it's only a matter of time until the Jaguar Knights get called in.

Hueihuactzin Woods are also called the Haunted Forest. This is where the feathers of power come from, the mystic plumes that adorn the Eagle Templars. The birdcatchers risk death or worse to capture the imperial egrets that provide these feathers. The birds don't live well in captivity and can only be found in this single stretch of land north of Nexhuatipec. Legend has it that a hunter was in the woods when she accidentally strangled a hummingbird she'd caught in a net. The gods declared this murder, and a flock of deadly chaneque lead by the terrifying Hueihuactzin attacked the poacher to avenge the hummingbird, envoy of the gods. The bird spirits then stayed to guard the woods. Every so often now, a birdcather just...vanishes. No one can find the body, no priest can commune with the soul. The people of the village Tepeztocatl, on the edge of the woods, say these hunters broke rules. You don't hunt in the early morning. You don't hate in late afternoon. You must never be in the woods after dark. Always leave shiny offerings to appease the spirits before setting your traps. You may catch egrets or even other birds and pluck their feathers, but you must never, ever hurt them.

It is said that if you spill even a drop of blood from any bird in the wood, the chaneque will leap from the dirt in suits of armor made from twigs and earth and bones. They will hunt you down and devour you alive, bit by bit. They will drag your body and your soul into wooden cages in the trees, never to be seen again. This is spoken of only in whispers, for the chaneque are not bound to the woods, and their tempers run hot and fast. There are, of course, other stories - tales of dark, gruesome deals that sorcerers may make with Hueihuactzin and its terrible flock.

Recently, a Nahuacan trading expedition made a mistake in its directions and ended up at the gate of a ruined town on the Tzak K'ani border. It was a thirteen-level acropolis, connected by stairs of blue stone, its plazas and terraces half-buried and obliterated by overgrowth. The merchants dared not enter, but they made it back to Nexhuatipec with the news. Explorers and scholars are very excited. Based on descriptions and fragmented artifacts brought back, including a piece of a frieze showing a sleepy snake, they believe the ruins to be of neither Nahuacan nor Tzak K'ani origin, but rather to perhaps date back to the Aztlani Empire. Some priests even believe it is Cochicoapan, a city that Nahuacan legend states was the repository of the Aztlani Empire's knowledge and inventions, home to codices old even when the Empire was young, along with devices of great wonder. However, scribes warn that caution will be needed. Old lore mentions many times the safety measures the Empire left to protect its hoarded knowledge - most notably, one passage talks about an immense viper that lies under the city, bound to wake from its slumber as soon as an intruder does or says anything that is outside the unknown rules of the city.

Let's talk people. Xochitl, Director of the Ocelomeh, is a farmer's daughter from Milllahco who tested into the seminary and graduated top of her class. She snuck out of her dorms often, which prepared her well to become an ocelotl, where she rose steadily in the ranks until she was appointed to the Field Marshal's war council. Now, she is always surrounded by the powerful - merchants, spies, war heroes. She trusts none of them. She maintains secret files on all powerful figures she is aware of, containing personal information, secrets, scandals - anything she can find. If she need to, she could destroy nearly anyone in or around the Alliance leadership. Despite her absolute, unwavering patriotism and commitment to the ideals of the Alliance, few trust her. She is kept at arm's length, and rarely receives social calls. She desires tolerance and calm, steady thought in foreign affairs, but few trust her to be actually selfless or idealistic. Her greatest political foe is Grand Master Ome Tochtli of the Eagle Templars. While they were lovers in seminary, their relationship is now fraught. Xochitl is convinced that Ome Tochtli is hiding something, and she wants to know what. In the meantime, she wants to get the Great Speaker on her side - and if she can't, well, she might have to remove him to keep Ome Tochtli from controlling him.

Chicahua Tlatoa, the Great Speaker, never thought he'd become Great Speaker as early as he did. He dreamed of it, sure, but not so early. He is a noble from a long priestly line, but rather than following family expectations, he questioned everything - even the gods and their wisdom. After his time in seminary, he became a judge, spending a year traveling between his home in Nexhuatipec and the outlying towns and cities. In his travels he learned a lot about the Alliance and its vassals, and he felt that the gods' rule could do with some serious critiqueing. He wrote letters and essays on it, though he thought no one bothered to read them. When he was selected as Speaker, he was as surprised as anyone else. He is a very smart man, but often underestimated due to his youth. Many nobles and priests ignore him or forget his presence. Many think he's a joke and wait for someone real to replace him. However, he spent his entire life preparing for this job, and he thinks he's up to it. The military leaders disagree. Ome Tochtli is trying to undermine his position - he's certain of it. Chicahua has no evidence, but he's absolutely certain it's Ome. Xochitl seems to be backing him, but he knows she also wants to control him. As they try to pit him against each other, he knows he must be very careful. He can see clearly where the dangers to his life are coming from, but he can't easily do anything about it without destabilizing the entire Alliance.

Boran, aka Drake Storm, grow up in the palaces of Anatol Ayh in the Crescent Empire. He was content, for he believed his beloved sister, Safiye, would take the throne. When his brother Istani usurped it, he was shocked. Because Istani know Boran was beloved by the people, he secretly sold his brother to the ATC and told him that if he ever returned, his mother would die. To cover, Istani claimed that he had beaten Boran in a Kavita and exiled him. Boran spent months on the slave ship to the Atabean, suffering terribly with the other slaves. When they finally arrived in the Atabean Sea, he remembered who he was, however. He refused to fall to despair. He led a rebellion aboard the ship, taking the name Drake Storm - Drake for the nickname Safiye had given him, Storm as a translation of his Anatoli name. He joined the Brotherhood of the Coast, who sent him to the Alliance. There, he has had the honor of meeting the Great Speaker, who was given a vision of Drake's true name by the gods and learned his story. He has promised never to reveal the secret, but Chicahua has told Boran that their fates are intertwined, as are those of their nations. Drake now seeks a Syrne artifact that will allow long-distance communciation, to solidify an alliance between Nahuacan and the Crescent Empire. This would be fine if its last known location wasn't the lost city of Cochicoapan.

Ichtaca was just a porter who moved jade and quetzal feathers. However, she was a master of entering and leaving cities unseen, as well as fighting bandits and bargaining. She soon rose to become the principal merchant of a mission to the newly discovered city Achiutla, organized by a decadent noblewoman named Coaxah. It took weeks for Ichtaca to convince the Achiutlani to bargain - and so Coaxah used her influence to have the city declared enemies of the state, and Ichtaca watched in horror as the place was burned to the ground. She was demoted to market inspector, but she became determined to never allow what she'd seen to happen again. She began a crusade against crime, which allowed her to foil an assassination attempt on Chicahua Tlatoa during an investigation into an artifact that had shown up on the market mysteriously. As a reward, the Speaker restored her rank and made her his spy. She now conceals her wealth and status, moving throughout the Alliance and beyond, using undercover trade missions to gather contacts and enact Chicahua's plans.

Ome Tochtli, Cuauhmeh Grand Master, was a classic story of success. He was the son of a major noble, had an excellent military pedigree, graduated with highest honors from the seminary. He could have done anything he wanted, but he chose the Cuauhmeh, apprenticing under the grand master. When his mentor died fighting Fernando Medellin's retreating soldiers, Ome too up his banner and, while only a cadet, he led his section to victory and personally slew Medellin's bodyguard. He has seen the Alliance conquer many small states, but never truly grow closer to unifying the continent. His strategies have led to many victories over many foes, but he has always been kept from grand conquest by the Great Speakers and the gods. His ideal of a united Aztlan has become a dark obsession. He has joined a fundamentalist blood cult that believes the gods are weak due to lack of sacrifice, and is encouraging the young priestess Eztli to make human sacrifices for power. Eztli believes he will give her a place in the eventual empire; in truth he is merely using her and will drop her like a rock if she becomes inconvenient. Ome Tochtli now sees a chance to conquer the continent - as long as he can get the Speaker out of his way or influence and control the young man. He now turns his great power and influence towards reclaiming Aztlani glory under the Alliance, fueled by xenophobic militarism and human sacrifice. If he isn't stopped, it honestly has a good chance of working. Ome Tochtli is Strength 10, Influence 5.

Necahual, High Prestess of Itzzohualli, has always been fascinated by the cycle of creation and destruction that measures the Nahuacan calendar. She was a pious student, excellent at school and a master of lies and subterfuge - necessary to rise to the rank she now holds. This has gained her access to the most sacred of texts, and she has begun to notice a pattern in the codices. The gods help make the world with each cycle, but always end up abandoning humanity to destruction. With each page, she has been gaining doubts, confirmed by what she sees as the gods' lax attitude towards the Theans. If the prophecies she reads are correct, she believes their arrival heralds the death of the fifth age and the birth of the sixth - and with it, the abandoning of humanity by the gods. Necahual has never been one for despair, so now, she has a plan to save her people. She maintains the guise of devoted priestess, but by night, she works to destroy the gods entirely. Their mere death would not be enough - to break the cycle, she must seize their power for herself, destroy the Theans and lead Nahuaca to an age of eternal glory under her will. She uses ancient lore to hunt the weaknesses of the gods, sending explorers to the ages of the Alliance and beyond for the weapons she will need. So far, she's recovered one of the ancient jaguars that destroyed humanity in the first cycle, and has used ancient songs to bend it to her will. Now, it serves as her deadly assassin. She is Strength 4, Influence 8.

Atzopelic was a noble of the city-state Huitecocan, before its conquest. He was a scholar and devotee of the shy but bloodthirsty god of the Huitec people, and had little care for thoughts of war or battle except as poetry. Then the Alliance came and offered to protect the city. The Huitec ruler, Atzopelic's grand-uncle, declines politely. Therefore, the Alliance attacked two weeks later, razed the city, killed priests and nobles, destroyed the Huitec way of life and turned the city into their eastern military base. Atzopelic escaped, finding safe haven in the coastal town of Tetecuallan, working as a scribe and interpreter. He is a well-read man with a knack for languages and diplomacy, and his wisdom is appreciated by both the locals and the Theans that often show up in town. He is a cunning schemer, manipulating the people around him and gathering information to ensure that the unruly protectorates of the Alliance are kept off balance and the Theans stir up trouble for the Nahuacan. He is carefully preparing his trap, waiting for the right moment to strike. He hopes to create enough chaos and rebellion that the Nahuacans have no choice but to give up their claim on Huitecocan, no matter what he has to do to get there. He is Strength 6, Influence 4.

Azeneth Medellin is the daughter of Fernando Medellin. Her earliest memory is Apocoatl burning her father to death in front of her and her mother, the Tzak K'ani translator Ix Itzam. Azenath and Ix escaped, but vengeance never left them. Ix Itzam raised her daughter with a single goal: gain revenge on a god. They returned to Tzak K'an, living as merchants with Ix's family. She traveled to the Alliance many times on business, but on one fateful trip, a Jaguar Knight recognized her face and killed her on the spot for treason. Azeneth was spared because her mother lied about her identity, allowing her to escape into the jungles. Now, she has vowed revenge twice - once on Apocoatly for the murder of her father, once on the Jaguar Knight for the murder of her mother. She has learned everything she could about the Storm Serpent - including his resting place. She's tried to break into it several times, but has always been thwarted by various heroes and Eagle Templars. Therefore, she has changed her target. She will destroy the Alliance entirely. Kill the nation, kill the god. While Azeneth loves Aztlan as a whole, she is certain the Alliance can be wiped out with little loss of value.

Next time: Tzak K'an

The New World - Life of the Not Maya

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Life of the Not Maya

The kingdoms of Tzak K'an lie deep in the jungles of Aztlan and are renowned for their scholarship of both the scientific and the arcane. They have lasted for thousands of years, and while even other Aztlani find them strange or alien, the Tzak K'ani don't care. For them, the mundane aspects of the world have never really mattered. Reality is deeper than that. The Tzak K'ani are highly individualistic, and care little for superficial political unity. Tzak K'an is a culture, not a government. While once they were a network of powerful city-state alliances, now they are thousands of individual pieces, held together by a loose web of treaty and culture. They are not ruled by mortals alone, either. All Tzak K'ani know the universe is governed by the Great Cycle of death and rebirth, and that the gods' pleasure is what makes existence possible. Priests and starwatchers rule alongside kings and queens, to understand and fulfill the will of the gods. In return, they are granted mystic knowledge unknown in other lands. This would be great, if the city-states were not on the brink of utter collapse thanks to a mix of political and environmental factors. Still, they have not yet fallen. Their future is uncertain, and change is coming, but Tzak K'an may still be saved.

Most Tzak K'ani do not view history as a linear thing, and find it difficult and silly to contemplate their origins too deeply. Some stories have been preserved, though. This world, they say, is but one of many. The universe is a collection of cyclical worlds, each imperfect, and Aztlan was always just one of them. The period of the Aztlani Empire was another world, like ours and better than ours in many ways, but stricken from reality by the gods for the transgressions of its people. The Empire represented the pinnacle of human knowledge and was always pleasant, and the three realms of overworld, mortal world and underworld were united as one. However, the people grew complacent. In their pride, they failed to worship the gods and did not keep the days or pay the debts. And so, the gods sent consequences - war with the land, marring of knowledge, the end of the prior world. This story of the cycle is told by all Tzak K'ani peoples, to remind them of the end that must come and the rebirth that msut follow.

The story always begins the same way: in the beginning was nothing, only murmurs in darkness of what could be. The gods, led by the Plumed Serpent, contemplated creation. They considered all things that might exist, and when they reached an accord, the making began. The realms were constructed and built by the Plumed Serpent and the first gods, as men and women build homes and cities. All was carefully measured from the center to the four corners, as the Tzak K'ani still do today as a sacred practice, symbolically constructing the universe in miniature. The mortal world was made different from the celestial world, and the watery underworld Xibalba was created, where all must go in death and where the Paddler Gods live. However, they were connected, and are always connected. The Ceiba tree has its roots in the underworld, its trunk in the mortal realm, its branches in the sky. It is the tree of life, the axis of the world. The gods filled the mortal realm with all kinds of plants, but they offered up no veneration and could not attend to obligations. The gods made animals, but they could not speak. The gods made mud-people, but those could not walk. The gods made wood-people, but those could not think. Each of these attempts at humanity was made and destroyed.

At last, the gods found a solution, and by their blood and wisdom, they made humanity. Humans could talk and make words, could serve as stewards and keep to orders and give praise. And so, the Aztlani Empire was born. Humans saw the world as it was, their minds grasped truth. The continent was unified. However, the gods saw that they had placed no limits on knowledge. The humans understood all, great and small, and thus forgot their duties and responsibilities to the gods. Therefore, the gods marred the cosmic vision of humanity, to remind them of the source of all wisdom. In their righteous wrath, the gods ended the rains and did not nourish the soil or control the elements. Thus, the first true humans of Aztlan lost their means to understand and prosper from the true earth. And while they failed, there was hope, for in the twilight of the world came the Hero Brothers, who would make the world that exists now.

The history of the present world and the importance of its cycles to the Tzak K'ani are captured in the legends of the Hero Brothers, whose stories are sacred and told in great texts, art and oral history. In that time, the earth was strange, like a waking dream. All kinds of things were alive, and 'logic' existed only in strange forms. The Sun and the Moon were clouded over. Thus, the arrogant Pet Mo' claimed to be the light of the world. He was an immense parrot, covered in glittering gems and stones, and he was as crafty as he was proud. He declared that his light was great and shining, that the blue of the sky was from his face, that his nose was the white of the moon, that he was the light. He was not. The light came from the Plumed Serpent and the gods, and it cannot be a false reflection. Despite this, Pet Mo' spread his lies.

The Hero Brothers saw the false lies for the evil they were, and knew that humans could not exist under a false god. They knew that Pet Mo' had to die, if humans were to prosper, along with his sons Tek' Winik and Lum Pak'. Theirs was a way of falsehood, blasphemous to the gods. And so they shot down Pet Mo' and stripped his face of metal and jewels. They buried Tek' Winik in the depths of the earth. They defeated Lum Pak' and bound him beneath the earth as well, vanquishing the false ones. But this was not all they did. One day, as they planted a garden, they trapped a rat that was ruining the plot. The rat told them that if they spared it, it would tell them of their family, for they knew not what had become of those great ballplayers. The Brothers agreed.

The rat told them - their father and uncle had also been Hero Brothers, the greatest ballplayers in the entire world. Because of this skill, the Gods of Death invited them to play a game in the Underworld, but they were tricked when they arrived. Their father's head was still there, trapped in a tree fork, and the rat knew where their gear was hidden, so that the Brothers could become great as well and avenge their family. Thus, the Brothers gathered the gear, practicing and practicing so that the Gods of Death would notice. When they, too, were invited to play, they went down as their family had, climbing a steep cliff to a watery place, where they crossed the river of spikes, the river of blood and the river of pus. There, they entered the throne room of the Gods of Death. They were forced to survive three terrible ordeals, passing through the Houses of Death - the Dark House, the Razor House and the Bat House. In the Bat House, one of the Brothers was defeated, his head severed as his father's had been.

At last the game began, and the Gods of Death, out of spite, made the brothers use the first brother's severed head as the ball. The brothers fought on anyway, and while they faced many tricks, they did win. However, they knew that to leave the Underworld, they would have to be killed. Rather than fall for Death God tricks, they hurled themselves into a fire, their bones were crushed and sprinkled in a river. That was when the miracle happened. The Brothers returned to life, for they had defeated the trials of death. They had completed the Great Cycle, and so they earned the power to live, to die, and to live again. Now, all of the universe follows this cycle as well.

This is where the legendary history of the universe ends and the history of Tzak K'an begins. These histories are much, much less consistent than the legends, as each polity maintains their own histories. One early history chronicles the time of a long-lost mother culture, known as Chok Ch'a, the Ones Before. These, it is said, were the creators of the first cities, mighty sorcerers and inventors of writing and divining. The most iconic Chok Ch'a artifacts are the immense stone heads that can still be found across the land. They were a grand empire, and some Tzak K'ani and Nahuacan explorers still seek out their ancient cities in the jungle, to gaze on their splendor. However, the cities are said to be cursed. The Tzak K'ani record that the Chok Ch'a had ten gods, one of which was the Plumed Serpent, but they named one god - the Jaguar God - as more potent and revered. The Jaguar God granted them superior knowledge and skill, making the Chok Ch'a the greatest of people. However, they fell as quickly as they rose, and the Tzak K'ani believe they must have angered the Plumed Serpent by venerating the Jaguar God over all others, leading to their demise.

Supposedly, there are small, secretive cults of the Chok Ch'ai Jaguar God within Tzak K'an. Many say this is mere hearsay, however. It is said that the cult consists of werejaguars, shapeshifters who can move between human and jaguar forms. The rumors of their existence have fueled the paranoia of the Plumed Serpent's priests for years, even leading to the murder of children who were suspected of being werejaguars. The few remaining werejaguars now live in hiding. Some meet in secret to maintain their traditions and search for other werejaguars, that they might reclaim the might of the Jaguar God. Others work with the lli shapeshifters of the north. Others do not even know they are werejaguars.

Despite the Chok Ch'a tales, other Tzak K'ani, more insular, claim to have existed since the beginning of time, as the progenitors of the founding Aztlani and the few survivors of the end of that world. While these Tzak K'ani do not claim to know their origins, their legacy is strong. They are devoted to the Plumed Serpent, military skill and construction of great pyramids. They name their ancestors the Ancient Ones, united by the Great Goddess. It is said that the Ancient Ones were deeply devoted to the Serpent as well, but in a dark way. Legend says that one thousand victims were sacrificed and interred under the Temple of the Great Plumed Serpent, their skulls towering on the racks. Other claims say it was ten or even a hundred thousand victims - always far, far too many. As the Chok Ch'a were doomed by devotion to the Jaguar God, so were the Ancient Ones doomed by the unjust bloodshed they committed.

Almost all Tzak K'ani claim their superior knowledge and written traditions are due to interaction with the Chok Ch'a, which taught them much. Even those who claim descent from the Ancient Ones agree that the Chok Ch'a and Aztlani Empire had great influence on them, unlike the 'barbarous' Nahuacan or 'blasphemous' Kuraq. They learned much of time, the stars and the stone from the Chok Ch'a. Many do wonder if, perhaps, remnants of the Chok Ch'a or Ancient Ones survived somewhere in Tzak K'ani territory, retaining the knowledge that they were unable to teach in ancient times.

Next time: The Great Cities of Tzak K'an

The New World - City Fathers

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - City Fathers

Even in the youngest days of Tzak K'an, the various factions drew on divine legitimization by the gods, and also argued, often violently. At that time, they were largely split between those that prioritized the traditions of the Chok Ch'a and those that prioritized those of Aztlan. Two great cities rose, one for each of these so-called First One factions: Ka'anlakmul and Sak Taj. Sok Taj is said to have been founded by the cultural inheritors of the Chok Ch'a, and certainly used Chok Cha'i calendars and art. They built a vast city of pyramids, altars and stelae, which told the story of their gods and rulers. They were watched over by Chak Tok Ich'aak, the Great Misty Claw. The city was changed, however, by the coming of Siyaj Ch'amak, Fire Born. He brought the ways of the Aztlani Empire with him - conquest. He slew Chak Tok Ich'aak and the entire lineage of Chok Ch'ai ancestors, ending their presence in Sok Taj. The monuments of the past were smashed and buried, the pyramids remade in the Aztlani style, and a new lineage was made leaders, descending from the Ancient Ones. Siyaj Ch'amak and his son K'inich Jol oversaw the institution of the Aztlani culture in Sak Taj and its neighbors.

To the north was K'anlakmul, the Kingdom of the Snake. The Snakes still represented and followed Chok Ch'ai practices, and their immense city was unmatched even today. They flourished and grew even as Sak Taj fell to the Aztlani ideas. Their king, Taj Yuknoom, began plotting the overthrow of Sak Taj. He watched as Fire Born's second son, Ch'ul Ajau K'u B'alam, claimed Sak Taj from his brother, and he saw his chance. Yuknoom the Great chose to align with Ch'ul, though it might mean fighting him in the future. Whispers of revolt spread in Sok Taj, but Siyaj Ch'amak and K'inich Jol ignored it, stockpiling weapons merely out of habit. That is when the Sky War began. The war shook the land itself, and thousands died in the battles. The land flowed with blood and obsidian. At the end, Taj Yuknoom won, cleansing the Tzak K'ani world of Aztlani ideas - for better or worse. It allowed to Tzak K'ani expansion, if often fractious and argumentative expansion. The culture was unified, but the people were not. Accounts of the Sky War and the days following it vary wildly, which should not be surprising.

Many cities were born in the time that followed, and great wealth and knowledge were earned. Both K'anlakmul and Sak Taj expanded, installing leaders in southern cities like Nohl T'zam and Olom Pa'. The city of Baak Ah'yiin was founded in the east. Smaller cities were either ruled by larger ones or ignored as too small to deal with. For a time, there was peace, as politics remained mostly internally focused. The rains were regular, the crops good. Infrastructure and trade expanded, and old knowledge was rediscovered. Tzak K'an reveled in knowledge and study, believing it would save them both now and in the future. They find the Nahuacan and Kuraq, even now, are distracted by petty, worldly things and do not remember that the end is coming. That is why the knowledge was prepared - to survive the end and rebuild after.

First contact with Theah was made on the eastern coast, near the city of Baak Ah'yiin ('Bone Crocodile'). Tales had spread from Nahuaca of the strange foreigners, and the rulers of the city were waiting for them. The acting king was Chiwoj Ajau, Lord Great Spider, who was more progressive than many Tzak K'ani rulers. The city had always been more open than others due to its coastal position, and generally not committed to trying to fight or conquer the other cities into one nation - indeed, Chiwoj said it would never happen. He was more worried about Ka'anlakmul and its allied Snake Kings in the west and Nohl T'zam in the south, both ambitious and powerful groups who wanted to unite Tzak K'an under their totalitarian rule. Those of Nohl T'zam even wanted to end most trade and growth, to better prepare for the end of days. None of this sounded good to Chiwoj Ajau, and the Castillians seemed far more normal by comparison.

He spoke to the Castillians through a merchant who had quickly picked up their language, and while initially underwhelmed, he offered Frederico Fernandez Lopez safe passage and protection, along with leave to buy and sell freely in the city. In return, he wanted future aid in conquering other city-states. The Castillians agreed, looking to get a strategic foothold for economic expansion. The alliance is maintained even now. Theans have prospered in peace along the coast and in the sister cities inland from Baak Ah'yiin, along with a few independent river settlements. The city's population has historically been open to adopting and including foreign elements in their culture, and the Theans are seen as no different. In return, many Theans enjoy the influence of Tzak K'ani culture and practice. The only real tension was when the Castillians began proselytizing, birthing a new Baak Ah'yiin expression: 'our gods would be happy to show you towards the sea.' However, the possibility of the war the alliance was built for 90 years ago now feels more and more likely. Thean military leaders are now being reminded by the locals of the promise to go to war together.

While the superstates like Ka'anlakmul and Sak Taj dominated the early landscape, the last 200 years have been full of balkanization and rivalries. The breakdown of the superpowers has caused military conflict between many smaller states. More than 20 kingdoms of varying size now exist, all vying for power under different ideals and beliefs. The cities are often quite distant from each other, and the wild lands are poorly controlled at best. Vassals often disagree with state priorities and underprivileged populations question their leaders' legitimacy. Priests disagree on issues, royal siblings fight each other. Tzak K'an was never unified, but it is worse now than ever before. Broadly, everyone feels the discontent and the coming cycle's end. Three broad positions have emerged.

First: "The Great Snake Will Eat Itself." The Tzak K'ani will destroy each other. Simple. Some rulers now consider that the alternative is to conquer the entire realm, long believed impossible. It goes against all of Tzak K'ani history and most of their ideals. An imperial model and its implementation seem like suicide. But would a compromised, broken Tzak K'an be worse than a dead one? Beyond the fact that a conquest is extremely improbable, many say that yes, it would be. Pride and individualism are strong in Tzak K'an, and they would rather see it destroy itself than be broken.

Second: "The Eagles, the Dead and the Ones from the East." These Tzak K'ani believe destruction will come from without. The Nahuacans and Kuraqi are both mounting threats, and the presence of the Theans increases pressure from all sides. While the Theans seem insignificant right now, kept at bay by the gods, who knows what the future will hold? Tzak K'an would have trouble with one front, let alone three. A unified coalition against the external threats seems impossible. Some coalitions exist between kingdoms, but getting sworn rivals to work together seems laughable. Many kingdoms would prefer to see their enemies die fighting the foreign powers. Even so, some are making desperate attempts at provisional alliance in case external conquest does become a threat.

Third: "The Will of the Gods." All Tzak K'ani know the world's cyclical history. The gods sometimes just stop supporting the mortal world. The last few decades seem to hint that now may be such a time. The rains come irregularly, the soil seems cursed, the earth does not tend to the people. Some kingdoms and priesthoods believe that mortal politics are petty besides the true threat - the end of the world. The reasons for the end and its growth are heavily debated. Many rulers now launch investigations and ritual changes to try and contact the gods that have not been seen in many lifetimes. Asking more active gods has earned only cryptic responses, and patron gods often contradict each other. Some gods seem to have their own agendas. While most rulers want to appease the gods and continue existence, some argue that embracing the end is what must be done.

Depending on your view, Tzak K'an's political systems are a disaster, a masterwork or both at once. Each city-state has slight variations in its priorities and positions, but some threads are common to all. The political arena is always tightly controlled and a place for both mortals and gods. The complexities of regional boundaries are vast and ever in flux, so almost every city maintains a scribal team whose sole job is tracking and maintaining the political relationship maps. These charts, resembling vast webs, show current and past alliances, locations of vassals and satellites, tributaries, diplomatic contacts and economic bonds, plus the locations of deployed state agents and family ties. This makes the idea of borders and boundaries very hard to determine. While a city's immediate land and area within two days march is generally considered to be under its control, political or economic control may sometimes go much farther, even into 'enemy' land.

Tzak K'ani cities organize along the cardinal directions, in accord with their views on the importance of cosmology. Each maintains sacred areas such as caves or cenotes that connect to supernatural realms, though opening the doorways to the sky or underworlds is growing ever harder and more dangerous. Each city-state is represented in writings and inscriptions with a symbol called an emblem glyph, which acts as a sort of logo. Some are direct representations, such as Baah Ah'yiin's skeletal crocodile, while others are more subtle, such as the lily and the word-symbol for fire, used by Nohl T'zam, based on a past event in which the city nearly burned down but survived and united the region.

Dynastic lines and divine sponsorship are vital to Tzak K'ani rulers. Rulership is either patriarchal or matriarchal depending on the city, with eldest children getting preference. Blood and kinship are valued, but sometimes an heir will be adopted. Siblings are often given roles as rulers of satellite or sister cities, and sibling rivalry is very common. Coronations are huge occasions in which the heir must demonstrate worth via rites of passage, usually some combination of political, militarist and religious. It's a symbolic thing, representing the ruler's ideals. Once a ruler takes the throne, great stelae are built with their image, displaying their power, personal history and ideals. They and their family control every aspect of their kingdom, with near-absolute power. They are seen as liaisons to the gods and are rightly feared. However, if the kingdom starts to show failures or shortcomings, the people may begin to question their divine right...and because there are ten thousand commoners to each noble, civil unrest is terrifying. (It's impossible to generalize the lives of commoners; it varies heavily by family. However, it is generally agreed on by the common folk that they are excluded from high society not due to resources, as they control the food and water, but lack of knowledge. The ruling classes are either of the supernatural or have access to its wisdom, unlike the lower classes.)

Next time: The Three Rites

The New World - Rite and Rong

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Rite and Rong

The Rite of the Holy is often done by those rulers who wish for a theocratic rule. To complete it, they must head into the celestial plane or the underworld and perform a series ot tasks from holy texts. While the rite takes time, the great knowledge of the supernatural that the Tzak K'ani possess usually gives some idea of what trials will occur. Those who successfully complete this rite are known as the Aj or Ix Haa Ch'ul at the start of their name - 'the Worthy Divine.' They are typically held in higher standing by gods and more often given divine aid when they need it.

The Rite of the Warlord is for those who would show off their might. The rite requires the capture of one or more influential rivals of the kingdom, and while it can be done quite quickly in theory, it is a risky ritual. Those that complete that rite earn the title Aj or Ix B'olon B'ak - 'He or She of Many Captives.' They are feared by those who would face them in battle, for they have proven their ability to enforce their will with strength of arms.

The Rite of the People is less common and generally less revered by other rulers, but represents those who rule by the will of the common folk. There is no preset path to completing this ritual, but usually involves deeds performed for the common good. The common people must collectively organize a show of support for the ruler to complete the rite, often by gathering en masse at the foot of the city's pyramid and chanting the ruler's name, prefaced by their new title - Aj or Ix Paj' Payal, 'The Chosen.' While this may seem less impressive, few leaders have actually managed to earn this mass support, and those who do rarely have to worry about rebellion, unlike their fellows. They have loyal eyes everywhere and full support.

Tzak K'ani politics and religion are inextricably linked. This is most clear in the importance of priests and holy leaders, who serve as right hand to the ruler and voice of the gods. Becoming a priest is not easy and is often decided by lineage. Priests and priestesses are often the children of priests or the secondborn children of rulers, and nearly every aspect of life has a dedicated priestly faction devoted to it. Priestly status is usually determined by specialty - political advisors hold much higher rank than agricultural ritualists. Like scribes, priests must attend a dedicated academy to learn the proper rites. However, while all scribes attend the unified school of Cahal It'zat, many priestly academies exist, which is probably part of why Tzak K'an has such a diversity of practices and beliefs. Priests undergo a two-year period of isolation in a vigil designed to rid them of mortal agendas, but they are not perfect or incorruptible, and an evil priest can ruin an entire kingdom.

At this point, shamans are mostly banished from the culture, though every so often a rogue shaman turns up in seclusion or hiding, and they are often equally powerful as priests, if not more. They are often poor and eccentric due to their status as societal pariahs, and are a sharp contrast with the wealthy priesthoods. The shamans have very little respect for priestly tradition, but have great power. They are born with the gift of divine visions, communicating to the gods naturally rather than learning the rituals to do so. They have direct access to the divine planes, which the priests both envy and fear.

Tzak K'ani courts are present in just about every major or satellite city, highly regulated and controlled. The court is held under an elevated bench or throne for the holy ruler of the court, the k'uhul ajau. They stand in for the royal dynasty and also represent the gods in the court. K'uhul ajau are appointed by the ruler, but they are often chosen for their lineage and are usually children of k'uhul ajau. They are typically accompanied by a sajal, or feared one, and an alk'uhuun, or knower of holy books, to advise them and handle court rules. There is then an open space, similar to a stage, in front of their seating. This is the area for the scribes, priests and other secondary members of the court. Most of their duties are performative and theatrical, involving deity masks, actors recreating the events being judged and even entertainers to keep up the spectacle of the court. Copal smoke and incense fill the air, altering the senses of those attending to add an otherworldly aspect to the proceedings. This is because, to pass judgment, the k'uhul ajau must send their spirit out of the world to receive divine guidance. This also involves a polished hematite mosaic mirror, which serves as a sacred portal for them to gaze into and contact the gods.

After a case is presented and everyone returns to normal reality, a decision is reached. The fact that court is a public spectacle usually means that sentences and findings are just, since so many eyes are on them, but also give a chance to showcase the absolute power of the ruler's proxy, the k'uhul ajau. They must act with care, of course. Ignoring the wishes of the people is a good way to cause a rebellion, and so most k'uhul ajau try to resolve cases to the satisfaction of both parties. (For civil cases, at least. I doubt they handle criminal cases the same way.)

Tzak K'ani military tends to be split, like most things in the nation, into elites and non-elites. The elite, especially of royal lines, are trained for tactics and leadership. Commoners are not required to serve in the military unless an active war requires conscription, but many join their city's army anyway. This is considered a form of familial tribute, and it greatly reduces or even eliminates a family's tax burden. One member's service can thus massively increase a family's profits for the duration of their tour, and in times like now, when crops aren't great, many farmers join up to offset their taxes. Unlike the Nahuacan, Tzak K'ani military roles are rarely standardized. There are common positions - warlords, officers, and the foot soldiers (known as holkanob, the brave ones) trained in spears and common ranged weapons, but there are other, more specialized positions that may not be found in all forces. Most armies have factions specializing in guerilla tactics, traps or even magic. As with many things in Tzak K'an, war is at least in part performative, and sieges often involve musicians playing music, priests with idols of their gods, sorcerers and even actors wearing masks. Taking captives is considered to be far more important than killing, and being taken captive is not fun. It may involve public humiliation, torture, enslavement or other terrible fates. The astronomers, skywatchers and daykeepers of a city keep very careful track of the times for war. As with most things for the Tzak K'ani, certain days and times are able to be divined and tracked to exploit supernatural advantages. War is generally associated with the planet known to the Aztlani as Chak Ek', the Great Star.

Most of Tzak K'an exists in the Aztlan lowlands, full of dense rainforest, except in the east, where it is slightly drier. The urbanized Tzak K'ani tend to see the rainforest more as an obstacle than anything else. Thousands of acres must be cleared for cities and fields, after all. They do like some plants, though. Planned orchards for fruit trees, for example, with guava, papaya or avocado. Parrots and toucans often live in these orchards. There are also urban gardens for spices, such as chile pepper, allspice, agave and so on. Some trees also hold symbolic significance, like the immense Ceiba, or are medicinal, like the chichem. The Tzak K'ani have developed many agricultural strategies over the centuries, from raised fields to terracing to slash and burn farming and multi-crop fields. They grow maize, cacao, squash, beans and cotton, and also harvest clay from the land. While animal domestication is growing, the Tzak K'ani have traditionally not had much of it, except for a few dogs, turkeys and deer. They will often hunt monkeys, pigs, tapirs or armadillos, plus any reptiles they happen to run into. Jaguars are considered dangerous yet sacred, and are highly valued for their pelts. Fishing is popular, and marine shells are often gathered for jewelry and rituals.

Most travel is by river due to the dense forests and uneven terrain. Foot traffic within a region will use raised limestone roads, called sacbeob. The Tzak K'ani have not been impressed by most Thean beasts of burden, and while some will be employed when using the sacbeob, the beasts don't seem to like canoes, and inland merchants rarely like to feed them. The hills, mountains and volcanos are considered sacred and are frequently quarried for stone, which is used for nearly all buildings in Tzak K'ani cities. The amount of limestone and plaster required for a city is staggering, and must be quarried constantly. Other minerals, like jade, chert and obsidian, are used to make tools and jewelry. Many Theans fail to grasp that wood is considered a high-class construction material, valuable and only for the elite. However, the forest edges are being slowly depleted, and the price of wood is always rising. Everyone needs fire.

Local food is mostly the meat and crops above, and the staples are the crops called the Three Sisters - maize, squash and beans. Maize is often processed into tortillas or a gruel known as atole, then mixed with meat and spices. Fermented maize beer is available, and for the very powerful, a sort of frothy cacao drink mixed with honey or chili. Cacao is so valuable that this drink is viewed as literally drinking your money. Not, mind you, that the economy is standardized. Most commoners just barter for goods, and most rural communities are basically self-sustaining. In cities, larger markets require a bit more work. Barter is still common, but cacao beans and salt have set values, and there is typically a sign up each day declaring the conversion rates. Items not available locally are brought by traveling merchants and typically more expensive the further they get from the source. Obsidian, for example, is cheap in the north but very expensive in the east. The elite families and civic constructions are funded by tax and tribute, which may be in the form of labor, military service or items such as crop yields, crafts or raw materials.

Due to the sheer distance and separation between city-states, Tzak K'an does not speak a unified language. There are many local languages and dialects throughout the culture, which often frustrates newly arrived Theans. While some words are common to all of them, odds are that two farmers from either side of the Tzak K'an expanse can't communicate outside of basic pleasantries and simple phrases like 'where is the bathroom?' Even that may require miming, in fact. They do, however, have a shared writing system, a very complex one that allows for a lot of freedom of expression and variability. Their hieroglyphic system includes logograms, phenoms, variants and even combinations of these things. One word can usually be written multiple ways, and scribes will often showcase their mastery by writing a single word many ways in one text. Thean scholars tend to find this unbelievably frustrating and complicated. The Tzak K'ani, for their part, tend to find Thean script boring and simple, and consider the frustrations of the Theans amusing. Numbers, which are very important to the Tzak K'ani, are written via combinations of bars, dots and a zero symbol, using location of each of these features to indicate what numerical placeholder is being used. Thus, even huge numbers can be represented with relatively few symbols. Learning to write is a lifelong endeavor, and scribes are typically chosen by lineage. Training typically starts as soon as the kid can hold a brush, and practiced during play by tracing letters in the dirt with a finger.

Next time: The Secret Home of the Scribes

The New World - The Power of Writing

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - The Power of Writing

While some scribes are taught, informally or not, just enough to serve local needs, the best receive education at Cahal It'zat, the Place of the Scribe, a centralized but highly secretive school. Its location is guarded closely by magic, traps and the environment, and many commoners consider it merely legend. It is designed as a microcosm for theu universe, like a small city, with a large pyramid carved with words at its center. Even the sacbeob are carved with words, along with just about every flat surface in the school, chronicling all of the history of Tzak K'an. Besides teaching how to write and record accurately, the school also serves as the unifier for Tzak K'ani languages. While centuries of independence may have produced a ton of dialects and spoken languages, Cahal It'zat ensures that all share a single written language - pretty much the only unified trait of the entire culture. The rulers allow this reluctantly but pragmatically, because words are useless if your enemy can't read them and fear you. Training at Cahal It'zat is enough to earn a scribe a formal position under a ruler, and many royally employed scribal families have been attending it for generations - often studying next to their city-state's sworn enemies. There are no politics in Cahal It'zat, as writing is seen as a higher calling, which will outlast all royal lines. In darker times, it also serves as a refuge. In war, scribes are often targeted, and the dangers of the job are recorded in one long hallway in the school. The school motto is recorded below: "True destruction only exists when history is erased and forgotten."

More recently, some have declared a need to more tightly control sacred words. Holy books often contain the most secret, complex features of Tzak K'ani society, and the Theans seem to want those books a lot, for somewhat unclear reasons. More and more books are being stolen from palaces, temples and libraries to be sold to the foreigners at high prices. Almost all scribes agree that the writing is so complex, even with the aid of these books, that the Theans would never manage to gain any dangerous information. However, some worry that this is wrong - and worry about what might happen if enemies of the Tzak K'ani master their language. Further, the loss of these texts could also destroy knowledge of their own history - already, irreplaceable texts have gone missing. Thus, a group of militant scribal guardians has been born, led by Iktan Chikul. They name themselves the Cult of Tsii'uun Bak, literally those who guard the edge of the white paper. However, Iktan is unsatisfied with mere guarding, and now speaks of tracking and recovering the stolen materials, even if means going to Theah.

The Tzak K'ani value art highly, as well as its makers. Painters are considered to be part of a long and noble tradition, and many, like scribes, are from a long lineage of painters and have many chances to move up the social ladder. Art is relatively standardized in Tzak K'an, with regulated ideals and methods, though always with some room for personal flourishes. Often, artists work in teams on a single product, due to the complexity of craftwork in Tzak K'an. A master potter will work closely with a painter and with pigment-makers for weeks to make a single god pot, while architects and engineers will work for years with sculptors to produce the pyramids. Each art form is considered unique and beautiful, but only a masterpiece when they all come together. Priests are typically present at every step of the process, as art must be pleasing to the gods.

Cloth and textiles are extremely valuable to the Tzak K'ani, particularly cotton and hemp. Clothing is expected to be an extension of a person's skin, representing their status. Thus, clothes are extremely regulated, with punishments for breaking these laws ranging from fines to death. Generally speaking, the elite wear more elaborate clothes, and most commoners use simple cloth and cuts. The elite prefer heavily dyed clothing with quetzal feathers and shell beads, or shimmering clothes made with hematite. Men typically wear a cotton loincloth wound around the waist and draped between the legs, sometimes paired with a cape-like garment called a pati. Women often wear a pati ties under the armpits, plus a long skirt or sleeveless dress fastened at the waist. Sometimes these are worn with a scarf-like headpiece that holds the wearer's long hair. Sandals are also worn in a variety of styles to show rank, with the wealthy adding jade belts, jewelry and animal skins. Jaguar-skin leggings are sometimes worn instead of a loincloth.

Men often wear their hair long and pulled into a ponytail or braid, or arranged around the head like a crown. Loose, untidy or short hair are seen as signs of captivity and shame. Men will sometimes shave or burn off their forehead hair to make their face seem longer, and typically shave off facial hair. (Some nobles maintain small tufts of it.) Women wear their hair long, and often loose if unmarried and young. Older or married women use a variety of hairstyles, often braided and gathered at the base of the head or in a low bun. Commoners may accessorize with ribbons, headbands or scarves. Elongated faces are considered beautiful, which has led to some city-states performing cranial modification in infancy, boarding and binding the head to flatten the lower section of the crania. Elites often wear elaborate headdresses to show their status, with many forms for various events. These are typically made of wicker or wood, decorated with quetzal feathers, jade, small sculptures of gods or animals, or animals skins. Jewelry often includes pectorals, bracelets, necklaces, ankle tinklers, masks and knee bands.

Besides cranial modfication, a few other body mods are performed. Special body paint is commonly worn for war or ritual, and both men and women often have tattoos or ritual scarification, which typically depicts natural objects, gods or status symbols. These can be on many parts of the body, but facial tattoos and cheek scars are exclusive to women. Most Tzak K'ani have stretched earlobes, with larger size typically reflecting greater age and status. The first rite of passage in any Tzak K'ani life, from infancy to childhood, is the first ear piercing and insertion of the first pair of earflares. Commoner earflares are usually wood, bone or shell, while elites wear larger and more ornate jade or obsidian earspools. Septum and lip piercings are common among rulers and warlords, and can be extremely elaborate. Elites may also have dental modification, such as jade inlays or teeth filed to points or in geometric patterns.

The Tzak K'ani do not consider non-binary or third-gender individuals to be rare or strange. While this is not rare with commoners, it is especially common for elites to be genderfluid or to identify as some mixture of gender. A major historic example is Sinan Ajau ('Lord Scorpion'), child of Ix Tokal Chan ('Lady Cloud Sky') and K'inich Pasaj Pakal ('Lord Dawn Shield'), who is often depicted on their royal stelae and murals in the dresses and adornments of their mother, but using male pronouns in the text. Sexuality is similarly seen as complex but casually diverse, and is only really a social issue when an elite requires an heir. Blood and bloodline are important and sacred, but adoptive children are considered to be of equal kinship in dynastic tradition, so even there it's usually not a big deal.

Because the gods demand daykeeping, it should be no surprise that the Tzak K'ani calendrical system is foundational to their society. Their obsession with cycles can be found in it. Where the Nahuacan say it is the Age of the Sixth Sun, the Tzak K'ani identify the universe as nearing the end of its current katun, a period consisting of 13 baktuns measuring 5125.5 years. Thus, the current universe was made precisely on 4 Ajaw 8 Kum'ku 13.0.0.0.0. With the aid of a Tzak K'ani scribe, Thean scholars have translated this to August 13th, 3114 BC. The basic calendar is made of a series of intermeshed cycles. There's the 260-day tzolk'in count, made of days numbered 1-13 in a cycle of 20 names. This is then subsumed into the 365-day Haab count (or 'rough solar year') made of 18 months of 20 days each, with the remaining 5 days tacked on at the end and considered deeply unlucky. Each day has its own supernatural associations, omens and gods. Thus, daykeeping allows the Tzak K'ani to plan for good fortune by strict observance of the time and day. Beyond the solar year, there is also the k'in, winal, tun, katun, and baktun, measuring distance along the Great Cycle.

You may have noticed the omnipresence of religion in Tzak K'an. Everything has a role in the sacred cosmology of the culture, and all must venerate the gods. The gods don't all walk among the Tzak K'ani still, however - some have died, others gone elsewhere. The gods of Tzak K'an are as stratified as the mortals, and most cities have a patron god or gods that align more closely with their kingdom's beliefs. Many commoners also venerate some mixture of minor gods. The major gods used to rule alongside some kings and queens, but they grow more and more absent in recent years. Some elemental deities have not been seen in up to two generations. Still, some gods are known and worshipped throughout the entire Tzak K'ani region.

Apocoatl, the Great Feathered Serpent, is of course known and believed in by all Aztlani peoples in some degree. The Tzak K'ani name him the oldest and most powerful of the gods, and every city-state has at least a shrine or two to him. He is the Tzak K'ani god of animals - all of them, even jaguars, despite them having their own god. Itz'hun, the First Priest is often worshipped as one primary creator-gods, who helped make not only the world but many sacred aspects of language and the priesthood. He typically appears as an elderly man with sunken cheeks and eyes, wearing white clothing. He rarely appears any more, though. He can sometimes be found visiting the priestly academies, it is said, but the priests never speak of his interactions with them. It is unclear if he just dislikes the highly politicized modern world or if he specifically dislikes the modern take on priesthood. (Modern meaning 'of the past few centuries.')

Ix Kin, the Sun Goddess, is the sun. Physically. If you look at the sun, you look at her natural form. She is the Morning Sun by day, the Jaguar Sun in the evening. When she walks the land, she is always tall and formidable, her teeth filed to points and her clothes shimmering. She loves four-petaled flowers, which often appear on her robes or worn as her earspools. Wearing a four-petal flower is said to invoke her power. Many rulers and commoners alike give praise to Ix Kin for her loyalty and the responsibility she used when exerting her power. She is twin to Po Ch'en.

Po Ch'en, the Moon Good, is the moon. He's easy to spot, and his 'human' form can be sometimes seen perched on the crescent of his moon-body, flanked by his companion, a giant iridescent rabbit. Po Ch'en cares for the tides, the seasonal cycle and fertility, among other duties. He often appears in the form of a young man with a long, flowing ponytail. He is a very shy god, but humans that seek him out on issues of fertility have spoken highly of his ability to calm and soothe people, and say he is very kind indeed. There are, of course, many lesser moon gods that serve under him, but he's the main one.

Next time: Death, Rain, Lightning and the Elements

The New World - Death Gods

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Death Gods

Kimi, God of Death, is the primary death god, though many others work under him. He is a giant skeletal figure with patches of eternally rotting flesh and a tendency to wear bells on his ankles and neck. He is typically found in the depths of the Underworld, surrounded by more minor death gods and giant death bats. He is a great player of the ballgame and enjoys playing against arrogant mortals, betting for their lives against his giving of supernatural power. However, he rarely plays fair. Legend has it that people ahve seen him in the corner of their eyes, in the mortal world. Typically this is in houses of the sick or barracks during wartime. It has lead to the idea of the sound of bells ringing being a signal of death.

Cha'kal, the Rain God is one of the most vital and important gods of Tzak K'an, especially for the farmers. They are the bringer of life-giving rain, and one of the most beloved of gods. They are more reptilian than humanoid, and they have divided themselves into four aspects, to better meet the high demand for them. Red Cha'kal has the east, White Cha'kal the north, Black Cha'kal the west and Yellow Cha'kal the south. While usually attentive to prayer, Cha'kal has a quick temper and is slow to forget or forgive a grudge, a trait seen in the irregularity of the rains. Areas that deal with poor rainfall are often thought by other areas to have annoyed Cha'kal.

Buluk Cha'wil, the Lightning God, is one of Itz'hun's greatest friends among the gods. He is a powerful but quick-tempered deity, revered by warlords and warrior kings. He often appears in mortal form during times of battle, wearing the armor of a commander and bearing a great smoking axe. He speaks with thunder's voice and strikes down any who oppose him. It is not entirely clear what his ideals are, but it is known that he does not revel in battle for the sake of battle. His presence, while revered, is also feared, and spending too long in his company is rarely a good plan.

The Pillars of the Earth stand one at each corner of the land, the elemental forces that mediate the elements between divine and mortal plane, preventing disaster. While many gods can usually be found in specific places, the Four Pillars exist in constant rotation, journeying to each of the four corners, such that they must be carefully tracked over time to tell where they can be found. Their physical descriptions are highly debatable, but one text claims that the Pillar of Fire is a four-legged creature with a body of embers, which sometimes causes faint white smoke plumes. The Pillar of Water is said to be a giant whose watery skin is constantly sloughing off, leaving trails of streaming water behind it. The Pillar of Electricity is invisible, but easy to sense by its eerie silence, the lack of animals around it and your hair standing on end. The Pillar of Earth is slower than the other three, but never stops moving, appearing as a tree-giant, or perhaps rock with plants sprouting from it.

There are also many minor gods, who attend to specific duties. Ek Pakax, the Merchant God is social and outgoing, ostentatious in his clothing and easily told by the scent of cacao and the large black scorpion tattoo across his face. He enjoys promoting trade and especially loves exotic goods. Ix Sax, the Rainbow Goddess, is a beautiful older woman, but also feared. She is believed to be somewhat spiteful against men, and many non-males seek her out for justice when wronged. Thus, a rainbow in the sky is seen as a powerful symbol for women and non-binary people, but a bad omen for men. Che'b' T'ul, the Scribal Guide, is often sought for guidance, but tends to be somewhat obsessed with the more mundane side of scribal work, often correcting mistakes and pormoting truth and good writing style. She is said be brilliant above all others, but eccentric. She tends to take the form of a large rabbit carrying a quill, simply because she can. Puilay Balam is the ancient Jaguar God, and he may not actually exist. He is said, somewhat blasphemously, to once have been equal in power ot the Great Feathered Serpent, though he is discussed now only in whisper and rumor.

In Tzak K'ani culture, death is seen as the start of a journey. The next life begins by descending into the watery Underworld, where the Paddler Gods meet the deceased in their long canoe and bring them to the next destination. If the proper rites have been performed, the dead bear some tokens to pay the Paddler Gods for a specific trip across the River of Death or even to a more pleasant shore beyond the river. Where they are brought, short of that bribe, is dependent on their mortal life. Some may have a complex series of tests or trials before them, each in a 'house,' a specific and dangerous places ruled by minor death gods. A backstabber may have to pass through the House of Blades, while a lying politician might have to go through the House of Poison Smoke. Some even have to go through many Houses, or never escape at all.

Once the Houses are dealt with, the dead ascend to the Celestial Realm, a tranquil place of knowledge that serves as a reward for those who have paid their debts and the immediate home of those deemed worthy by the gods. Those that have proven themselves in their lives or by dying in a righteous sacrifice, you see, get to skip the trials. Ancestors within the Celestial Realm can be spoken to, if you know the way. Those in the Underworld are harder, though not impossible. This is why the Tzak K'ani consider the Kuraq ways to be blasphemous and evil - they disrupt the cycle of death and rebirth and profane against the gods, likely bringing doom to the world.

Tzak K'ani life is heavily ritualized, with nearly every part of life having some special rituals associated with it, from seasonal crop blessings to the seating of a ruler. Each social class knows the rites that must be performed for their duties, to appease the gods. Many most be done at specific calendrical times, as part of the promise to keep the days of the gods. The Ballgame is an especially sacred ritual, a metaphor for existence and the cycle of life and death. It is often played in huge ballcourts in the cities, but can be played in the open as a sport, a proxy for actual battle or as a ritual sacrament. Anyone may play for sport, but war or ritual can be done only by chosen elites. Wearing the heavy ballgame equipment metaphorically transforms the players into cosmic beings. Individuals or teams can play against each other, attempting to move a heavy rubber ball (which symbolically represents the skull of one of the Hero Brothers) into a large stone hoop by use of their bodies. When the game ends and a victor is declared, a ceremony takes place which, depending on the game's context, may require one or more forms of sacrifice from one of the teams - not always the losing one.

The Tzak K'ani perform many forms of divination, but their most sacred and highest sorcery can be used only when the stakes are high and sacrifices are made willingly, in emulation of the gods. While humans exist in a constant state of blood debt to the gods, blood magic for personal or mortal gain is very costly, physically and mentally. The greatest and most feared form of this sorcery is the Wayak' Kan, literally 'vision serpent', a form of summoning sorcery sometimes called the Quest for the Wayak' Kan. The Quest begins similarly to other bloodletting rites, in which an individual takes on physical harm, using tools for drawing blood such as long (and sometimes thorned) ropes, stingray spines or obsidian blades. However, this ritual is more extreme and dangerous than other bloodlettings. The summoner must have an intention in mind, some question or specific advice that they need to be given, some specific aid, the presence of a specific person perhaps. This is because the sorcery has the power to breach the planes of existence.

Once the intention is made, the sorcerer pierces or cuts themselves, drawing forth as much blood as is required for the specific rite. Often, this involves drawing the thron rope through the tongue or cutting symbols into the face and body. This blurs the esges of reality. The blood is dripped onto paper, which is collected in a sacred bowl. When enough blood has been gathered, the paper is burned, sending forth colorful smoke. An immense serpent emerges from the smoke. If it is pleased, its writhing, terrifying head whirls and transforms into the head and torso of a human figure. However, the figure that appears is not always the one sought. Usually, an ancestor, warlord or god is the one being called, but because the hole exists in reality, unwelcome visitors may come, and the visions granted are not always what was asked for. Closing the portal is not as easy as opening it, but as the smoke subsides, ideally the sorcerer has found what and who they wanted.

In ancient times, Wayak' Kan sorcerers would use the blood of others in their sacrifice. The great serpent looks poorly on this, and often refused to come. Only the most skilled or devout could get results, and even that was unreliable. Once it was discovered that self-sacrifice was a more reliable, superior method, other forms of sacrifice became much less common - even for lesser summoning rituals usually performed by the Wayak' Kan sorcerers, to call on lesser spirits or physical objects. Some practitioners do still use animal sacrifice for inanimate objects, however, as this is usually sufficient and effective.

Any Tzak K'ani can perform certain lesser sorceries, particularly divination. The book Knowledge of the Days can give insight into omens of future events, allowing for better planning of missions and diplomacy. Many rulers employ daykeepers to help with this planning, and some even refuse to do anything without first consulting the omens. Other minor sorcerers use masks, body paint or magic pelts and feathers to take on aspects of gods or animals, and some Blessed Mirrors may be used to speak with gods or the dead, though caution is required - it is very hard to tell an actual blessed mirror from a cursed one, and a cursed mirror often lies.

Next time: Locations

The New World - A City Sampler

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - A City Sampler

Cahal Naab is a port city on the Ak Way river delta. The land is nearly impossible to build on - swampy, barely able to support stone, and constantly flooding. Despite this, the city stands. No one rules or leads it, and unlike most Tzak K'ani cities, it was never planned. It was barely constructed, growing almost organically from the delta as more and more people came to live there. The delta is a good port, with waterways wide enough for ocean vessels to enter the river mouth and sail up it a decent distance, and that means people decided to settle there, regardless of the difficulties. The locals are mainly a mix of vagrants, smugglers, con artists and anyone else that realizes a trade town with no ruler is a great place to profit. The city has few actual buildings; rather, it is a collection of roped-together boats, floating houses and temporary shacks meant to last only until the next flood. It's full of awful people, those who have no family or loyalty, those on the run, those looking out only for themselves. Only the rare traveling priest ever stops by to bless these people.

Itinerants in general are all that keep Cahal Naab alive. In the dry season, people come in from all over to open the port to foreign trade - any type of good you might ever want, legal or not. Theans are welcomed as bringers of the new and exotic, and preyed on as naive, dim-witted foreigners. Many locals also want to get the Theans to reveal the secrets of their amazing boats, or sell a few. The Kuraq and Nahuacans are only slightly less welcome, being creepy fuckers and imperialist jerks respectively, but as long as they bring money or goods, no one will mention that. So far, no city-state has ever managed to take over Cahal Naab, though many say it is only a matter of time. Certainly every ruler with true power has agents in the city, to track the black market trades and foreign gossip.

In many ways, Cahal Naab serves as useful neutral territory, a good place for monarchs and their proxies to make deals with people they can't afford to publicly associate with. Despite all the lawless killers, smugglers and criminals, it is a pretty place, too. It's got a wonderful mangrove bayou. During the rainy season it's essentially empty, with almost everyone taking their boats and floating homes upriver to avoid destruction. Each dry season, though, Cahal Naab gets just a little bigger. Every so often, an ambitious ruler attempts to conquer the place by force. This rarely works, simply because the army will arrive to find the locals having already dispersed into the swamps, taking their boats and good with them. The floods come, the army retreats, and next year Cahal Naab is back, free and bigger than before.

Yaxbal is built around a central pyramid, the largest in Tzak K'an: Chan Witz, the Sky Mountain. It is painted in red and blue, carved with images of the Earth Monster, the city's patron deity Cha'kal and other supernatural scenes. The central stairs lead up to its most sacred space, full of carvings and paintings of gods and ancestors, plus an altar for sacrifice. Yaxbal has four grand ballcourts, too, the largest just southwest of Chan Witz. The three smaller courts can be found around the outskirts, used for practice or smallscale rituals that don't require the more elaborate ballcourt. The pyramid is also near most of the city's administrative buildings and its observatory. There, the daykeepers, skywatchers and priests track solar and lunar events and mark the location of important celestial bodies. The observatory is also used as a meteorological station, noting atmospheric pressure and changes in rainfall levels and wind movement.

The main plaza is full of immense stelae, altars and monuments as reminders of the ruler's divine power. Heading out from the center, the grand monuments and elite homes give way to markets, shops and artisans' workshops. These bustle constantly with work, and while less ornate than the city core, these areas serve as the lifeblood of the city. Beyond these areas, and stretch out for another day's travel from the city, are the fields and residences of the general populace. These buildings are rarely of stone, usually built instead from perishable materials set on modest platforms, with thatch roofing. The fieldwork is far from easy, but the peasants consider it just another part of the cycle of life and death. This is basically your average city-state, of little interest beyond being The Average.

Chun Pixom is one of the oldest surviving city-states, and has come to define Tzak K'an and its traditions to most foreigners. It has lasted over eight centuries, and its people, known as the 'people of the Knot,' have survived the death of other, often more prosperous city-states. Their age and wisdom has allowed them to dominate their region politically, economically and militarily. Most of their power is based on the three pillars of fear, wealth and conquest. Most local vassal city-states fear their great military power and obey them without question. Those that do not are offered great wealth to remain loyal. The few that reject both must deal with their armies. Few survive that. In modern days, their three most important vassal cities are Oox Wiinik, Chaktun and Ma'yax Ha. Oox Wiinik was founded by Chun Pixom settlers, who proceeded to overthrow their local rulers and force their own takeover via arranged marriages. They went on to conquer Chaktun, indirectly adding it to Chun Pixom's area of influence. Ma'yax Ha is a more recent northern outpost, a shield-city that protects its overlords from attacks by northern foes as well as serving as a trade link to the Atabean Sea.

Every so often, a city-state will challenge Chun Pixom's rule. So far, all have been either conquered or destroyed so totally that even their existence has been wiped from the historic stelae. The most recent such challenger is Ka' Tuunich, a city only a hundred miles from Chun Pixom itself. They believe they have the power to end the unbroken line of Chun Pixom's queens, 33 women long and ending in the city-state's modern ruler, whose influence is felt from the metropolis Tlaichtacan all the way to the Nahuacan Alliance. Of course, others say that Chun Pixom has not influenced Nahuacan - instead, the reverse, Chun Pixom is alive today only because they have become like Nahuaca instead of being truly Tzak K'ani. The current queen, the Kin'ix Jun Tan Janaab', considers these rumors laughable and ignores them in favor of planning to conquer more land.

Chun Pixom is surrounded by rainforests and fertile soil in the uplands, right on top of a major east-west trade route. This has brought them great riches, though it does leave them without a local source of fresh water. This has led to the city's extremely advanced rainwater collection system, providing them the largest fresh water storage in all of Tzak K'an, using ten heavily guarded reservoirs around the city. This has rendered them nearly invulnerable to siege - they're already used to water rationing and collection, after all. Of course, to besiege Chun Pixom, you have to get there first. That's no easy feat. The city is covered in jungle, and it is impossible to reach unless you've been there before - and even then, the roads through the jungle aren't always trustworthy. Further, the people of Chun Pixom have created a series of ditches and earthworks in the north and south to protect themselves, and the east and west are blocked by large areas of swampland.

Chaktun, nominally, is a fairly unimportant Chun Pixom vassal state, notable only for being on the nexus of several trade routes. However, its importance and relevance to local politics has only grown over time. Originally, it was just a market center founded by Oox Wiinik, and its ceremonial architecture is fairly modest due to its origins as a mercantile hub. The local gods have been entirely forgotten, replaced by those of Chun Pixom. However, its sculpture is amazing, some of its statues counting among the tallest on the entire continent. Most of these are from what the Chaktuni call their Revival and their masters in Oox Wiinik call their Rebellion. The Revival began about a century ago, after a massive flood buried the city. The waters proved unable to undermine any structure built on red sandstone, and the reconstruction focused on transforming the city into its modern shape, complete with a change of name. The city grew to become the major controller of uncut jade and cacao beans for its entire region. And that'd be when Lakam Tok Ajaw became its king. He seized the images of the gods of Oox Wiinik, burning them. He had his sculptors make the greatest city emblem to ever exist. They did so. And, finally, he received and earned the explicit support of the king of Ka' Tuunich. Thus, Lakam Tok Ajaw swore to turn Chaktun into the capital of the entire eastern Tzak K'an region, and the people of Chaktun are just waiting for the chance to do so, with the help of Ka' Tuunich.

Ka' Tuunich is very large and very powerful, the center for the political alliance known as the Kingdom of Stone. Their emblem glyph, a mountain devoid of trees, can be seen for over a hundred miles around the city. The city itself has 150,000 residents, and the city's name is taken from the two immense structures that combine together into a giant pyramid. The swamp around the city is the main reason for the city's wealth, and indirectly its importance. The edge of the swamp is extremely fertile soil, and the swamp is full of valuable flint nodules, which have been the basis for the city's architecture and military power. They take their ideals from the flint, viewing themselves as resilient and immutable as stone and mountain. If they maintain proper worship, they will never fall. The two pyramids represent the idae of mountains, and are the site of many rituals to help weather change and emulate the past.

Unlike most family units in Tzak K'an, worth is determined not by lineage or marriage, but by what each member contributes to the whole. Stone families are cooperative units of likeminded people, not blood relations. While many are built on people with blood ties, family members can join by choice. It is this foundation that the Stone People say gives them strength. Instead of marriages to unify families, they seek blessings from the gods when new people join the family to ensure the group remains strong.

Next time: More places.

The New World - City People

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - City People

A long time ago, Manik Ju'un was a poor city-state full of squabbling courtiers. At last, its young queen, wise beyond her years, declared that they would use what little surplus they had to build a small library. This, the Library of Manik Ju'un, she declared open to all scribes and scholars in all of Tzak K'an. And so they came, bringing many ideals, languages and stories. While they may have been loyal to their home cities, they also found a loyalty to each other in their shared passion. They began to share information, technology and texts, introducing and standardizing new phrases in the languages. The queen was careful never to enforce politics on the scholars, to keep them visiting. This was to be a place they could be themselves, not just servants of rulers.

For centuries, the library stood untouched. Scribes of conquered cities would flee to Manik Ju'un, and the city developed a policy of accepting all refugees so long as they swore to serve the library over all other causes, to seek and copy all that was recorded, and to write what was not. They often brought texts with them, which joined the many in the library already. Thus, it grew to be the greatest in all the world...until six months ago. A fire broke out in the Library. The king's advisors have been investigating, and it seems that some assailant leaked a large amount of lamp oil in, using it to start a fire. While the librarians saved the majority of the codices, the Chief Librarian (who was also the king's younger brother) died in the fire. The king has closed the library now to anyone outside the royal household. He says he will reopen it when the perpetrator is found and the fire explained. However, many scribes complain that the city does not have the authority to close the library. It is meant to be a neutral space for all scribes, and therefore it should be the scribes that decide if it closes. The King's response has been that if they didn't want him in charge, they should have either moved the library out of the city centuries ago or at least provided their own security.

Some of the territorial losses of the Tzak K'ani have not been to other Tzak K'ani, but to Nahuaca. The Nahuacan have taken, for example, the Temple of the Plumed Serpent and still hold it. This is not, however, the only place that still bears the marks of blood sacrifice. There's the city of Teo Puh'tex, right on the current border. Only a few Tzak K'ani ahve visited it and lived to tell. It is a city that still follows the old ways. They allow only those who recognize their iconography into the small city, and only if they swear fealty to the old gods marked on the walls. Within, the locals are said to still practice ancient blood sacrifice with the practiced ease of the ancients. Even those who are allowed in usually do not survive - they are sacrificed to the glory of the old gods, and most of what is known of them is solely from notes smuggled out of the city by prisoners, usually tied to bird legs. There are precious few of these.

Munyal Kaah is sometimes said to be the most impressive of all cities ever made. It lies high in the mountains, ten thousand feet above sea level and carved into the living stone. It has had many names, and some even doubt its very existence, though it is real. It is the City at the End of the Snail Stair, the Impossible City, the Three Stone Place, the spot where Creation happened. Its people do not care for any of these names - they just call it Munyal Kaah, the Cloud City, for they are the people of the Cloud. The city is built on extensive terraces, and all of its structures are exactly equidistant from each other. It has over 100,000 inhabitants, making it the most populous urban center on the entire continent. The entire city covers an area of over one hundred square miles. The locals run their own trade network, using passages and routes unknown to any other city, which allows them to ignore "ground politics," as they call the ways of other cities. They do commerce with whoever they please, and no one is sure how they manage it.

It is said that Munyal Kaah was once a vassal to Chun Pixom, but the Chun Pixom tax men and diplomats refused to climb the Sin'aan Xiinbal mountain to do their job, and after a time, the two cities simply stopped contacting each other for vassalage. Many now desire their allegiance, but so far no one has ever found a way to convince the Cloud people that it's a good idea. They have all they need, after all. Their nobles rule from the Sky Palace, and while the Cloud people do still maintain the social strata that is common to Tzak K'an, they provide access to elite goods to every citizen of the city-state. This is said to be because many commoners have worked and provided the inventions that now benefit all in the city.

The Chok Ch'a ruins have largely been lost from all maps, but someone looking in the eastern forests may still find Tak'ooj A'bak. It is not the largest of the ancient ruins - those would be the shoreline cities of Caxazul and Ik' Tu'na - but it is impressive. Most of its temples and complexes are still buried underground, looking like mere mounds, but some still jut beyond the earth. The mounds themselves are huge, of course, and the site is marked by monolithic altars covered in the strange language of the Chok Ch'ai, along with their huge stelae. Most strange, though, are the immense stone heads. Their faces are long since worn down by time, but they are carved intricately from solid blocks of volcanic basalt - far larger than any local stone should provide, and the nearest volcano is hundreds of miles away. They all have the same general demeanor, the somber, menacing look that is associated with 'The Ones Before' and deep, pupil-less eyes that seem to watch any intruders. Each head is ever so slightly different. No one knows why.

Beyond the courtyard of the heads, there is the ruined plaza. It is full of discarded tools, broken ceramics and other such things, with most buildings long buried or crumbled. However, within some of the buildings are huge caches of carved jade, cinnabar, hematite and all kinds of polished ores. These valuable materials have lured many to their doom, for many who enter Tak'ooj A'bak never return. One legend speaks of hasty etchings on blocked doors, which read 'up', 'down' and 'through.' What this means is, as ever, entirely unclear.

People! Jasaw was orphaned young after his parents went to investigate a newly opened cave despite the advice of the local priest to stay away. They never returned, leaving only bloody smears at the cave mouth. Clearly, they had been dragged to Xibalba for trespassing. Jasaw knew the tales of the Hero Brothers, and thus knew that one could cheat death if one won a ballgame against the gods of death. And so, Jasaw decided he would become the best of all ballplayers, to return his parents to life. He's become the best - he's beaten pretty much any other player he's faced. However, he's still not good enough, for he has never received an Underworld invitation. Indeed, Jasaw has never even seen a god. He knows they exist out there, but by the time he so much as turns to look, they are gone. He's starting to believe they avoid him deliberately, and has been seeking other ways to reach Xibalba. The cave his parents used has been sealed by priests, and his request to the Library of Manik Ju'un for other entrances was lost during the fire when the scribe working on it died. Now, he spends his time on exhibition matches, sleeping with whatever men and women take his fancy and dining with royalty. He seems to have given up - but only on the surface. Even now he's still looking for a route to Xibalba. He's just decided to do so secretly, in hopes that whatever has plagued his efforts so far won't notice.

Ix T'zutz lives in a small house on the edge of the fallen city Kamaktul. She is largely alone, and officially, she is queen of the ruined city. She has plans for the place, and is getting ready to enact them. She wishes to rebuild Kamaktul as a city that melds many cultures. She has friends and allies across Aztlan, Theah, Ifri and the Crescent Empire. She makes friends easily, and many have donated money to help her cause. She waxes enthusiastic on the topic of the technology of the places she's visited and the 'City of the Future' she plans to build, which she hopes to integrate technology from across the world into, under the control of Tzak K'ani engineers. This would be an insane, impossible dream if Ix T'zutz didn't have such charisma and talent for getting others to share her enthusiasm. The city itself, or the ruins that will become the city, were a gift from the king of Manik Ju'un, supposedly in honor of her (extremely obscure) noble lineage. Now, she has gotten the backing of many wealthy merchants, and plans to use their funding to acquire the talents of prominent cartographers, architects and mask-makers. The first buildings have barely broken ground, but that just means she has to hire surveyers, astronomers, augers and other such people to ensure her development is as auspicious as possible, right? She surely won't go upsetting the local traditionalists. Surely not.

Next time: More people.

The New World - Slave Queen

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Slave Queen

Ix K'ahk' Chi' was orphaned young and quickly sold into slavery. Her master was a rich potter who made her, along with several hundred other slaves, fire and glaze his pots. When he found that she had some degree of control over the fire, he hoped to make money off her ability. First, he took her to a local priest, who told him she was a child of Kinich Ahau. Then he took her to a Nahuacan priest, who told him she was a child of Xiuhtecuhtli. When he took her home, though, she set his house on fire. She, along with the hundreds of other slaves he kept, fled to a local volcano, free for the first time in decades. Soldiers followed them, but Ix K'ahk' Chi' burned them terribly. She sent emissaries down to tell people not to follow them up the mountain. Word of her deeds has spread, and followers of both Kinich Ahau and Xiuhtecuhtli have started to leave offerings on the side of the volcano, which the slaves have survived by eating. However, more slaves also came to the mountain, having escaped their masters and sought Ix's protection. Now, they don't have enough food, or any way to grow food on the side of a volcano. In the city beneath, the slave-owners have called an emergency meeting to figure out what to do, the priests still squabble over her divine lineage and the nobles make plans to extract her from the mountain. She maintains her freedom and that of her followers solely with the threat of terrible fire. A few people are brave enough to climb the mountain and give her news, and she uses them to send messages or requests for aid.

Guy de Malvaux was born Guy de Levesque-d'Aur, a noble attached to a brief campaign into Ussura who got left stranded there by a failed assassination attempt. A nearby village saved his life, despite his being part of a foreign army, and when he was well enough to travel, he set out to find the attempted killer. Unwilling to allow him to go alone, Illya Ekaternava Borisovitch offered to join him on his travels, with the help of his Castillian friend, Bartolomeo Garcia Torres. The three tracked the assassin to Vodacce, but were only able to learn one name: Henri. Guy changed his name to try and throw off the assassin from recognizing him, and the three men became practically family in their close bond. With the Henri lead seeming dead, they decided to seek out Bartolomeo's brother, who had apparently gone missing during a trip to the New World, and they headed for Tzak K'an. They have since learned that Bartolomeo's brother was last seen with an expedition seeking out Syrneth artifacts, and have headed out into the wilds to find him, despite their unfamiliarity with the jungle.

Alonso Ruiz Calderon joined the Vaticine young, and he was in the Inquisition well before Verdugo took over. If he'd wanted to, he could've been Verdugo's right hand man, but he was always more interested in land than in ecclesiastical power. When Verdugo offered him the chance to lead the pogrom against Syrne artifacts in the New World, he jumped at the chance to scout out new land to own. At first, he obeyed his orders, but soon, his own goals took over. He loved the New World's beauty, and he wanted to own it. He tried first in the Nahuacan Alliance, but their many laws kept him from getting far before they kicked him out. In Tzak K'an, however, he found a land of dissent, ready to be subjugated. If he angered one ruler, he could just go to another city, and the shared culture made it relatively easy for him to learn and move on. Now, he lives in Polok K'anche', manipulating and poisoning the mind of King Kal'omte Chan K'awiil, whom he plans to use to take over Tzak K'an, and eventually the entire continent. While his efforts are currently limited to Tzak K'an, he has sent emissaries to Nahuaca and Kuraq to seek allies. He's learned a lot in his time in Aztlan, and he's pretty good at using what people want to his best interests. Nominally, he continues his work with the Inquisition as well. Instead of destroying artifacts, however, he has set out to learn how to better use them to conquer the New World, destroying them only if he can see no way to do so. He is Strength 7, Influence 13.

Ix Tzak Cho'k-Taak is a cacao farmer, with plantations scattered and hidden across Tzak K'an. She maintains them with the aid of her many daughters - she has over 20, some adopted and some biological. They run one of the biggest counterfeiting programs in the continent. They take cacao pods, removing the valuable beans and replacing them with appropriately colored clay. Then she sells these pods to the Nahuacans, on the correct assumption that they aren't as good as Tzak K'ani merchants at spotting the fraud, being less familiar with the beans. Then she sells the beans to Tzak K'ani wholesalers, profiting twice. This would be less profitable, of course, if she didn't make a lot of use of child slaves. She captures small children, forcing them to work for her. Children are ideal for her purposes - their fingers are small, causing minimum damage during bean extraction, which makes her counterfeits almost undetectable. When they become too large, she either sets them to work as harvesters or sells them off. Catching kids isn't hard, anyway. She lures them in with promises of hot chocolate and food, and has grown to be something of a bogeyman among the Tzak K'ani. Parents warn their children that she will steal them away if they are bad, saying she drinks their blood to remain youthful. City leaders dismiss such tales as mere rumor and urban legend, which she is quite happy about, as it lets her keep up her work unchecked. Ix Tzak makes a ton of money off this, which she uses to pay off key merchants and leaders to keep the rumors rumor. Her Strength is 4, her Influence 8.

Ix Miol wanders the land. She was raised in Sakbe'nal and joined her parents on trade missions from a young age, eventually becoming a wandering merchant. However, she hated being a merchant, wanting instead to be an archaeologist, and she cherished any time she could get among those who studied the ancient past, though her parents often chastised her. When she was old enough, she abandoned the family business entirely to work at a Syrneth dig site under famous archaeologists. She had a knack for figuring out how to use artifacts, and they interested her deeply, as she sought to understand them and learn to better use their technologies. However, when her parents learned of her deeds, they disowned her, and without their funding, the archaeologists had little use for her. She knew if she could just make a breakthrough, she could earn her family's favor back, so she becan stealing artifacts to study. What began as a noble mission of learning has become a quest to find items that let her steal better, and has made her the most wanted artifact thief in all of Tzak K'an. She has a small band of helpers, and she's more than happy to sell weaponized artifacts to fund her raids and expeditions to not only steal other relics, but to destroy the research surrounding them to better cover her tracks. She is Strength 6, Influence 4.

Kal'omte Chan K'awiil is the scholar-king of Polok Kanche', a city-state dedicated to art and science. His people love him, for he is a wise man, an expert strategist and spends his wealth on his people, living far below his means. When Don Calderon came to the city, he saw potential, and it was not hard for him to bring fear to Chan K'awiil. After all, he merely had to tell the truth. The Alliance in the north? Warriors, bent on conquest. The Kuraq to the south? Subjugating everyone in the name of a death god. Theans? Greedy. They want Tzak K'an for themselves. All true. And therefore, Tzak K'an must be united under one banner, led by someone wise and skilled enough to defeat these threats. Surely, surely Kal'omte Chan K'awiil was the man for the job. And while Chan K'awiil once spoke only of peace, he now realizes that peace will not unite his people. He could see the wisdom in Calderon's words, if not the manipulative purpose. And so, Chan K'awiil has dedicated himself to unifying Tzak K'an. Polok Kanche' has gone from flourishing hub of business and the arts to a military center in mere weeks. Great construction projects have been abandoned to conscript the workers, palaces stripped of jade, obsidian and gold to trade for or make into weapons. The army has been streamlined, and they have already conquered several lesser city-states, demanding their tribute in the name of unity. Now, Kal'omte Chan K'awiil sets his sights on Cahal Naab. He is Strength 2, Influence 8.

Next time: Kuraq

The New World - The Land of Death

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - The Land of Death

The Kuraq Empire was once disparate city-states, brought together in the ashes of a fallen kingdom. They have been united as a single empire for two centuries, growing massively in infrastructure and power to become a stable nation. The reason this has worked so well for them is that their power comes from a place no other touches - the dead. They are led by their ancestors, spirits bound into mummified corpses, who control the Empire from the grave. Each generation serves their ruling ancestor, who plans, manages and controls them, using the bodies of descendants and retainers to spy on the living or even to take control entirely. These are the Venerable Dead, and under the guidance of Empress Asiri Inkasisa, they have helped the Kuraq rise from a fractured group of city-states to a monolithic empire. However, the Empire is not so united as they'd like to think. While the nobles are dead, they still scheme against each other to raise the power of their own descendants, and ancient grudges become modern blood feuds that control entire lineages. The Empire is on the verge of toppling, and its people are rebelling against the brutal rule of the dead.

Long ago, in the time of the Aztlani Empire, the gods walked the land as giants, carving it with their footsteps. All were happy in the protection of the Winged Grace, Apocoatl, who drove away all that would harm the people. Under him were the other gods, his children. However, the gods began to fight over Aztlan, blaming each other for any misfortune or suffering, for uneven distribution of rain or crops. Outsiders noticed their disruptions and invaded, and Apocoatl withdrew his blessings in fury, driving away the gods that most angered him. This only made the squabbles worse, and the gods gathered their favorites in powerful cities, ignoring the suffering outside. When the battles ended and the smoke cleared, the Aztlani were scattered, huddled in the walls, their connections and communities broken by fear and mistrust.

And so it remained for six generations, with the city-states of Kuraq independent, fearful and distrusting of each other. Each ruler had their own god-patron, who had fled the fall of Aztlan to take refuge with them. However, the gods were never far, living on nearby mountains and accepting the pilgrims that came to them to worship and ask blessings. The gods often came down and walked among their people, blessing and cursing in equal measure, for they were capricious beings. Eventually, the city-states sought to expand, fighting each other over land and resources. One bloodline from the kingdom of Kuska became weary of the battles, and their leader, Yaca Yma, sent forth messengers to invite the other great kings to a meeting, to end the bloodshed and unite the people.

The emissaries met in the holy palace of the ancient, monstrous deity Kikinpaq, a dark place set into a mountain. Kikinpaq swore to ensure none would harm each other, and gave each king a single golden feather, which had been granted him by his father, Apocoatl. The kings each brought their feathers, swearing to broker a peace for the land. Each swore on their god, who also promised to maintain the peace. In thanks for this, King Yaca Yma was given a cloak of Apocoatl's feathers, and he retired to the holy estate of Manqo Pacha, handing his kingdom to his son, Pakacocha. For a time, there was peace. However, it is said that one of the gods began to spread distrust again in an effort to gain resources for his people. When a northern foe ransacked the land, the kings once more turned on each other, accusing the others of betraying the peace and siding with the foreigners. Finally, that traitor god even whispered that the power of the cloak of feathers of Apocoatl could secure all of the kingdoms. Three of the kings turned on Yaca Yma, marching to his palace. When the retired king greeted them as friends, they slaughtered him and set fire to the villa. In the fighting, the cloak vanished, smuggled out by a loyal servant.

At that point, two city-states emerged as leaders: P'alqacamba and Kuska. The warrior-priests of P'alqacamba followed Suway, the death god, and believed that only by uniting the lands of dead and living could a strong new kingdom rise. Yaca Yma's two sons, Supacha and the illegitimate son Pachacunya, led Kuska. Supacha was a studious scholar, while Pachacunya was a mighty warrior. Kuska followed the sun god, Wach'i, who gave Puchacunya immense strength and power in battle. The pair fought the death priests, leading their army south to fight Suway's forces. It was a vicious battle, indecisive and bloody, and while Puchacunya wanted to continue fighting, Supacha convinced him to seek peace by understanding Suway's power. Supacha then went down to the priests, alone.

In the three days that they talked, Supacha became fascinated by Suway's power and chose to worship him rather tha Wach'i, the first ever ruler of Kuska to do so. The priests, seeing his conversion and convinced he'd make the land strong in his worship, surrendered, bowing to serve Kuska and Supacha forever. Supacha returned to tell his brother what had happened, but hid a secret - he was sick, for the battle had taken its toll. Supacha soon died of his illness, but not before he convinced his brother of the glory of Suway. After Supacha's death, Puchacunya was crowned king of Kuska, and out of respect for his brother, he too set aside Wach'i in favor of Suway. Puchacunya soon became the greatest of kings, conquering or converting the other city-states. Under his leadership, the power of the dead was embraced, and he sent priests to teach the people how to connect with their ancestors and keep them in the mortal world as guides after death. He led the ancestors back, bound into their bodies, as the Venerable Ones - a class of returned ancestors whose spirits inhabit their descendants.

At least, that's the official version, cooked up by centuries of imperial propaganda in an effort to unite the people. The true story is known to a tiny few. It's all true up to the part about Supacha and Puchacunya. They were, you see, outnumbered and afraid. Supacha wanted to flee, and did so when his brother refused to. He was captured by the death priests, convinced them he wanted to convert, and was afraid that his very popular brother would steal his birthright. The priests and Supacha hatched a plot, and Supacha called his brother to tell him that peace had come and they would hold a feast to honor his victory. When Puchacunya came, they drank and talked like brothers should, and Puchacunya drank to a stupor. Before the sun rose, Supacha strangled his brother, and the death priests came, killed Supacha's body and reanimated the body with Supacha's own spirit. This, Puchacunya-who-was-Supacha was the actual king.

Regardless, the Venerable Ones proceeded to carve up the Empire right under the nose of the Emperor. While open conflict between the dead nobles was forbidden, their shadow wars became so pervasive that they were known as the War of the Panacas or the War of Bones. The Emperor could barely contain the infighting long enough to rule, and the people saw his weakness. The rural areas banded together and threatened civil war if the nobles did not stop. As it seemed the Empire would fall to chaos, a heroine emerged. Asira Inkasisa was of a noble family that had worshipped Kikinpaq and tended his shrine, before he entered eternal slumber. In the War of Bones, she rose to prominence by turning from the old ways to worship Suway, and on her feather's death, she betrayed his wishes and entered his death shrine. She emerged wearing his funerary mask, declaring herself his speaker, the first woman ever to lead a noble house.

Asiri became hugely popular, even in Kuska's royal court. It was there that she met Yara, the illegitimate great-granddaughter of the true Puchacunya. The two became lovers, and Yara revealed to Asiri the truth - that the Emperor was Supacha. On discovering this, Asiri led a popular revolt, storming the panacas of Kuska and dragging Supacha from his throne, slaying him on the pyramid steps. Without a king, the people turned to Asiri, who took up the golden feather cloak and became the first Empress of the Kuraq Empire. She promised that the instability was now over. And, indeed, for two decades she enacted progressive reforms and led a stable, prosperous empire. She divided up the land into territories, assigning each noble house a land to rule in order to keep them busy and away from each other, with emissaries of each line serving on the Council of Sixteen, who would advise her. She also created the Tokoyriq, a force of guards and secret police, to maintain the peace and enforce her will. They would become her face in the nation.

Next time: Theans arrive.

The New World - These Guys, BTW, Are 'What If The Inca Rejected Their Sun God For A Death God'

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - These Guys, BTW, Are 'What If The Inca Rejected Their Sun God For A Death God'

At some point after this, the Castillian explorer Franco Gonzalez shows up on the shore of Kuraq. Many priests hailed him as Kikinpaq returned and brought him to the panacas on the cliffs over Takana. The Empress soon heard about this so-called return of her childhood god, and called for Gonzalez to attend her at Kuska. When he arrived, she knew - he was no god. She saw a way to use him for her own ends, however. She allowed him to continue to pretend at godhood while she mined him for information on Theah. It was not long, though, before Apocoatl awoke from his sleep in a rage over this pretender and his lies, destroying Gonzalez's fleet off the coast. Only Gonzalez's own ship and one other survived, and Gonzalez was forced to flee back to Theah, vowing revenge.

Gonzalez returned five years later, in the twentieth year of Asiri's rule. This time he brought a small fleet and landed at Takana, where he burned the city down and massacred the people. He burned any mummy he found, destroying dozens of Venerable Ones and killing thousands of people. The Empress turned to Suway's priesthood to drive back Gonzalez and his forces. Yara and her sister Alqacha were forced to watch in horror as Asiri slaughtered their family and slew herself, using the power a hundred sacrifices to become a very potent Venerable One. The priests bound the Empress' spirit into her own corpse, which rose full of power from the sacrifice of the old imperial family. Now functionally immortal, she turned her power on the Theans, blasting Gonzalez and his forces into nothingness. From then on, she led the Kuraq as warrior-queen, Venerable One and defender of the empire. The people felt safe and mighty.

Asiri turned her attentions towards ruling her empire. Now undead, she could remain awake and active longer, allowing her to better unify and control the kingdom. She instituted new reforms in what would be known as her Renewed Reign, to increase prosperity and peace. She codified and standardized the law and trade, she expanded the road network and irrigation system and expanded the study of art, encouraging noble patronage. Her reign has lasted a hundred years so far...and if the cost is a sacrifice every so often to maintain her power, well, what's the harm? The Empire is stable, after all. Only one threat remains: the gods.

The gods of Kuraq were once its mightiest force and were heavily involved in the lives of their followers. However, with the rise of Suway, the other gods were generally abandoned, losing power and followers. Still, they were unwilling to give up their role as guardians of the people and the land...until Suway's priests began to force the issue. No one is sure whose idea the God Hunt was or when it started. Suway himself hasn't been seen publicly in generations, though rumor has it that he took the Empress as his consort and visits her annually. The priests have certainly named her the Bride of Suway, and worship of Suway has become intrinsically part of loyalty to the Empress. It wasn't hard to go from that to the idea that Suway should rule all and that other gods must be destroyed. And so, the priests set their secret warriors, the Awqaylli, to hunt down the gods and imprison or destroy them. Now, the ancient Kuraq gods are hiding and running. Those that are captured are locked away in the jungle, and many believe the priests are somehow sacrificing the gods to fuel Wanay Naqay, death magic. Once a god is gone, their blessings vanish, leaving followers with no choice but to turn to Suway for protection. Most of the populace has no idea the God Hunt is going on, nor that the deaths of the gods go to fuel Suway. Now, after years of hunting, only a few gods remain free. The Empress and her propaganda tell the people they are lucky that these divisive, mercurial gods are gone...but the gods have not yet given up, and they are spreading an idea: revolution.

Kuraq has always been a place where freedom is restricted, at least since the rise of the Venerable Ones. The dead control the lives of their descendants, planning them out completely. They decide who the living may marry and make all important family decisions. Many see this as a small price for stability, but others chafe under this control and miss the days of the ancient gods. The gods approach these people in disguise, offering their blessings if they will oppose Empress Asiri. The resistance has come together under the care of these gods, an underground guerilla organization known as the Pakaykuq, whose goal is to free the Kuraq Empire from the rule of the dead. Life, they say, is for the living. However, they and their gods must be careful. The Empress' sheer popularity and powerful control of the realm makes it hard for them to stay hidden. Recently, they have taken to hiding in the mountains, in areas that all Kuraq consider holy.

The modern Empire is built on a single idea: one Kuraq, one Empire. Unity in all things. Parents teach children of the old days, when more freedom caused chaos and infighting, and praise the new society, led by the Venerable Ones, that builds a stronger future. Once Kuraq becomes powerful enough, they will expand and bring their benevolent rule to the rest of Aztlan - by force, diplomacy or intrigue. The unity justifies it. Of course, it has a price. Improved quality of life and innovation have required sacrifices and a very strict social hierarchy. At the top of it all is the Empress, the supreme leader of Kuraq. Her word is law by divine right and by strength. No one is strong enough to challenge her, nor willing to try doing so openly. Instead, the nobles fight each other for power as her advisors and military leaders. Most of those nobles are undead. The Venerable Ones rule from their mummified bodies, bound inside their Speakers. Together with Suway's faithful, they work for a world where the dead and the living work side by side, and death is merely the next step of eternal life. For the dead to be truly free, this eternal life must be granted to all - but it will take time to grant this mercy to the world. Fortunately, the dead have time.

Ever since the creation of the Venerable Ones, Kuraq has enjoyed the benefits of never truly losing the wisdom of good rulers or scholars. However, only the very best and brightest are chosen to become Venerable Ones. Every Kuraq strives to earn the honor by achieving their highest potential in life. Children are evaluated quite young by their Venerable ancestors for useful talents and skills, then assigned to the profession that best suits them (according to said ancestor). The final decision of who becomes a Venerable One or Speaker is left to a house's leading Venerable One, with the other Venerable Ones in the house attempting to influence the decision. Political fights within families are common as the living seek to secure their afterlives or those of their loved ones. If there are multiple possible candidates for a Venerable One position, infighting becomes quite commonplace, and bribes, sabotage or even violence are not unknown. Some families encourage this ruthlessness.

The Kuraq dedication to being the best has led to rapid advance in technology, science, art and magic. Intense competition is normal, and the truly ambitious strive to prove their worth in order to become Venerable, while the Venerable Ones provide their wisdom to the living. Kuraq citizens commonly work alongside the Speakers and Venerable, serving them and offering deference as well as protecting the mummies that house the spirits of the Venerable. The Venerable are seen as more advanced beings due to their age and power, and those Speakers that wear their funerary masks are given utmost respect. Speakers are easily recognized by the masks that tie them to their ancestor, which set them apart from other mortals.

It is due to their perceived supremacy that the Venerable control all levels of Kuraq society, down to individual families. They have often ruled for centuries, and it is not rare for a family to have several Venerable Ones that vie for control over decades or longer. Their goal is to advance their own mortal families. Anyone that wants a mortal's aid must get the approval of their family's Venerable leader, for mortals rarely act without undead approval. The undead manage all marriages and may even decide how many kids a couple can have, using this power to connect and bind family lines. Because people maintain their power well beyond death, it is very hard to manage any form of upward mobility in the Kuraq Empire. As more Venerable Ones are made, the youngest fight their elders for power, trying to earn respect for themselves. Infighting and public squabbling are officially frowned on, but the Empress secretly encourages such conflicts to ensure no Venerable One ever tries to take her throne.

Next time: The Empress

The New World - O Mighty Queen

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - O Mighty Queen

Now that she's gotten the nobles to focus on each other, Empress Asiri is focused on expansion. Initially, she considered annexing the territories to the north, but both Tzak K'an and the Nahuacan Alliance have good military power, and she has decided she may be better served by looking overseas for conquest. She's spent her time gathering information about the lands beyond Aztlan, spying on any outsiders that come to her shores or even picking them up and interrogating them directly. After a century of this, she is satisfied she understands enough to take part in politics in trade with Theah, in service to her plan to take it over from the inside out via the Venerable Dead. To that end, she has ordered the rebuilding of Takana as a port welcoming outsiders, a project that has been ongoing for 30 years. It is to be the most beautiful, impressive city in Aztlan, and construction is to be perpetual, always adding new features.

Most Kuraq consider Takana to be an ill-omened, haunted place, but the lure of work has drawn many there as the city prepares to open its ports for the first time. Of course, like anywhere in the Empire, outsiders will be tolerated only within the existing framework of Kuraq life and belief. This is Kuraq, not Theah. Things seem to be going well, though the Empress has hit a few snags. In her century of grabbing outsiders, she has realized her biggest challenge to dealing with and infiltrating the outside world is Apocoatl himself. While the ancient god does not stop every visitor who arrives, he and the other gods often strike down those they see as threats - and Apocoatl deals with such threats more often than most, getting rid of many before Asiri could learn from them. To prevent the intrusion of other gods, Asiri and Suway have worked together to weaken other gods in Kuraq. She has convinced Suway that his power will expand into Theah, and he backs her entirely. Still, both are bright enough not to piss off Apocoatl, and so their work has been slow, trying to keep him appeased or at least unaware of their plans.

The Pakaykuq resistance is the Empress' biggest obstacle, those citizens who have kept alive the old ways and reject Suway and the Venerable Dead. The largest deities that support them are Wach'i, the sun god, and Ninaq'ara, the father of the gods. Wach'i was once the most potent and a rival to Suway, and has been protecting and leading his followers in secret ever since the fall of Puchacunya. Ninaq'ara, meanwhile, has taken the form of an old human man to help lead the resistance. Not all of the old gods can fight, however. Saramama, the harvest goddess, just wants to survive and help the crops. Others, like Urkillay the shapeshifter god, travel in secret to inspire revolt among the people.

Either way, to join the Pakaykuq, you must believe in the ancient ways. Members can come from any walk of life, though they have few nobles, due to the opulence in which they tend to live. Still, anyone that chafes under Kuraq's current form might find a cause in the old gods. They find ways to reach out to the underground divinities or catch the eyes of their followers. The Pakaykuq then test them several times, until local members believe them to be sincere. Only then will the new recruits be brought to the hidden temples, in the out-of-the-way locations that protect the gods and their people from the Tokoyriq. Ruined cities, ancient caves, sewers, lost temples. Here, the new recruits meet their gods and swear a blood oath to fight Suway's priests and the Venerable Ones. The gods give them a token, a blessing or some other gift to set them apart and give them strength. Few are as fanatical as the Pakaykuq as a result, for all know that they have the direct support of gods in their fight for freedom.

The Pakaykuq operate on a cell-based structure, organized only loosely to prevent any one group from giving up the entire organization if tortured. The group includes rogue priests of Suway, who now wield their power against their god's current methods, warding off dead spies and performing hit-and-run attacks. It is the sacred duty of all members to help protect the gods from the God Hunt, who are their mortal foes. They currently lack any overt political power outside of their ability to strike from the shadows and perform sabotage. However, as the Empress tightens her grip and the noble houses treat their children as disposable playthings, the number of dissenters grows and starts to secretly aid the revolutionaries. Two of their greatest assets live right under Asiri's nose - her granddaughter, Princess Miyatala, is a secret worshipper of Wach'i, and Tolanaq, the last surviving descendant of Puchacunya himself, is a member of the resistance too. If either were able to rally the noble families, it could start a civil war that would destroy the current Empire. Ninaq'ara leads the movement personally, in the form of a wily old man from the rural areas. He moves constantly, always in contact with Wach'i and working to inspire others to join the rebellion. Wach'i is the bravest of the gods, fighting on the front and serving to make himself a living, moving target for the Empire to chase.

Eventually, the Pakaykuq know they must emerge from the shadows and rebel openly. However, it won't be easy even in the best circumstances, and the risk of defeat is terrifying. Further, they are not very organized. Each cell is spread apart, so communication is hard. They smuggle messages using coded patterns in cloth or via runners who belong to the group. Even with this, messages are lost and often each cell must operate on its own. Further, because the resistance is made of the followers of many gods from many social classes, there is internal conflict, and the Pakaykuq must spend much of their time fighting the God Hunt rather than acting against the Empress directly. Several cells have approach Ninaq'ara to broach the idea of enlisting outside help, such as the Tzak K'ani or Nahuacan, or even Theans. So far, Ninaq'ara has been against such things, but the idea has been growing in popularity.

The Kuraq live on the southern tip of Aztlan, and while their land is vast and arable, good for cattle, it is full of mountains. These serve as natural barriers, which once kept the region from uniting. After Puchacunya united the empire, the Kuraq began working on infrastructure to bring together distant cities. The first innovation was the Runners, a group of heroes who would travel the land before the roads were even built, carrying supplies and messages. Behind them, a road system grew to connect the various territories and Kuska, the capital. This allowed traders, merchants and craftsmen to travel, building a common culture and centralized laws with them. Tithes paid for expansion of water and waste management systems in the cities and irrigation in the rural areas, plus water travel for shipping of goods. Once the Empress took over, the roads were even further protected by Tokoyriq military police, and the Runners were expanded to become the honored guardians of the road, becoming warriors as well as heroic messengers. Harming a Runner is now punishable by death.

The Empire is split into four quarters, called suyus, for governance purposes. Kuska sits at the center, where all four meet. The northwest is Apuchsuyu, where Asiri was born, home to trade centers such as Aqo Allpa or P'alqacamba. In the northeast is Antasuyu, ruled by nobles and home to the pleasure city of Kapuli or the old city Patanatambo, once home of the heirs of Puchacunya. Southwest is K'uychisuyu, breadbasket of the Empire and the seat of the rebellion out of cities like Manqo Pacha. Southeast is Manachansuyu, home of holy mountains and the rebuilt Takana. All are largely divided into three types of area - the urban centers and their panacas, the rural areas, and the wild lands.

Every city, while united by Kuraq culture, maintains some of the ancient styles and signifiers of their old tribal nature. Some things are universal, though. In ancient times, it was believed that the closer one was to the sky, the closer one was to the gods. Thus, cities are built in vertical tiers, with the poorest living on the lowest ring and the highest points reserved for nobles. The poor live in stone homes built into hillsides outside the city proper. Streets are stone, walls scrubbed and dyed or painted in geometric patterns and murals. City life tends to be fast, loud and intense. Trade is encouraged, regulated only by the imperial trade standards, and the markets are a constant hive of activity. The Tokoyriq patrol the street in groups, watching for crime, and all living citizens travel and work in the same areas, regardless of rank. Only the Venerable and their Speakers receive special reverence and deference when they pass.

Panacas, as the noble compounds are called, lie higher up, acting as central foci for the city. The roads lead to the panacas, where people come each day to bring news, trade and visitors. Those wealthy enough live just outside the panacas, near where the artisans work (well, the cleaner ones). Every city has a temple of Suway near the panacas, in view of the whole city. There might be multiple panacas, with the most powerful noble family living at the highest one. Each panacas is blocked off by a wall, and has a large courtyard to gaze upon the central huaca pyramid from. The pyramids are actually carved into the hills, with chambers dug deep in the rock. The most powerful family members live in the apartments at the top, just under the huaca, with guards and servants on the lower floors. At the depths is the crypt, a series of vaults guarded by priests of Suway and their Awqaylli warriors. In these are the corpses of the Venerable Dead, and none may enter without their express permission, on pain of death.

Next time: Rural areas, wild lands and the dead.

The New World - The Quiet Life

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - The Quiet Life

The settled land outside cities is mostly farmers, shepherds and tradespeople cultivating the land. They exist in satellite communities for miles around every city, protected by the nobles but largely independent. They cut limber, mine, make pots, grow food. Without them, Kuraq would starve. They tend to be much less centralized than the cities and are mostly self-managed. Each community operates on its own, led by a local Chuki or Palla (respected man or woman, respectively). The local families have representatives advising this person, and each family runs its own household. If an area is large enougn, it will have a Takiy representing the nobility, as well. (Roughly, 'chanter'.) The Takiy answer to local nobles, bring in the tithes and so on. If the tithe is short, the community must make up the difference, as the tithe maintains the roads and infrastructure. Safety is a huge deal for these communities, as beyond the farmlands and pastures are the wild lands, home of wild animals and bandits. The jungles are known to be dangerous, with caves that lead to the underworld, and wild undead monsters are said to roam them. Such corpses wander from their graves to attack anyone they can catch, feasting on them to feed an all-consuming hunger. Local militias are common defenses, as communities badn together to fight any kind of crisis. If the danger is bad enough, the Takiy can ask the nobles for aid, and often Tokoyriq forces are sent to help - efficiently, quickly and very violently.

The wild lands remain untamed by the Empire, mostly because many of them are too far from the roads or otherwise geographically blocked. The jungles at the foot of the mountains, for example. Most of these can be traveled around, but rumor of hidden treasure or lost relics brings people in. Most such explorers never return. The most prominent wild lands are the holy mountains, the backbone of the Kuraq. Once, they were sought by pilgrims seeking to commune with the gods, and while this is no longer done, they are still considered holy places of solace and contemplation. It is inviolate, a core of Kuraq culture. Violence is forbidden in the mountains, no matter what, and they are seen by all as places of safe passage. For this reason, many meetings between feuding groups are held in the mountains, on natural terraces long ago furnished with stone villas for neutral meeting grounds. Traders serving the mountain travelers are treated with total respect, often serving as mediators.

All of the wild places are bound by one law, however: the Water Truce. If a traveler meets another in the wild lands, they must help the other find water. Seeking of water must never be restricted, no matter what. Even if warring groups meet near a water source, both must keep the Water Truce and allow the other to drink and refresh before they part. Those that violate the Water Truce are considered traitors to the Empire, hunted by the Tokoyriq for daring to break the most sacred of laws.

While the Kuraq society is not completely stratified, the class system is quite strict. Beneath the Empress are the noble families, who descend from the ancient kings of the city-states united by the first Emperor. They have a strict hierarchy, with the eldest Venerable Ones commanding the younger and their mortal descendants. They rule as regional governors and lords in the suyus, tithing back to the Empress and enforcing her laws under the scrutiny of the Tokoyriq. Beneath them are the families sworn to their service, from servants to guards. Nobles hire entire families most of the time, often for generations. The nobles choose what jobs the children of such families do, superseding even that family's Venerable Ones. While these people have no real choice in their lives and are not nobles, they hold a higher social rank than any other non-noble.

Below the noble households are those families that work as traders, merchants or soldiers, doing what is needed to keep the Empire running. Achievement among them determines rank, with those who have skill or bravery rising above others. Priests, especially of Suway, are considered a special class among these people. They and the Tokoyriq are special servants of the empire, as the Awqaylli warriors of Suway. To harm any of these three groups is to attack the Empire as a whole, and is severely punished. Some see the priests as holding the true power in Kuraq, treating them with even more respect than nobles. At the bottom are the peasants, the indigent and those who lack in ancient lineage or valuable jobs. Those who are unemployed, especially, are considered a drain on the empire's resources, undisciplined and disloyal. Despite this societal rigidity, however, anyone may advance with sufficient work and the right opportunities. It is forbidden to discriminate based on gender or sexual orientation, as well.

While daily life may change based on station or location, some things are universal. Children are tested and measured and judged constantly to find the right place for them. Even the poorest child can attend a providence school to learn from a teacher, called an amauta. They learn to memorize huge amounts of information, and how to record numbers and complex measures on quipu, long braided ropes. They learn to recite the history of the empire, the names of the noble houses and their lineage all the way back to the founding the Empire. Because the Kuraq have no written language, memorization and retention are key. By the age of five, every child is evaluated by their family and its Venerable One, who decides where the child will study and what their job will be. All further education is aimed at this goal. Another evaluation is performed at age ten, prior to apprenticeship, and again at age sixteen. Dedication to one's assigned job is considered to be the greatest form of loyalty, and being reassessed as a failure and given a new profession is a mark of shame and loss of status.

Because this can be very stressful, nobles fund many leisure areas, like gardens, ampitheaters and sports arenas. Many also distribute coca leaves to their people to help soothe them. After the assessment at sixteen, a child is considered an adult, and may now leave their apprenticeship and get married. Marriages are arranged, of course, with the ideal of finding a good match to continue the line. The young people involved must consent, but bribery or intimidation are not rare. Marriage can be between any combination of genders, with surrogates brought in to have offspring for same-sex or other infertile couples. Marriages last beyond death, though once a spouse dies and becomes a Venerable One, the living partner may remarry. It is not rare to have both an undead and a living spouse.

Kuraq families typically live in one home or at least nearby, generally centered around the family crypt. Many generations will live under one roof, cooperatively raising children. Respect is expected to be given to the elderly, as is obedience. Even in old age, everyone works until they are no longer physically able to. At that point, the family will gather to decide if that person's time is up, and if so, whether they are to become Venerable.

The Empress has spent a lot of resources on economic growth. Her early laws codified trade with standards that remain current, and while barter is still a large part of the economy, the trade laws require fair and stable pricing based on the Royal Advisor for Trade's rulings. Those laws also control trade between suyus or foreign countries, including the taxes on import and export. The system it replaced was not one of tax or tithe, but of communal service and labor instead, and this practice, called llank'ay, is still used in more rural areas where the nobles can be more lax. Most regulated trade is with other nations rather than internal, however, due to the vast program of rural production. Thanks to Kuraq's advanced irrigation and agriculture, they are a giant of agricultural production, textiles and weapons trading. The Empress has recently established a gold standard to make external trade easier, and it is slowly overtaking barter. Gold mining has become a massive industry, and the new coin, the ipa, was inspired by the descriptions of Thean coin economies by Franco Gonzalez. Many traditionalists hate the ipa and do not want to use it, but the Empress insists.

What resources are not exported go towards technological innovation, especially in the areas of food production and medicine. Healers have been studying medicinal plants for generations, and have also developed advanced internal surgery techniques, especially related to the brain and spine. Most of this is thanks to the priests of Suway, whose knowledge of the dead has greatly advanced medical science. Kuraq is also extremely good at preservation of mummies and has a thriving black market in corpses for practice. Besides this, the Empress dedicates a lot of funding to infrastructural improvements. The roads are always being improved and extended, tunnels being cut, storehouses being built to such a degree as to create massive underground warrens. Cities are almost constantly under renovation to accomodate growing populations of both the living and the dead, with more and better water and sanitation systems. Most importantly, the Empress has begun buying a lot of lumber and bringing in boat builders to try and establish a standing navy. While she insists this is all for trade purposes, the other Aztlani nations do not trust her and are concerned with her naval plans.

Next time: Laws of the Dead

The New World - Art of Death

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Art of Death

Because of the focus on producing goods, art has generally speaking taken a lesser focus in Kuraq society for the past few generations. Many artists were supported by the temples and their communities, which obviously isn't really a thing they can do any more, and they were largely refocused on other areas. Only the nobles can now support artists, primarily singers, storytellers and weavers. Among the peasants, performing or creating art during leisure time has become a symbolic act of resistance. Many revolutionaries work through wall paintings and woven messages in textiles, or hide messages in songs and stories. These arts are always destroyed by the Tokoyriq when discovered, however, and those involved are punished.

The laws of the empire derive from basic tenets set down by the throne. All authority flows from the empress and, below her, the Royal Council. It all stems from a single basic principle: Ama Sua, Ama Llulla, Ama Quella. Don't steal, don't lie, don't be lazy. All resources of the empire are for the whole, not the individual, and therefore squandering them is a crime - a swiftly punished one. There is almost no imprisonment in Kuraq. Crimes are paid for with blood. Those accused of a crime are judged by a Takiy. Small crimes are things like personal trespasses or laziness and usually get punished by public shaming - the criminal is displayed and publically ridiculed, with objects thrown at them. If someone manages to somehow avoid this, they are instead put to llank'ay - a term of community service for a period chosen by the Takiy.

Any form of property theft is punished by mutilation, with the severity based on the nature of the theft. Losing a limb or suffering severe disfigurement are common for serious thefts. Minor treason, such as speaking against the Empress, is also punished this way. Those that survive are left scarred as a public example. Because all criminals are considered the lowest of society, they must rely on public kindness to survive, and must by law answer truthfully about their crimes in order to be a caution to others. Often a good story about your deeds will get you fed or clothed, at least, so criminals must learn to tell their tale well or risk starvation. All punishments are meted out by the Tokoyriq, whose loyalty is considered absolute and therefore they are believed to be unable to perform any criminal action. Most consider the Takiy to be wholly impartial due to their position and therefore they cannot be prosecuted for making mistakes or wrongful sentencing. While the Takiy are officially above reproach, everyone knows corruption exists and that you can bribe them to look the other way.

Any criminal sentenced to death dies swiftly and brutally. This is a punishment only for the worst offenders, recidivists who have already lost limbs in sentencing for past crimes. Repeated treason is the main cause of the death penalty. The criminal is stoned, hanged or pushed off a cliff. Their body is then destroyed, rendering them unable to become a mummy and thus forever dead. The very worst are stricken from their family records entirely, forgotten forever.

Now, religion. The Kuraq claim that, after the Fall, their gods did not abandon them as other nations' did. Whether this is true or not is very hard to say. Before the people began building cities again, they had nearly forgotten their gods. When gods came to them and showed them how to live, they worshipped once more. The lines between old and new gods are blurry, and people largely used the old names, but it's hard to say if they were actually the same entities. Especially after the rise of Suway and the God Hunt. Those who followed other gods have been driven from their faiths, their gods sent into hiding. Many have died, and only a few still remain, fleeing and trying to maintain the faith their people have in them, supporting the Pakaykuq.

Niniq'ara is the father of the gods, who rose from the great caves under the world to bring light to the people. He made the skies and the storms and the other gods. He remained a powerful protector until the fall of the Aztlani Empire, and when that happened, he felt a great loss. He gave over his divine gifts to others and walked the world as only a man. He remained as just a man until Suway rose against the other gods, bringing a terrible imbalance. Now, Ninaq'ara has reappeared as a wise father, ready to guide his people in rebellion. He is the living memory of the past, the bringer of storms and the keeper of truth.

Wach'i was the first son created by Niniq'ara, given the power of primordial light. He became the god of the sun and a protector and bringer of bounty. For generations, he was the patron god of all people - warriors, farmers, nobles, peasants. The rise of Suway and destruction of Puchacunya was a nearly deadly blow to him, and for a long time he was secluded, in mourning. Suway's priests hunting him until the reappearance of Niniq'ara, who joined Wach'i and convinced him to help lead the Pakaykuq.

Suway, god of the dead, is now the most powerful and popular god in Kuraq. Every officially sanctioned song or story venerates him and his power. Once, he was brother to Niniq'ara, the reaper of souls and guardian of the afterlife. Early on, his priests asked him for knowledge of how to seek the wisdom of the dead. To give them power, he taught them sorcery and, soon, the priests spread across the land preaching his strength. Now, all worship at his feet. However, whispers say that he is no longer seen by his followers even at his temple in P'alqacamba, nor even in the Empress' chambers in Kuska, which leads many to wonder if he is truly happy. The Pakaykuq believe he has become a prisoner of his own followers, and that balance must be restored to free him.

Kikinpaq is one of the few gods not born of Niniq'ara. Rather, he is a child of Apocoatl himself, and walked the land when Aztlan was young as a terrifying, mercurial monster. When Niniq'ara brought forth the gods, Kikinpaq joined them as a protector of Aztlan, for he adored humans and their ingenuity. It is that love that led him to help bring peace among the gods and mortals. When the kings of Kuraq went back to war against each other, his rage sent him into a deep slumber from which he has not awakened. Today, many of Suway's priests seek to sacrifice Kikinpaq to Suway, to make him unstoppable as the ancient god. If Kikinpaq is found and slain in sacrifice, the devastation would be unfathomable - but so would his power, if he could be awakened to help the people.

Pachamama is Kikinpaq's sister, daughter of Apocoatl, and a monstrous goddess of dragons. She can, however, hide herself in any guise. She is a shapeshifter without parallel, and she was abandoned both by her brother and by her lover Niniq'ara, choosing instead to wander Kuraq as a protector of the outcast. Now, she stalks the land as an invisible spy, rewarding thieves and saboteurs against the Empire. She wants, more than anything, to awaken her brother so that they might once more fight side by side.

Next time: Storm lord, shifter god, moon woman and money king

The New World - Dead Magic

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Dead Magic

Katoylla was once the god of storms and sports, protector of youths and herald of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Now, however, he has lost almost all of his once many followers. He travels the land in wild revolt, laughing at danger and keeping one step ahead of the God Hunt. Rumor has it that it will not be long before his luck runs out, however, given how undisciplined he is. Once he is gone, one of the last great, untamed forces will be lost forever.

Urkillay was born to Niniq'ara as a god, and from her birth she sought the place she belonged. She represents change and transformation, and so she sometimes takes on many aspects of things in nature she finds beautiful. She has never been fully comfortable either with the gods or humanity, and her happiness lies in the animals and wild things, so she became the protector of nature, the goddess of transformation and primal life. When the God Hunt came, she withdrew into the deep jungles to guard her animal charges, but she has now been drawn into the fight. Her hunt of the hunters will begin soon.

Mama Quilla was once the most peaceful of all gods, but she is in full and open revolt against the Empire now. She was the goddess of the moon, of marriage and of children, once Niniq'ara's most serene and calm daughter. However, she has now listened to far, far too many prayers of children forced into lives they never desired by their Venerable ancestors. It has enraged her beyond belief, and she travels the land now to free those trapped by their ancestors and to give blessings to those children who yearn for freedom. She does so as militantly as possible, often destroying the Venerable Ones she finds in order to free their families.

Ekekko, the god of wealth and good health, is a traitor. It is said that when the God Hunt captured him, he bought his freedom from the priests of Suway with information. Now, he supports the kingdom and showers it with wealth and blessings of fortune. That is why the Kuraq Empire has grown so economically potent, why the Empress is so powerful, they say. Ekekko the traitor is more than happy to turn over other gods, who now reject him entirely, in exchange for his own protection.

Saramama is the goddess of the grain and the harvest, and she is very, very sad, despairing for her people. Once, they tilled the land with joy, but the empire's oppression drives them now to do so out of fear of the tithe, not of love for the land. She has fallen into a terrible depression, and while the Pakaykuq and her followers protect her, she refuses to do anything. Her despair is simply too great. Many see her lack of action as a dangerous liability, as the rebels must work to protect a near catatonic goddess. However, many hope that if they continue to do so, they will inspire the mighty earth goddess to rise up and help before it is too late.

Of course, veneration of the dead is still the most popular form of worship right now. The people embraced it when Puchacunya invented it, bringing the idea of building a better world with the aid of the dead. The truth, that Supacha murdered and possessed his own brother, is a heresy whispered by enemies of Suway, whom most of the populace still see as a savior. However, those who remember Suway's ancient worship know - his priests have twisted and distorted it to create the modern veneration of the dead. In the ancient times, those that died would pass on to the world of the dead, where they would reside peacefully. The body would be mummified, then placed in a sacred shrine in the panaca by the caretakers and descendants. Eight days of funerary rites would be held in full mourning black, and then the family could enter the shrine to ask advice of the dead. The dead were not fully gone, able to interact and give advice, but would rest in the afterlife until reborn in new form.

This practice was long ago corrupted by Suway's priests, disrupting the cycle of rebirth. This corruption came from what was originally a small priestly faction in P'alqacamba's temple, where the corrupt priest Kakusha sought immortality and convinced Suway to reveal how to bind a spirit into a mummy. Once the knowledge was given, the priests and the Awqaylli warriors began their war, which led to the modern Empire. Now, a Suway priest is in every city, and the veneration of the dead is the leading religious belief. It's hard to turn against it, given how much the Venerable have given to the empire. The worship of Suway is inextricably bound up in the Empire, and it would be very hard to unbind them.

The priests of Suway are called the Yana Takiya, the Black Singers. Once, they were merely the bearers of funereal songs and rites to guide the dead home. Now, they bring their corrupted worship to all. They are taken at a young age from among the orphans, abandoned and criminals, trained at P'alqacamba and indoctrinated into Suway's faith. The more militant are trained as Awqaylli warriors, loyal only to the Yana Takiya. The most devout are taught the secrets of Wanuy Naqay, death sorcery, which grants them great power. The priests are welcomed everywhere by those who wish to mummify their family members as Venerable Dead or who wish to make the funeral masks that allow communication with the dead. These are powers meant for priests, though the magical knowledge has by now been stolen and used by powerful lay people across the empire. Even priests are not automatically made into Venerable Ones. They, too, must earn it. Those who transgress against the Imperial order are given only unending death. The Yana Takiya may support the Empress, but they're an inherently conservative order. They allow few women in their ranks and are extremely intolerant of any who do not worship Suway over all other gods. That is why they, with the Empress' tacit support, have begun the God Hunt. The Yana Takiya can be told in public by their black funerary robes and gold chains of rank. Only the order's leaders wear funerary masks, which let them channel the Venerable Ones that advise them and guide them from the afterlife.

Long ago, Kuraq had many, many forms of sorcery, wild magic given by the blessings of the gods. Some of the wild magic still exists in certain places, largely in the form of divine blessings, but almost all sorcery left in Kuraq now is twisted by the priests of Suway to serve as the magic of death. Wanuy Naqay was once known only by the Yana Takiya, allowing them to reach out to the afterlife and contact spirits for guidance. Once the contact was made, they could call the spirit back to its mummy, allowing it to move and speak. Each body would be given a funeral mask, treated in holy oils and the blood of a sacrifice to allow mortal to connect with spirit. Now, it binds the spirit into the mummy as a Venerable One as well. The spirit now chooses a Speaker to wear its mask. In its benign form, this is just a form of sharing, allowing the Venerable to speak into the Speaker's mind, and to see through their eyes. In its most invasive, it can allow the Venerable One to take over the Speaker's body entirely and destroy their will, making them a hollow husk.

This isn't the only use of Wanay Naqay, however. It can be used to command lesser spirits of the dead, or even reanimate corpses, provided the proper sacrifice of life force is made. That is the greatest secret of the Yana Takiya - their magic feeds on life, and for the Venerable Dead, it feeds on the life of their Speaker. Any great use of magic must require equal life force to achieve its end. That is why the Venerable maintain large groups of retainers, so they can tap into their life force when they must do magic, allowing them to not kill their Speakers. Most members of a Venerable One's retinue wear small talismans which serve as miniature masks that let the Venerable One tap their life. In desperate times, they may even use these to temporarily possess these servants. The greatest works require even more, though. Often animal sacrifice is used to fuel such magic, with human sacrifice saved for only the largest, most vital rites - most notably, the sacrifices used by the Empress to empower herself and drive back the Castillians at Takana. No such rite has been done since that.

The most potent Venerable Ones use their magic to maintain their mummified bodies in the semblance of life. Most notably, again, the empress herself, who still uses her own body rather than a Speaker. She maintains it so that she looks like a middle-aged beauty, as she was in life. Every Venerable One must return to their crypt every so often, though, to consolidate their power. How long they can spend outside is based on how much power they ahve and how much life energy they sacrifice to maintain their corpse-body. With the steady sacrifices in the name of the Empress, she can go weeks between crypt visits. Once, such magic was used only by the priests, but priests have defected from the order over the years, and some of those taught nobles or even peasants in secret. Now, death magic can be studied outside the order of Yana Takiya. Of course, using it to make Venerable Dead without their approval is punishable not only by death but by the destruction of the spirit you were binding, too.

Next time: The gods' blessings.

The New World - Bless You

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Bless You

Despite the best efforts of the God Hunt, the old gods survive, and with them comes an older, more primal form of magic - the ability to grant divine blessings. Once, the power of the death priests was just Suway's blessing, until the priests perverted and altered the practice. The other gods are still able to imbue their followers with blessed power. The blessed are known as Children of the Gods, and they are typically among the most devout worshippers, as their blessings typically require active worship to maintain. As in ancient times, life is required to fuel the blessings, just as it fuels death magic. Death and the passage of life are just part of Kuraq magic.

The gods' blessings are not infinite, and they are limited to the purview the god oversees. Wach'i is known to give physical blessings of martial skill, strength or speed, or power over heat. Pachamama is more likely to give blessings of stealth. Other gods give more complex gifts, like the chosen of Urkillay the shapeshifter. Once a gift is given, it is removed only when the chosen one dies or turns away from the god. Every such follower must wear a talisman with the god's symbol on it, even though this can be conspicuous and attract the God Hunt. That's just the price of the power.

Locations! Kuska is the center of the empire, the capital and home of what was once the Killke tribe before unification, built atop the ancient fortress Saksawaman. The Killke brought their advanced construction techniques to the empire, leading the drive to expand the roads and aqueduct systems. In the hills they made the Qurikancha, the Temple to the Sun. It has since been rededicated to Suway, renamed the Seat of the Venerable and rebuilt to twice its original height. The city proper has households for all nobles by law, as well as the ones they have in their home territories. One member of each family must remain in Kuska to be advisor and ambassador to the Empress, and the ambitious tend to prefer to stay there anyway. The lower classes live out on the edge of the city, but still tend to see their lives as blessed just by being there. After all, if they can catch the right eye, they can climb the ranks even enough to be ennobled. They must remain within the law, however, or else the Tokoyriq will take them to the chulpa, as their headquarters is called, for interrogation and brutal punishment.

Qurikancha is an immense temple on the edge of the city. The actual temple part is relatively small, and its inner chamber is used by the Empress for receiving guests. The outside is carved in murals of the sun god, now being constantly revised to display Suway instead. The walls are studded in gold plate and filigree. Outside the temple proper are the Imperial quarters and rooms for guests, and far below the temple are the Imperial crypts. Further down the hillside, the city spreads out under the Qurikancah, with the noble homes built around its base. The best ones, with the highest standing, are closest to the temple, while the lesser families live nearer the center of the city.

Kapuli, in Antasuyu, is the pleasure city. It lies between two holy mountains, and was built as a vacation resort for the powerful, away from the Empress' prying eyes. Once the Empress learned it existed, she shocked everyone by embracing the idea - though she did outlaw all factional violence within it. Now, it is a paradise for the rich, full of gardens, sports centers, baths, pleasure houses and so on. It is run by the kulla uya, a group of courtesans trained to entertain nobles, cook and provide companionship. It was once an insult, literally meaning 'shameless ones,' but the courtesans embraced the term with pride. People cross the entire empire to petition the Sinchi, the leader of the kulla uya, to be trained there at the Tulpa Qawari, the Hearth of Songs. The kulla uya are now a class of artists all their own, protected in the city. Kapuli has also become a hotbed of intrigue, unsurprisingly. The kulla uya are politically neutral officially, but can be a very useful source of information if they sympathize with your cause.

Chuqi K'iraw, the Crib of Metal, is the headquarters of Pakaykuq, deep in the Hark'apa mountains. It is built above and below Sunch'u Pata, the most recognizable hill in the region. Legend has it that Pachakusi founded the place, but that it was expanded and built by her daughter, Killay, who gave it its name. While it was originally one of the main entrances into the mountains and an important city, it was hidden from mortal eyes by Wach'i, and knowledge of its existence was purged from all official records. From then on, only those Wach'i allows can find it, ensuring its security and making it a place of safety for both his followers specifically and the resistance generally. The city's primary structures concentrate on two ridge plazas, though a number of common buildings exist outside these plazas. The city is largely self-sufficient, due to its cultivation terraces, aqueduct and large number of residential buildings.

More importantly, it has the ushnu atop the hill that is dedicated to Wach'i. Common wisdom holds that only those he allows may climb the massive stair that leads to this terraced pyramid. It is unknown what is revealed to those who make it to the flat top of the pyramid, for all who have received Wach'i's revelation have refused to share it. The temple is one of the last undefiled sacred places of the sun god, and it is of immense spiritual and symbolic import to the entire resistance. More and more people are now receiving Wach'i's visions, guiding them to the city to join the resistance. However, Wach'i is still careful about who he blesses, for if the Tokoyriq found the city, all hope would be lost.

Manqo Pacha was the holy mountain estate of the king Yca Yma, father of Supacha and Puchacunya, who briefly brought peace to Kuraq in the years before the rise of the death priests of Suway. It is where he retired to after his legendary Conference of the Seven Feathers, a city dedicated to Wach'i, whose temple was filled with golden offerings. However, the city was devastated and ransacked when three kings slew Yca Yma and attacked the city. Few of its inhabitants survived. It would be years after Puchacunya's coronation that the city was rebuilt as a refuge for the followers of non-Suway gods. It was not rebuilt by the Empire or the nobles, but by the followers of the old faiths. It was this faith that attracted the attention of the gods and, eventually, the Pakaykuq. While newer cities are clearly built to a plan, Manqo Pacha is a hodgepodge of different styles and ages, and due to its mountainous site, it can't expand out, so new buildings were just built atop the old. Compared to most modern cities it's quite small, but it is surrounded by natural glory and beauty. The altitude can cause a certain euphoria, and many of its plazas are often filled by those in silent, somewhat wheezy contemplation. The population is low due to the difficult climb to reach it, and the inhabitants tend to be hearty, spiritual types dedicated to the old ways.

Panatambo has a sad, sad story. Originally it was just a rural farming community banded together for mutual protection. One night, the Tokoyriq came and declared that the Empress would grace their land with a glorious settlement in the name of the empire. The locals thought this meant the soldiers would help defend them. Instead, they saw their land torn apart and harvested to build a prison city. Outwardly, Panatambo is a great walled citadel built of mountain stone, its back placed against the nearby mountains to provide only one approach. The old farmland has been destroyed, replaced by a giant palisade and gate, visible over two miles away. Within is a community enclosed by more gates, with the first courtyard used only to receive supply drops. Those that live in Panatambo are prisoners, kept alive for their political uses. The first inhabitants were the family of Puchacunya, who lived there for ten years before they were sacrificed. For a time, the city remained empty, but it was not long before the empress sent new prisoners. More and more go there now, and while the Tokoyriq kill many rebels outright, a few noble sympathizers or ranking officials are kept there as political prisoners. No one ever visits or leaves, except for a single messenger. The complex is run by Kimsa Parwa, a ranking Tokoyriq commander and spy for the Empress. He and his whole family live in the city and, in many ways, are as much prisoners as any other residents.

P'alqacamba, the jungle city of Suway, terrifies most Kuraq. It is known as the Lost City due to the difficulty of reaching it, though hundreds come each year to petition the death priests to take their children on as students. The city is built of dark black stone and gold, a holy city of the dead and their retainers. Every building is coated in vines and rare flowers of the jungle, and at its heart is the Temple of Suway, the headquarters of the Yana Takiya, the tupaq training school and Allin Tulpa, the Good Hearth. They are made of black stone from the depths of the earth, with the temple complex's huge pyramid at the center. The city is also host to the Great Yachaywasi, the House of Knowledge. It is the elite school for young nobles of the empire. Children sent there live in huge dorms, trained by Suway's priests in everything from fighting to statecraft to art. The competition is cutthroat, and it is not that rare for students to go missing in the jungle forever.

Allin Tulpa is the home of the largest group of Wanuy Naqay sorcerers in all of Kuraq. It sits just outside Suway's temple, and while it is less grand, it is still an amazing building of black stone with gold inlay, its walls depicting the myths and history of Suway and of Wanuy Naqay. Students train there from an early age, though only a select few are taught the sorcery. Others merely receive an excellent education. Unlike the students at the Great Yachaywasi, however, students at Allin Tulpa are cooperative, not competetive. Those that do not learn magic take on priestly roles to support those who do. No student goes to waste here, but entry into the Allin Tulpa is extremely selective. Some say Suway himself chooses the students, and that only those he blesses are granted entry. If so, the priests do not speak of it. Those who come out of Allin Tulpa are faithful, devoted and fanatically loyal. They learn sorcery sometimes, yes, but also combat, military leadership and assassination techniques. No priest of Suway is denied the training of the tupaq warrior.

Next time: The Wild People

The New World - New Land

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - New Land

Takana, on the eastern coast, is a testament to modern Kuraq construction techniques. It was built on the skeleton of the burned-out city left after Gonzalez' invasion, and has long been believed to be cursed. The Empress doesn't care - she wanted to rebuild it as a welcoming port, so she did. Builders have remade it entirely, and the local guides are always ready to help travellers. Many inns and restaurants await them, and they are run by friendly, accomodating folks...who all report to the Empress' spies about wht they see, of course. A large ambassadorial building sits in the hills, home to Advisor Anka, who waits to welcome visiting dignitaries. There is a small Tokoyriq brigade and larger contingent of tupaq warriors ready, though, in case outsiders prove hostile. People rarely discuss the city's problem, though - the curse. When the Empress performed her hundred-soul sacrifice, she was unable to harness all of its power. Much of it seeped into Takana's land, into the dead bodies in the streets. Since then, the shambling dead have occupied the city, though the tupaq have cleared most of them out at this point. Still, the undead crawl from aqueducts and caves under the city, always quickly chased by the soldiers in the hopes that foreign visitors won't notice.

For most outsiders, and even those Kuraq in the central regions, the Kuraq Empire has total control over its territory, and most Thean maps show the Empire as an unbroken mass from the Hark'apas to the sea. But things are not so simple. To establish dominance, the Kuraq had to conquer a number of other ethnic native groups in southern Aztlan - some by diplomacy, some by force. One group has resisted all of their attempts to control and govern them entirely, and so, in the southernmost part of the continent, there is a chunk of land that is not, technically, Kuraq. These are the purum awqa, the 'wild people.' Kachu Pual, named for the river that crosses through it, is the last pukara ('fortress') that has held out against their resistance. In Kachu Pual, news of the capital and even the resistance rebels is treated as from a foreign land. Every day for Kachu Pual is a fight for survival, united by the cause of defending it at all times from the purum awqa. Were they to fail, were the fortress to fall, the purum awqa would kill all of them. Probably eat them, if you were to listen to local rumor. This is what, their stories say, the wild people have done to all of the other forts that once existed south of the river.

This has resulted in a fortress full of hardened warriors and killers who will let nothing stand in the way of their duty. Most are low-ranking officials and their families, our courtiers banished from the capital looking to start over as far from there as possible. All end up seasoned veterans pretty quickly. Others, however, are loners who tell other stories, which speak appreciatively of the simple life they have here, on the frontier, where they need not conform to any social norms of the Empire. And, of course, there's the Thean explorers and adventurers in love with the beauty of nature around the fort, who can't stand the idea that it will disappear. While in other parts of the empire, they'd be seen as outcasts or interlopers, here, they are equals so long as they contribute to the defense.

People! Yara once had a family - the family of Puchacunya himself. She lived in luxury in service to the Venerable emperor. Then she met Asiri Inkasisa, and she fell in love. It was this love that made her reveal Puchacunya's secret, and it was Asiri's love that made her the only survivor of the sacrifices. When the Empress sacrificed her family to save the Empire, partially in tribute to Puchacunya and partially to ensure they'd never depose her, she spared only Yara and her sister Alqacha - and that last only because Yara hid the girl before Asiri ever learned she existed. All love Yara held for the Empress died that night, replaced by fiery hatred. When Yara died, she was quickly raised as a Venerable One, given a family of retainers to serve as her Speakers. The Empress loved her, wanted to keep her at her side forever. She never realized Yara now worked to undermine her. Yara's most vital job is preserving the life of her sister's descendant, Tolanaq, the last living heir of Puchacunya. Asiri is unaware of his true heritage, though he currently lives as a political prisoner in her panaca. Yara will do anything to keep Tolanaq safe, for she believes he will one day return his line to the throne and rightful rule, saving the people. Yara's primary Speaker is a girl named Isi, chosen for her lack of political experience. Yara spends her time molding Isi into the perfect weapon, training her to one day fight in the battle for the empire. She is not currently a member of the Pakaykuq, but Yara would love to join if she were to learn about it.

Awqasisa, the Empress's Voice, is officially the Speaker for Empress Asiri, wearing her death mask and relaying her orders when she doesn't feel like doing it personally. Awqasisa was the heir to a minor house who stood out at a young age for her political skills, able to easily navigate the court with grace and charm. Few were surprised when Asiri announced her plan to make Awqasisa her voice. It was not long after that the resistance became a bigger problem. No one has connected these two facts, of course. Who would? Awqasisa's work is flawless. When chaskis, that is, Runners, come from her chambers, well, everyone just assumes they're carrying messages to or from the Empress. Most do. Some, however, are working for the Pakaykuq. Awqasisa is their spy. She has been since the beginning. She is a true believer, and her work for Asiri has shown her all the more that it is right, that the empress is wicked beyond measure. Her work is often the only reason the resistance succeeds, for she provides them with key information. Without it, the Pakaykuq would probably be destroyed. However, she is struggling with a physical attraction to Asiri, unwanted feelings that she doesn't understand.

K'uyuq, as a boy, was the brother of a child chosen for the qhapaq hucha, the royal sacrifice. When his parents protested, the Empress promised to burn the entire family alive, that they would be spared the suffering of living with a dead child. Before the burning, K'uyuq was smuggled out, and his parents made him swear to avenge them. That is the last he remembers of them. He vowed to hunt down anyone who benefitted from the Empire, from the lowest soldier to the highest noble. In the early days, he made a statement by burning his foes alive. That stopped after he met Intiawki, who offered him hope and love. Hope for a second life, after the Empire's end, where he would have more than fire. The two fell in love, and Intiawki inducted K'uyuq into the Pakaykuq. While K'uyuq will deny it if asked, the love has made him kinder, more gentle, more passionate. Less ruthless. He still kills, but he does not torture his victims any longer, he does not burn them. He gives them quick, clean deaths, with as little pain as he can manage. He has been growing to be a leader among the rebels and a teacher to new recruits. However, he has trouble. Intiawki has recently died and returned, and K'uyuq definitely doesn't trust the miracle. He fears that Intiawki is working with the enemy now, but he won't believe it without proof.

Lora Antonia de Ochoa y Ochoa, full name Lora Antonia Lidia Teresa Adelaide Ferreira de Ochoa y Ochoa, is from Barcino, and a student of science and philosophy in the Vaticine City from childhood, thanks to her parents' money. She adored physics, but Verdugo began forbidding such studies while she was at seminary. Her professors saw her as a bright and useful girl, often underestimated due to a physical problem causing her to favor her left leg. While she's more interested in invention than archaeology, she began to attend digs with her teachers - digs that, without her knowledge, were being used to smuggle texts to safety. Well, until an Inquisitor destroyed her professor's lab and books. He assured her, before he was taken away, that the rest of the books were safe with their mutual friend Diego Saldana, however. When she found Diego, he was boarding a ship for Aztlan, taking the books with him. She joined him, hoping to learn about new technology as part of the scholarly exchange he was taking part in with Kuraq. Now, she lives in Kuska, and she's decided that Empress Asiri is nothing but another Verdugo - apparently leading in good faith, but in truth corrupt and vile. If that's so clear to her, a foreigner, then surely the locals knew it, too. And so that led her to the Pakaykuq, whom she has petitioned to join. Her current plan is to translate her texts into the local language so the resistance can make use of the technologies within, but this is probably going to be a problem when she learns that Kuraq doesn't have a written language.

Kuraq Qhapaq, Asiri Inkasisa - that is, Empress of Kuraq - is the most infamous and awe-inspiring person in the nation. She is Qhapaq of the Imperial Seat, Venerable consort of the god Suway. She was born a minor noble, but rose in the court by her intellect and cunning paired with her ruthless determination. With Yara's aid, she unseated Emperor Puchacunya and took his golden cloak, becoming empress. Twenty years later, she gave up her own life and those of a hundred others to drive out Thean invaders and solidify her control. Now, a century after that, she remains on the throne inside her well-preserved mummy or riding her Speakers. The magic that destroyed Gonzalez has perfectly preserved her, and she remains a beautiful, terrifying woman. Despite the power she gains from regular blood sacrifice, though, the job of animating her corpse is exhausting, and she often returns to her crypt for strength. She holds the empire together with her transcendant will and force of personality, and thus plus the terrifying loyalty she engenders makes her nearly a force of nature, whatever her physical state. She may seem cold and cruel, but she is rarely ever actually angry or upset. She acts for the empire as a whole, and has no care for anyone who gets hurt in the process. She rules with an iron fist, encouraging noble squabbles and feuds to prevent anyone from getting ideas about unseating her. She does have a potential problem in the form of her own popular descendant Miyatala, however. If anyone could unite the people against her, it might be that girl, given her beloved status. Asiri is Strength 8, Influence 10.

Anka, Head of the Chaskis (the Runners, remember) is the master of messages, who encrypts and decrypts them for the empire, trains and pays the Runners, negotiates the rates for delivery and more. He has access to nearly all secrets of the Empire, though he is always under surveillence from both the Empress and the Pakaykuq. He'll sell the information to anyone who'll give him enough money. That wouldn't be so bad on its own, but he's also willing to do literally anything that will keep his position and rank secure. He is from an important noble family that has always been in charge of the chaskis. He was born into luxury and got used to it, never being denied anything - except one. He was passed over by his Venerable ancestors as leader of the chaskis, in favor of his dying mother, who would be made Venerable and use his sister as her Speaker. He decided he didn't like being thwarted, and so, he burned his mother on her deathbed before she could be mummified. His ambition has been boundless ever since. He will sell information, sure, but he has no care who he sells it to or what they use it for. He will happily sell privileged information to both Empress and Pakaykuq - sometimes the same information at different prices. He typically does so in secret, and if anyone discovers his schemes, he has them disappeared. He's actually planning to use the Pakaykuq to overthrow Asiri and take her throne himself, if he can find a way to manage it. He is Strength 5, Influence 6.

Intiawki was a good man, born and raised in the Pakaykuq. He never knew another life. His parents died when he was but a youth, and he just wanted to fit in. He was always serious, and he grew up playing with weapons, fighting against the Empress' troops. He watched his loved ones die often. Some said this life was bad for a child, but no one had the will to take him in and raise him properly. So he fought and fought, learning only resistance. As the leaders died and he aged, he became a fundamental voice in the movement, eventually the loudest and wisest of them. He died fighting for the cause, for the only life he'd ever had. That'd be the end of it, if Suway's priests hadn't found his body. They knew he could be a potent ally if they could turn him. And so, as he passed into Ukhu Pachu, Suway met him and gave him a choice. The only choice he'd ever had, as he sees it. The only time anyone's ever really cared about what he wanted. And beyond that, Suway offered him wealth, power, eternal life - for just a brief service. One period of service, and then he'd be free. Intiawki accepted the offer without a second thought. When he came back from the dead, the Pakaykuq considered it a miracle - for, after all, why would their foes risk resurrecting him? They do not realize now that is working for Suway, that he will - he must - betray them, by the terms of his bargain. Once he holds up his end and repays his debt to Suway, he will be free to be a true rebel again - but at what price? He is Strength 6, Influence 7.

Cornelie Blanchet was abandoned as a young Montaignois girl, surviving by sheer grit and determination. She made a name for herself - one she had to invent, of course - and stole noble clothing, joining the noble courts as "Madame Fournier." She married, she lived well - but tragedy struck, and she was left a widow. Her sadness was short, and she quickly reinvented herself as Madame Blanchet, remarried a wealthy man and headed off to Aztlan with him. Of course, the untimely death of Monsieur Blanchet and the rest of his expedition has been...problematic. Cornelie did what she'd always done best, though, ever since the orphanage - watching and learning. She saw how the gods had slain her people, turning them to stone or ash or worse for their crimes, and so she played the part of the innocent bystander, biding her time. It soon became clear that there would be no new beau among the Nahuacan or Tzak K'ani, so she headed south. She found the Kuraq Empire, home of dead nobles. It seemed fitting - she was ready to kill her old identity anyway, if not necessarily literally. She has joined Asiri's court, but Asiri has had other plans for her. She would kill Cornelie, make her Venerable - but it'd never work unless the foreign woman proved herself to Suway. Asiri has been pressing Cornelie for details on Theah and its people, and has been more than happy to grant wealth and status for the answers. Cornelie's happy to play her part, serving as Asiri's informer and agent, filling her in on all of Theah's weaknesses. However, she's not happy to be just a puppet, so she's also begun selling Kuraq secrets to Theans, too, until she can find a way to prove herself and become immortal. Loyalty is not exactly her strong suit. Cornelie is Strength 4, Influence 5.

Next time: Mechanics

The New World - New Mechanics

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - New Mechanics

Pretty standard for these books! New backgrounds:
General Backgrounds
Athlete: You did sports. Earn a Hero Point when you use your fame or reputation as an opportunity to inspire another character.
Chartered Tradesman: You had a license and a mandate to increase trade between continents. Earn a Hero Point when you use your mercantile connections to forge closer bonds between your home nation and a foreign power.
Thean Immigrant: You had to leave Theah to rebuild elsewhere. Earn a Hero Point when you try to solve a problem the way it would have been done in the old country, and it gets you into trouble.
Relic Smuggler: You obtained and moved artifacts to help preserve or trade them. Earn a Hero Point when you acquire a relic (from anywhere) by less-than-honest means.
Kuraq-Only Backgrounds
Awqaylli: You were a warrior of Suway. Earn a Hero Point when you defeat an enemy more powerful than yourself.
Churikuna: You were a death priest of Suway. Earn a Hero Point when you follow orders without question.
Pakaykuq: You were a rebel. Earn a Hero Point when you take great personal risk to stand up against a tyrant.
Tokoyriq: You were a secret police agent and peacekeeper. Earn a Hero Point when you uncover a secret, and it gets you into trouble.
Nahuacan-Only Backgrounds
Cuauhmeh: You were an Eagle Templar. Earn a Hero Point when you take on a problem that doesn't involve you because it's the right thing to do.
Ocelomeh: You were a Jaguar Knight. Earn a Hero Point when your commitment to working as a team or unit helps you to solve a problem.
Pochteca: You were a merchant-spy of the Alliance. Earn a Hero Point when you sacrifice or jeopardize a mercantile deal in favor of a useful secret.
Tepantlato: You were a defense lawyer. Earn a Hero Point when you convince your allies to solve a problem with diplomacy and words, rather than with violence and swords.
Tzak K'ani-Only Backgrounds
Holkanob: You were a soldier of Tzak K'an's cities. Earn a Hero Point when you are outnumbered, outgunned or outclassed and refuse to back down.
La Ventan: You were of the bloodline of the werejaguar, hidden and secret. Earn a Hero Point when your ancient bloodline comes into play and causes you trouble. (Note: you can't turn into a jaguar, you just get some neat beast- and magic-related powers.)
Shaman: You were an exiled shaman, a natural connection to the gods. Earn a Hero Point when you turn down an offer of supernatural power or influence because it is too dangerous for any mortal to wield.
Vision Priest: You were a priest, granted the power of summoning by the gods. Earn a Hero Point when advice you provide to another leads to trouble.

New advantages! One Point
Adorn With Feathers: You must be Nahuacan to take this. You must have the Signature Item advantage. You can enhance your Signature Item using mystic materials such as blessed feathers or obsidian. Each time you buy this, you select one of the following powers, which you may spend a Hero Point to activate exactly as you would the abilities your Signature Item normally provides. You must take a different ability with each purchase.
The High Sign: You can convey single-word messages to any allies that can hear or see you in a way that others will not understand, such as a bird call or hand signal. Most people will not even notice the thing you do as anything notable.
Two Bloods: You have mixed heritage. Select a Nation other than your own. You may use that Nation's discounts for Advantage costs, and may learn its Sorcery, though you may never have more than one form of Sorcery.

Two Points
Better Lucky Than Good: whenever you make a Risk using a Skill you have no more than 1 Rank in, spending Hero Points for yourself gives you 2 Bonus Dice, not 1.
Beyond Sight (Knack): Activate this to ignore all impediments to your vision for the rest of the scene. Period. Blindfolds, total darkness, doesn't matter. You can act as if you can still see. This could be magic or it could just be preternaturally strong other senses.
Clever Tongue: When you act first in an Action Sequence, and you spend your first Action to brag about how you're going to defeat your foe in colorful and inventive ways, the first time you deal Wounds to your foe, they must spend 2 Raises per Wound to prevent Wounds you deal.
Confidant: You must have the Trusted Companion advantage. Select a non-national Background for your Companion. Whenever they take a Risk using a Skill from that Background, they roll 2 extra dice. They also gain all Advantages from that Background, though you must pay for any Hero Point costs. The Companion may now take 10 Wounds before becoming Helpless.
Cross the Palm: Costs 1 less for Tzak K'ani. When you spend Wealth to reroll a die in a social Risk swayable by money, you may reroll up to two dice instead.
Face the Storm: Any Raises you spend to overcome a Consequence created by a Hazard count as 2 Raises each.
Forager: When you have at least an hour to forage, you always find materials sufficient to make rudimentary weapons, protective clothing, or basic tools. These function normally for one Scene or until the GM spends a Danger Point to make them break, whichever comes first. You may choose to store the items for use in a later scene rather than using them immediately.
Shadow Stalker (Knack): Activate this to automatically move silently, vanish in darkness or otherwise demonstrate your mastery of the shadows.
Team Player: Costs 1 less for Nahuacans. When you spend a Raise to create an Opportunity, you may spend a second Raise. If you do, you may have any other willing Hero activate that Opportunity for free.

Three Points
Desperate Effort (Knack): When you have zero Raises in an Action Sequence, you may activate this to take a single Action. You ignore Improvisation costs for this Action, but otherwise the Action must not cost more than a single Raise. You may use this only once per session.
Go On Without Me: Costs 2 less for Kuraq. Spend all of your Raises, at least 1 per PC present except you, to cause all other PCs to be removed from the scene. You are not removed, and you cannot leave the scene early by any means. Those you removed cannot return. All players must be willing, though their characters do not need to be. If even one player doesn't agree to you using this, you lose all your Raises but nothing happens.
Play Possum: When you are the only PC left in a scene involving a Villain or Brutes working for a Villain, you may choose to immediately become Helpless. If you do, you become immune to Murder, and any Villains (or Villain-employed Brutes) present will let slip some useful information, generally about the Villain's motives or plans. Then, they will ignore you, leave you for dead, take you prisoner or otherwise do anything they might if they rendered you Helpless. The one thing they cannot do is kill you. Period. At the start of the next scene, you are no longer Helpless.
Soothe the Beast: You may spend a Raise on your Action to prevent an animal or Monster from taking aggressive actions. The target can still do anything else, but it won't attack anyone. This ends immediately (and can't be restarted) if the target takes any Wounds or otherwise is acted against aggressively. This does not work on anything with approximately human intellect (or better).
The Last Word (Knack): When you have zero Raises in a Dramatic Sequence, you may activate this to take a single Action. You ignore Improvisation costs for this Action, but otherwise the Action must not cost more than a single Raise. You may use this only once per session.
Think On Your Feet: The first time each round that you would need to pay an Improvisation cost for an Action, you don't have to spend the extra Raise for it. This applies only to Improvisation costs, not any other extra Raise cost.
Welcome to the Jungle (Knack): Activate this when you stalk your prey in natural surroundings, such as a jungle or forest. The first time you deal Wounds to your prey, they take an additional Dramatic Wound. You may use this only once per scene, and it cannot be used with a firearm attack.

Four Points
God-Touched: You are chosen or marked by one of the gods. Choose which one. After you roll dice in a Risk, you may spend a Hero Point to call on the god's favor. Select one number that you rolled at least one of during the Risk. All dice with the chosen number explode for this Risk only. You may use this only once per Scene.
Parting Shot (Knack): When you have a pistol, crossbow, throwing knife or other ranged weapon and have no Raises left in an Action Sequence, you may activate this and select another character in the Scene. They immediately suffer one Dramatic Wound, and you either become Helpless or immediately leave the scene and are unable to return, your choice.
Silent Takedown (Knack): You may activate this to immediately defeat a single Brute Squad, regardless of its Strength, so long as they are not aware of your presence before you do so.

Five Points
Hunter of the Mighty (Knack): Costs 2 less for Kuraq. Activate this when you deal Wounds to a Villain or Monster. You deal additional Wounds equal to the difference between their Strength and your highest Trait.
Rise Up Brothers and Sisters: Costs 2 less for Nahuacans. When you spend a Hero Point to give another PC bonus dice on a Risk, you may divide up the dice you give between any number of allied PCs who can see or hear you. Any PC given dice this way can still spend their own Hero Points to gain or grant bonus dice, and may still receive bonus dice from others spending Hero Points for them - none of your granted dice count towards the limit of only getting one Hero Point's worth of bonus dice on a Risk.
The Storm Serves Me (Knack): Costs 2 less for Tzak K'ani. Activate this. For one round, one Hazard in the scene gains the Dominion Element with you as its master. If it already had Dominion, you become its master and the previous master loses control of it for one round. While you are its master, you can spend a Raise in response to the Hazard taking an Action. If you do, its Action automatically fails, but it still spends any Raises. You may use this only once per scene.

New Arcana!
The Mountain: As a Virtue, you may activate this when you would take your fourth Dramatic Wound. For the rest of the round you may still act normally and are not considered Helpless. As a Hubris, you receive a Hero Point when you hear of someone else's troubles and do not act on it.
The River: As a Virtue, you may activate this when you are put under Pressure. You do not have to spend an extra Raise to take a different action. As a Hubris, you receive a Hero Point when you act against the order of someone in a position of authority.
The Great Cycle: As a Virtue, you may activate this to reroll any number of dice when you take a Risk. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when the GM spends a Danger Point and it impacts you.
The Scholar: As a Virtue, you may activate this to make a statement about an event either currently happening or that has already happened. That statement is true, period. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you insist on acting based on information that is unreliable and it turns out poorly.
The Skywatcher: As a Virtue, you may activate this after asking another character a question. You know if they are lying or not when they answer. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you refuse to acknowledge another's insight and it causes trouble.
The Explorer: As a Virtue, you may activate this when affected by Fear while rolling a Risk. On that Risk, your 10s explode. If they already did, so do your 9s. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you choose to act without all available information and it gets you into trouble.
The Morning Star: As a Virtue, you may activate this to force any Actions that would target your allies for the rest of the round to target you instead. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you refuse to take part in something because you feel it would be beneath you.
The Evening Star: As a Virtue, you may activate this when you spend a Hero Point to aid an ally. They get an extra 2 dice. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you put your foot down on a subject and it causes trouble.
The Ceiba: As a Virtue, you may activate this when the GM spends a Danger Point. The Danger Point is spent but has no effect. As a Hubris, you get a Hero Point when you withhold information from your allies that it would be to your benefit to share.

Next time: Magic.

The New World - The Vision Serpent

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - The Vision Serpent

While Tzak K'an has many lesser sorceries, magics that anyone can learn but which do little of true power, real sorcery is only used through willing blood sacrifice. This is called Questing for the Wayak' Kan, or just Wayak' Kan, referring to the 'vision serpent,' and it comes at the cost of pain and blood, physically and mentally. It begins with the sorcerer, known as an Ahez, physically harming themselves as they focus on their intention and call on the gods. This allows them to breach the physical world and tap into something else. For a moment, reality blurs, and the Ahez sees into the world of intention. Rather than blood, the cuts weep colorful smoke, and the great serpent emerges from the smoke. If it is pleased, its head shimmers and it whirls and transforms into the Ahpulul, the item or person called on. Most of the time, these summoned things vanish in a puff of smoke once they're no longer in use, but sometimes, they linger. Then, the Ahez becomes an Ahpul, one who carries something that does not belong to this world.

When you purchase Sorcery (Wayak' Kan), you select two Baxan you can summon and one Pixan. Each time you buy the Sorcery advantage, you get another two Baxan and one Pixan. When you want to summon one of your Ahpulul, you take a single Wound that cannot be healed until the summoned thing is returned to its home. If you summon an Ahpulul during a Sequence, it also costs one Raise to reach through the barriers of worlds to summon the Ahpulul. A Baxan remains for the rest of the Scene, after which it vanishes in a puff of smoke. You may have as many Baxan summoned at once as you like. Summoned Pixan usually vanish at the end of the Scene, but you may choose to keep it around, making you into an Ahpul. At that point, you and the GM must work out what the Pixan wants to do, and once it does that thing, it will go home on its own. You can only have one Pixan active at a time.

An Ahpul has the Pixan active all the time, obviously, but also gets a few other benefits. First, the Wound taken in summoning the Pixan heals, as the Pixan becomes part of you. Second, when dealing with Tzak K'ani, you treat your Intimidation as 1 point higher and your Tempt as 1 point lower, as an Ahpul is feared (if respected) among them. Lastly, the Ahpul are cleansers of souls. Whenever an Ahpul helps another PC complete a Redemption Story, that PC loses 2 Corruption instead of 1. Besides the Pixan fulfilling its desire, there are two other ways to lose a Pixan. First, if you ever summon another Pixan while you are an Ahpul, the first one vanishes and you are no longer Ahpul. Second, if you ever fail a Corruption check while you are an Ahpul, the Pixan vanishes and you are no longer Ahpul.

Ahpulul refers to anything an Ahez can summon. They come in two varieties. Baxan are minor items and objects, not intelligent. They last for one Scene, then disappear in a puff of smoke. You can use them as many times in a Scene as you choose, so long as you pay its Hero Point cost when activating its powers. Pixan are intelligent, and are usually beings rather than objects, though they might be a sentient object. As long as you have them with you, you can activate their powers as often as you like by paying the Hero Point cost. However, all Pixan also have a catch, a penalty or condition that applies at all times while they're around.

Baxan
Bloody Knife of Vatanchu: Vatanchu was the first person, according to Tzak K'ani folklore, to kill someone against their will. Some say it was forced sacrifice, others just murder. The reason for the killing changes with the telling, as does the victim and even Vatanchu's gender. These are cautionary tales, to remind the listener of the price of killing. When carrying this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to apply Pressure to everyone in the scene, causing any violent action to cost 2 Raises instead of 1.
Cit-Tum's Necklace: Cit-Tum was a renowned medicine man, a healer of the sick and mender of wounds. He healed hundreds of thousands of Tzak K'ani. As he lay dying, he lamented that while he had cured much, he had prevented nothing, and swore that he would rather have endured the pain himself to spare the injured. While wearing this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to redirect all Wounds inflicted on another PC onto you. (I think this lets you take them onto yourself after they're caused, so you just shift the damage off someone and onto you.)
Coyopa's Sun Sling: Coyopa was, in her lifetime, the best slinger in all of Tzak K'an. She could throw a stone further and harder than anyone else, even the gods. Once, she challenged the god Kakmo, who told her that if she could hit the sun, he would grant her eternal life. If she failed, she would serve him for eternity. When you are carrying this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to deal (Aim) Wounds to any single person in the Scene.
Feathers from Tepeu's Scales: Before the Tzak K'ani existed, Tepeu, the Sovereign Plumed Serpent, attempted to make humanity in its image. Its first creation, Vucub-Caquix, was swiftly corrupted, proving to Tepeu that it was unworthy of making humans alone. Thus, it gathered others, and after several attempts, it helped to create the Tzak K'ani. While you are adorned with this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to reroll your entire dicepool once, keeping the new result.
The First Armor: Qaholom was the first Tzak K'ani ever to wear armor. She was tired of seeing warriors go out and not return, so she layered cotton, cloth and leather to make a quilted suit of protection. Once her work was done, she tempered it with blood against inhuman foes. While you wear this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to completely negate all Wounds from a single attack or source, as long as it would cause a Dramatic Wound. You may use this only once per round.
Flares from Kinich Ahau's Ears: Even before becoming divine, Kinich Ahau was beloved. Stories tell of how, as a child, he would comfort the sick and stop fights. This may be why the local war chief, Ekchuah, feared him. They day before he turned 13, Ekchuah kidnapped Kinich Ahau and sacrificed him to the gods. Knowing that the evil would always fear Kinich Ahau, the gods made him a god. He was given control over where the sun could shine, that he might always root out darkness. While you wear this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to illuminate the area, removing all shadows and dealing 1 Dramatic Wound to anyone that has Corruption.
Maximon's Pati: Maximon was a traveling merchant, a medicine woman and a midwife. She was the most well-traveled Tzak K'ani in history due to her knowledge of the jungle. The sandals she made were silent, she covered herself in oils to hide her scent and she colored her pati to match the leaves and shadows. While wearing this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to become impossible to see, hear or smell. This lasts until the end of the Scene, or until you interact significantly with your surroundings, such as by picking something up, attacking someone or speaking, whichever comes first.
Nuam's Headdress: When the gods first made humans, they were mindless creatures of instinct. Some gods wanted to give them mind and thought. They made an elaborate headdress and gave it to a human called Nuam. When the headdress was placed on her, she smiled and thanked them. While you wear this Baxan, you may spend a Hero Point. Until the end of the Scene, you pay no Improvisation or Unskilled costs when taking Actions using a Skill you have no ranks in.
Zipacna's Obsidian Teeth: When the god Zipacna speaks, soot and smoke come from his mouth, and this gives him a reputation as an evil god, even though he is, in truth, the most heroic of gods. When Kisin tried to destroy humanity, Zipacna bit Kisin's spear, destroying it and saving humankind. While you wear this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to bite any item, even a magical one, and destroy it. If the object is magical or otherwise unique (such as being a Signature Item, dracheneisen or a Syrne artifact), you suffer 1 Dramatic Wound.
Paint for Yaluk: Yaluk is the wizened grandfather of all Tzak K'ani. Legend has it that, late in his life, he climbed a temple, taking 260 days before he reached the top. As he made the final step, lightning struck from a clear sky and burned his flesh in the most beautiful design. While you wear this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to get 2 Bonus Dice on any Risk that involves wisdom, planning or steadfastness.
Pipe of Oxlahuntiku: Legend says that when Oxlahuntiku was alive, no creature that flew was safe from her blowpipe. She even hunted down the Vucub Caquix, a terrible bird demon that severed the arm of her friend and rival, Ah-Tabai. When you wield this Baxan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to deal 1 Dramatic Wound to any Monster in the Scene that is unaware of your presence.
Sandals of the Bahlam: Some Tzak K'ani communities prefered to be alone, isolated from others. They were protected by the Bahlam, the jaguar gods. The Bahlam would stalk the edge of their villages, high in the trees, and would cry out in warning if any came near. While you wear this Baxam, you may spend 1 Hero Point to act first in any scene. You still spend Raises normally, but you take the first Action before anyone else can.
Shield-Altar of Buluc: Buluc was a warrior, but famous for her defense of her people, not her conquest of others. Legend says that after battle, she would lay her shield on the earth and sacrifice to the gods upon it. The blood and ash of her gifts would stain it, protecting her people from harm. While you carry this Baxam, you may spend 1 Hero Point to divert any attack directed at another character to you instead, reducing the Wounds it deals by 1.
Spear of Ah-Tabai: It is said that no beast was safe from Ah-Tabai. He would stalk his prey for days, and his downfall was only when he chose to hunt something not of this world. It cost him an arm, but the gods took pity and imbued his spear with power. While you wield this Baxam, you may spend 1 Hero Point when dealing Wounds to deal additional Wounds equal to your number of Dramatic Wounds.
Xaman's Elaborate Loincloth: Xaman was the greatest merchant ever to live. He was so wealthy that even his loincloth was made of gold and silver. He was also so generous that his friends were nearly as wealthy as he. He was known to be charitable, kind and honorable, the epitome of what all merchants should strive for. While wearing this Baxan, you may spend a Hero Point to do anything you could normally do by spending a Wealth Point.

Pixan
Alux: Alux are largely benevolent nature spirits that take the form of knee-high Tzak K'ani people. They are happy to run errands or do simple tasks if treated respectfully. It is very rude to call them 'Alux' or order them about, and you should instead treat them as friends and ask for their aid, not command it. While this Pixan is following you, you may spend 1 Hero Point to issue a simple task to them. They either can't or won't perform complex tasks or elaborate orders. Once the order is given, they will rush off, returning when it is done. If you do not treat them with total courtesy and politeness, however, they will also do the same for your enemies, usually secretly.
Camazotz: The Camazotz are giant, bat-like evil spirits of Xibalba with vampiric tendencies. While they will happily take ritually offered blood, they much prefer to attack prey, and only a desperate Ahez calls for them, given the savagery they will inflict. While this Pixan is following you, whenever anyone in the same Scene takes one or more Wounds - including yourself - the Camazots will swoop in and cause an additional Wound. You may spend 1 Hero Point to protect everyone in the Scene for a single round.
Codex Itzam: The first Tzak K'ani was Itzam, born without bias and without gender. They taught the people to sow crops, build homes and bear children. When they finally decided to leave the world, they turned themselves into a series of codices on the history of the tribes, their knowledge and their tales of wisdom. An Ahez may now call forth a codex from the corpse-library to guide them. When summoning this Pixam, specify what topic it covers. For as long as you carry this Pixam, you may spend 1 Hero Point to get 2 Bonus Dice on any Risk involving that topic. You may do this multiple times for the same roll, getting 2 dice per Hero Point spent. However, you may never receive Flair for any action related to that topic while carrying this Pixam, even if you do not use this ability on the roll.
Holcan's War Club: Holcan was a warrior of such skill that his name has become synonymous with warriors. On his death, he traveled to the underworld to conquer it, and he became one with his mighty club. Now, he can be called on in times of conflict to wield him. While you wield this Pixan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to know any one non-Style-specific Duelist Maneuver for the rest of the Scene. If you can already use Maneuevers, you instead consider your Weaponry 1 point higher for purposes of Maneuvers. However, while you carry this Pixan, you may not reduce or heal any Wounds you would take.
Sisemite: The Sisemite are shaggy humanoids resembling large monkeys. They do not speak language, only howl or scream. However, they are powerful prophetic beings able to see and grant visions of the future. Unfortunately, they are somewhat sexist, and rarely work with male Ahez. As long as this Pixan follows you, you may spend 1 Hero Point to have them grant you a vision. This always shows a definite answer, though it may not be easy to understand and decrypt, as it is purely nonverbal. However, as long as this Pixan is with you, it will make requests of you, communicated in visions. These can be as simple (a vision showing you bringing them a cup of water) or as complex (a vision showing you traveling to Ussura, collecting fresh snow and giving it to the Sisemite) as the GM wants. The task may even be impossible, though that seems a dick move to me, because if you fail to grant the request, the Sisemite leaves.
The Votan Stela: Votan was a heroic architect who designed such amazing monuments that the gods of the Aztlani Empire gave her free will even in death. She was given a small, talking stela to persuade the Paddle Gods to carry her wherever she liked. Now, it can be summoned to ensure safe travel. While you carry this Pixan, you may spend 1 Hero Point to arrive safely at any destination you set out to, avoiding any trouble that might be along the way. Such avoidance usually takes the form of apparent setbacks, such as a fallen tree forcing you to go around an area, which turn out to be lifesaving, such as avoiding a bandit ambush. However, as long as you carry this Pixan, death walks with you. Anyone rendered Helpless in a scene you are in will automatically die at the end of the Scene if no Action is taken to save their life first.

Next time: Death sorcery.

The New World - Death Magic

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Death Magic

Wanuy Naqay was once a benign sorcery used to commune with the recent dead, but has grown and changes since the Empress took over Kuraq and Suway was made even more tha primary god. Its mortal practitioners are known as Churikuna, the descendants, and it is also the great power of the Venerable Ones. A Churikuna gains control of death magic by using tokens made from the mummified bodies of the Venerable, giving them the power to command death, commune with the dead and more. It is a fine line to walk - when dealing with death and souls so easily, it is easy to become a villain. However, heroic Churikuna do exist. Their morals keep them from using the most terrible powers of the magic, such as destruction and devouring of souls. It's easy to tell who's been officially and legally trained as a Churikuna, as anyone with the legal right to will wear the mask resembling a human skull while in public, and as their power grows, they carry more and more ancestral atifacts to fuel their magic. Churikuna typically also wear the black robes and gold chains of death priests, which the overwhelming majority of them are, but normal death priests do not carry the Death Mask or Death Tokens.

Wanuy Naqay is guarded very closely by the death priests, for it is not a sorcery that comes from any inherent quality. It is wholly and completely a learned one. A Churikuna that goes rogue has all the knowledge required to make new Venerable Ones and to teach others the power. Therefore, the priests take great care to select those whom they teach for loyalty. It is not perfect, but they've at least made sure that the broader capabilities of the Churikuna are not public knowledge, to avoid chaos.

Each purchase of Sorcery (Wanuy Naqay) gives you a new Death Token, 1 Manifestation and 1 Turn. Your first Death Token always takes the form of a mask carved and painted to resemble a skull, and while rarely made from an actual skull, it always incorporates some small bit of a Venerable ancestor's physical remains into it - usually a tooth or bit of bone. Every time after the first, the DEath Token must still have some piece of the ancestor in it, but it can take any form you choose - amulets, rings, gauntlets, bracers, even weapons. The more powerful you get, the more Death Tokens you carry around, so power is rarely subtle. It is possible to make fake Death Tokens for the social recognition, but given the lack of power those hold, it rarely lasts long and the Churikuna tend to come down on it heavily. If you lose a Death Token, you must regain it, either by taking it back or making a new one (and therefore having to ask you Venerable Ancestor to give you more body parts without learning any new sorcery to show for it). If you attempt to use a Manifestation or extra Turns without possessing all of your current Death Tokens, you must pay additional Hero Points to do so.

Further, the cost rises based on time. If you have lost one Death Token, the first day after every Manifestation costs an extra Hero Point, the second day it costs 2 extra, and so on. This is cumulative - if you lose two Death Tokens, you have to pay the extra cost twice. If you lose all Death Tokens, you can't use the magic until you get at least the mask back - and if you lose the mask that is your first, you also just can't use the magic until you get it back. Normally, activating a Manifestation costs 1 Hero Point, and involves ancient chants, sweeping gestures, glowing body parts or other obvious magical practice. It immediately takes effect, and you also activate a single Turn you know and apply its effect to the Manifestation. You may spend 1 Hero Point per Turn past the first to activate more Turns on it, but you can only activate a specific Turn once per Manifestation.

Manifestations
Arise: Activate this when you touch a creature that died within less than a minute of your touch. You seize their spirit and return it to life, causing them to resurrect, though they remain Helpless. Whenever you use this, your Resolve is permanently reduced by 1, and can only be replenished in the same way anyone could - by buying it up again normally. If your Resolve is reduced to 0, you die. Period. Anyone who dies this way cannot be saved by any means, even magical ones. Normally, this Manifestation causes your hand to be wreathed in unnatural energies as you visibly grasp the spirit before it can drift from the corpse.
Channel: When you learn this, choose one Background you don't have, either a general one or a Kuraq-only one. This represents what your ancestor was in life. When you activate this, you gain memories of your ancestor's life and abilities. For the rest of the Scene (or until you choose to end this, whichever is first) you get +1 Rank in each of that Background's Skills and get access to the Background's Quirk on top of your normal ones. While this is active, your ancestor's form appears in a ghostly light, moving with you but slightly out of sync, like an after-image.
Grovel: Activate this when you make a Risk during a Sequence using an Intimidate-based Approach. You may spend Raises to reduce an Unliving Brute Squad's Strength even if you would otherwise not be able to. When you spend a Raise to reduce any Brute Squad's Strength, Unliving or not, you reduce it by 2 instead of 1 per Raise spent. When you spend a Raise to apply Pressure to any character that is undead or possesses Wanuy Naqay, they must spend 2 additional Raises rather than 1 additional Raise to overcome your Pressure. These effects all last until the end of the Round. While this is active, your mask glows and shimmers with unnatural spectral flame.
Leech: Activate this while you touch a corpse or living creature. If the target is unwilling, you must spend a Raise to touch them. You siphon off life essence. If used on a corpse, you choose one effect, plus one per additional Hero Point you choose to spend. A corpse may have any effect used on it only once, and you cannot use the same effect multiple times in a single activation. If you activate all three effects on a single corpse, its soul is destroyed and all of your Wounds are healed, but you commit an Evil Act, period, no matter what. Destroying a soul is always an Evil Act.
If you use this on a living creature, you instead choose one of the following effects. Using this on an unwilling living target is always an Evil ACt. If you render the target Helpless through this, you immediately heal all Wounds and Dramatic Wounds, but the victim dies instantly, you consume their soul, and you gain double the normal Corruption for an Evil Act.
When you use this, a trail of light streams out of your victim and into you, possibly via your palms, mouth or nose.
Obliterate: Activate this when you face an Unliving Brute Squad. The Squad is immediately destroyed and reduced to 0 Strength. You may spend additional Hero Points to target multiple Unliving Brute Squads. You may use this only once per scene.
Sequester: To use this during a Sequence, you must spend 1 Raise as well as the normal costs. Activate this and touch an undead creature. The creature may not move from its current location until the Scene ends or you free them, whichever comes first. They may still act, but cannot inflict Wounds onto anyone outside their reach, as they can't move from the spot. When you use this, a flash of light flies from your hand or eyes and strikes the target, wrapping them in spectral chains and bonds while it remains active.
Witness: Activate this and touch a dead creature, an undead creature or a target that knows Wanuy Naway. For the rest of the Scene, you may see and hear through the target. If the target was a corpse, you can still see and hear normally even though they, obviously, can't. This lasts until the Scene ends, you choose to end it, or either you or the target becomes Helpless or (in the case of a corpse) destroyed. The target is unaware of your presence and has no visual effects. However, for the duration, your eyes glow with a ghostly light, usually green or violet.
Awaken: This can only be learned by Villains. Activate this when your body is killed or otherwise destroyed. Your soul flees it, but may enter the body of anyone bearing the markings of Suway - typically a member of your retinue, but not necessarily. If you attempt to take over a PC, you must spend 1 or more Danger Points. If they spend equal Hero Points, you fail and must choose another target. A successful use causes the target to be immediately killed, their soul destroyed and forced out to make room for you. You return to life in the new body, retaining all your old abilities. While this is active, your soul glows with ghostly light and floats from your corpse's mouth towards the target's, entering their body through it.

Turns
Bestow: Give another character one of your Death Tokens. They can activate the Manifestation once before the Scene ends or before they return the Token, whichever comes first. Any additional Turns must be chosen when you use this, and you must pay all costs for the Manifestation now, immediately, rather than when they use it. So long as they carry your token, they are considered to be undead for any effect that cares about that. This lasts until the Manifestation within the Token ends or they return the Token to you. You suffer all normal added costs for not having all your Death Tokens while they hold it.
Dominant: The target of your Manifestation can't be affected by any other magic, such as Sorcery or the powers of Syrneth artifacts, until the Manifestation ends.
Echo: The Manifestation targets a second character, Squad or other viable target it could normally affect. All effects are repeated exactly - you cannot vary them at all between targets.
Lingering: On an instantaneous Manifestation, like Obliterate, this does nothing. If the Manifestation would end after one Round, it lasts one additional Round. If it would end after one Scene, it lasts an additional Scene.
Rapid: If the Manifestation would require a Raise to activate, it does not. You must perform an Action before you can activate another Manifestation.
Reach: The Manifestation can be used on any viable target you can see, rather than its normal targeting range. It ends immediately if your line of sight is broken for more than a few moments, even if it normally would last longer.
Subtle: The Manifestation has no visual or auditory effect beyond a small gesture or brief flash of light in your eyes. Anyone activately observing you knows that they used magic, but not what it did. Anyone not actively observing you must spend 1 Hero Point (or 1 Danger Point) to notice that you did anything.

Next time: Dueling

The New World - MORTAL COMBAT

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - MORTAL COMBAT

Aztlan is home to far fewer formal dueling schools than Theah. That's not to say they don't have Duelists - it's just not formalized at all. Dueling is legal on the entire continent and has little to no oversight. Masters of various styles take on students pretty much at their own whim, and may travel vast distances to do so if they feel like it. Duelists really have just one job in Aztlan, and that is war. Once trained, a Duelist has no real trouble finding a job in a national military force. Typically they do so in their own homeland, but not always. There's always a need for Duelists to fight, either as unit leaders, military champions or as part of a squad of Duelists working together to crush lesser units. Each nation has at least one dueling tradition maintained by their military forces for war, and warlords and generals are often Duelists. The Aztlani also do fight in duels of honor, but without any kind of governing body over these duels, they are always unofficial and can happen anywhere for any reason. They tend to be extremely violent, and a surprising number are to the death. Even those that are not rarely end at first blood.

After the first Thean contact, Thean Duelists saw many differences, obviously, between themselves and their Aztlani counterparts. The Aztlani found the entire Duelist's Guild idea to be bizarre at best, as most of them were soldiers. The Theans found the chaotic, disordered mess and frequent bloodshed to be similar to the bad old days before the Guild was recognized. However, on those occasions when they'd try to convince the Aztlani of the use of a Guild, they tended to be laughed at. Still, the two groups have slowly begun to learn each other's styles. It's slow because they rarely mingle - there's grudges on both sides, and both groups are known to raid the other when they get a chance. Thus, taking on foreign Duelists as students, who may be traitors or double agents, is rare. However, it does happen occasionally.

The first documented Thean to be fully trained in an Aztlani style was Elicia Zambrano, a Castillian Aldana fencer who won the trust of an ocelotl and learned from them. Since then, both groups have been slightly more open to training each other. More recently, a Castillian soldier by the name of Manuel Maria del Rio has dubbed himself the Ambassador of Dueling between the two continents. He has no formal backing from the Guild, but they haven't stopped him, either, so he takes it as permission. He has spent most of his adult life trying to build up bonds between duelists of the two continents. He is a master of several Thean styles, and he willingly surrendered himself to a Tzak K'ani force, earning the trust of their warleader and training them in Thean fencing in exchange for learning their own styles. He has continued doing this throughout Tzak K'an and has now begun making inroads in the Alliance and Kuraq. He claims to be the foremost Thean expert on Aztlani dueling styles and culture, which may be true.

Icniuhtli is a Nahuacan style originally, created by and always most popular with the Ocelomeh, though it is used by other organizations now. Using this style, lightly armored warriors armed with spears weave in and out of combat, striking and fading to leave each other openings and take advantage of those left by the others of the unit. While an Ichniuhtli Duelist is dangerous alone, they are even more deadly as part of a team, coordinating their strikes to overwhelm their foes. The current greatest master of the style is without doubt Tlaloc of Milllahco. He and his brothers and sisters are a squad of elite Ocelomeh, some of the best in the Alliance. Some say their deadliness is because they are all family, while others say they have a mystical link to an ancient jaguar totem. It doesn't matter which is true, if either - what matters is they're called on for the deadliest missions, and their coordination is so perfect that they never need to speak to coordinate. Each knows where the others need to be and trusts them to be there. Tlaloc and his family haven ever been defeated when they work together. This is the style learned by Elicia Zambrano, who surrendered to Tlaloc in battle and earned his respect, learning the style directly from him. She has now returned to Castille, where she has slowly begun taking on students. Her schools of Icniuhtli are unique in that they never accept singular students - only groups, who must train together as a unit. The Style bonus is Jaguar's Guile. When you wield a spear in one or both hands, you may perform the Jaguar's Guile Maneuver. When you use it, you deal 1 Wound, and the next time the target takes Wounds this round, they take one additional Wound. Further, you may select one ally to immediately act, spending Raises as normal. If the selected ally uses their Action to deal Wounds to your target, the target takes (your Wits) additional Wounds. You may use this only once per round.

Quetzuo is a style originally formulated by the Quetzuo Warriors to hunt witches and sorcerers. They used techniques that kept their target fixated on them, and these useful techniques eventually spread to other Tzak K'ani forces for hunting and war. Quetzuo Duelists use a shield in one hand and a weapon in the other, usually a club, knife or spear. The shield, called a Challi, is round and made from wood and leather, always handmade by the Duelist during training. It is often decorated with feathers and precious stones, with the amount of ornamentation reflecting the Duelist's rank or status. While training, a Duelist wields their master's Challi until their own is completed. While they do, the master selects a Yencotetl, a stone that may just be a rock or may be a large turquoise. As the student completes each lesson, the master chips off part of the Yencotetl and uses it as part of a mosaic on the student's Challi. By the end of training, the Challi is a piece of art representing the student's journeys and trials in learning. Duelists become very attached to their Challi, and the greatest of honors is to be gifted your master's Challi, a sign of great trust and respect. The style bonus is the Challi Taunt. While using a shield in one hand and a weapon in the other, you may peform the Challi Taunt Maneuver. You use your shield to throw the target off balance, dealing 1 Wound. The next time the target would deal Wounds this round, they deal (your Weaponry) fewer Wounds, and if they try to deal Wounds to anyone but you on their next action, they must spend (your Resolve) Raises to do so.

Hatz'ik is a style originating from the peasants of Tzak K'an, relying heavily on a quarterstaff - a very easy weapon to get ahold of. Legend claims that it was originally taught by a traveler in the mountains, who would ask nothing in return from their students. The style has boomed in popularity recently, and is known to be practiced by the warlord Iktan Cha'zah to great effect in battle. In the hands of a Hatz'ik master, the staff does not stop moving until the fight ends, spinning and striking constantly. Many instructors teach that it doesn't matter how slow you move, as long as you never actually stop. For the master, however, the staff moves so quickly that it is nearly impossible to follow, creating a zone around the Duelist in which no one can enter without being struck. Once the enemy is worn down by repeated blows, the momentum of the spinning staff is unleashed for a terrifying crash. The style bonus is the Hatz'ik Spiral. When you wield a quarterstaff in both hands, you may perform the Hatz'ik Spiral Maneuver. When you use this, any character that causes Wounds to you while the Spiral is active takes 1 Wound. The next time you use the Slash Maneuver this round, you deal (Panache) extra Wounds and your Spiral ends. (Presumably it also ends at the end of the Round if you don't Slash.) You may use this only once per round.

Tzolran is a style focusing on distractions and opportunities. It was originally a game played between bored soldiers, using whatever you grab to distract your enemy. Fighters keep low to the ground, weaving back and forth to throw the enemy off balance. The game used sticks, but in combat, Tzolran Duelists typically use a knife. In the original game, the fighters would start back to back, quickly dropping and facing each other, staying low. They would throw dirt, leaves or anything else around at each other, darting back and forth to confuse each other and dodge attacks. Once one of them was struck, the round ended and they would start over. The first to land three strikes won. The name of the style comes from Xriisateh Tzolran, the first warrior to use the game in active combat. Since then, many have followed her lead, as it is quite effective. The style bonus is Dust Trick. When you are using a small weapon, such as a knife, stiletto, small club or so on, in one hand and nothing in the other, you can perform the Dust Trick Maneuver. When you do, you grab sand, debris or other such things and hurl it into your target's eyes. The next time they deal Wounds, they deal (Finesse) fewer Wounds and they create an Opportunity. If this Opportunity is activated, the next source of Wounds on the target deals 2 additional Wounds. You may use this maneuver only once per round.

Waglichina is a style created and used almost exclusively by the Tupaq warriors of Kuraq. The style is taught at P'alqacamba by Suway's priesthood, and is designed to hunt and kill gods. It is designed to keep enemies off balance and knocking them to the ground, to allow the other Tupaq to swarm the target and kill them. However, the style has now spread beyond the forces of Suway, much to their chagrin. Disillusioned Tupaq warriors brought it out of Kuraq to the other nations, and now both the Nahuacan Alliance and the Tzak K'ani have begun training warriors in the style. Within Kuraq, however, the Tokoyriq hunt down and capture any rogue Waglichina masters that seem to be teaching others. The style bonus is the Waglichina Rush. While using a heavy weapon (such as a club or axe) in one hand and nothing in the other, you can perform the Waglichina Rush Maneuver. When you do, you deal 1 Wound as you trip, push or otherwise knock a foe to the ground. You also apply Pressure to the target to remain prone. Until they overcome this Pressure, they take 1 additional Wound whenever they take Wounds.

Next time: Boats, Secret Societies, and the Dumbest Thing In The Book

The New World - A Question That Really Didn't Need To Be Answered

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - A Question That Really Didn't Need To Be Answered

So, first off, new boat stuff.
New Origins
Kuraq: While this Ship has less Cargo than its maximum, it can have 10 additional Crew.
Nahuacan Alliance: When making a Risk related to trade, such as getting the best deal possible or holding back goods to get a secret from the buyer, you get 3 Bonus Dice.
New Backgrounds
Foreign Built: A foreign shipwright was involved in the construction. Select a second Origin; your Ship gains its benefits as well.
Sole Survivor: Your Ship was the only survivor of a port raid by a foreign power. Select the nation that attacked. When in Ship Battle against that nation, all PCs gain 2 Bonus Dice.
New Adventures
Across the Sea: Travel from Aztlan to Theah (or vice versa) and back again. When transporting goods from one continent to another, you may carry 1 additional Cargo.
Blessed by the Gods: Complete a request given to you by an Aztlani god. When rolling dice during a Sequence while aboard the Ship, you may spend 1 Hero Point to make 10s explode on that roll.
Outclassed: Defeat a ship that is larger, has more cannon or has more crew. The first time each round that your Ship takes Hits from another Ship, reduce the Hits by 1.

Anyway. On to Secret Societies and the dumbest reveal. Okay, so. The Guardians of Aztlan are a secret society that knows the truth of the age of Imperial Aztlan. They are the oldest organization in the entire continent, and have the only accurate records of the age before and the Fall. They are the only people who know that the Fall was not a literal destruction, but a movement of Aztlan. They know the true cause. While most scholars believe that the ancient Aztlani provoked the ire of the Old Gods, the Guardians know the truth: the Syrne enslaved the Old Gods and used what are now called the old machines to shift the entire continent of Aztlan into the alternate dimension called the Seventh Sea. The Syrneth were the god-kings of ancient Aztlan, kept safe from all outsiders by having shifted their realm to another world. Yep, we're doing this.

At some point, for no clear reason, the old machines failed. Some say it was intentional, that they were never meant to be permanent, while others in the Guardians argue that they were broken by whatever force destroyed the Syrneth. The Guardians should have prevented it, all agree, but by the time they realized it was happening, it was too late. Aztlan returned to Terra. Since then, and even moreso since the arrival of the Theans, the Guardians have sworn to defend the Aztlani from any and all outside threats. They wield their accumulated knowledge against any situation that threatens the continent, and now, they are needed more than ever...yet also divided more than ever.

The Guardians do not all agree on what to do, you see. One group, who call themselves the Protectors, believe that the so-called 'Thean menace' is too much even for the Guardians. They believe that, given the frequent attempts by gold-seekers and power-hungry attempted conquerors to control or abuse Aztlan, the best thing they can do is reactivate the old machines and move the continent back into the Seventh Sea. That is the only way to keep the Aztlani safe. The other faction, the Progressives, believe this would cause far more harm than good. The only way to truly protect the Aztlani, they argue, is to let them handle the Theans on their own. Further, they point to the active role of the current gods in protecting the people as proof that the Thean situation is under control. Neither group seems likely to budge from their position.

While the Theans are the biggest recent concern of the Guardians, they are far from the only one. The oldest and most respected Guardians remind their younger allies that the greatest enemy is not from across the sea, but from under the ground. From the time of the Aztlani Empire, the Guardians have existed to defend the land against their common foe: the Old Gods, bloodthirsty and immortal beings who once demanded vast ritual sacrifices to slake their terrible hungers and avoid their vicious wrath. The Syrne once handled this issue by enslaving the Old Gods and moving Aztlan to another dimension to weaken them. Obviously, the plan didn't work as intended, though fortunately the Old Gods were trapped in the Seventh Sea during the Fall. They can no longer directly influence Aztlan. They remain trapped even now, waiting for a time when enough blood sacrifice is performed for them, in their name, that they can re-enter Terra and reclaim the continent. After the Fall, many Guardians went missing, along with a number of important documents. Some fear that the Old Gods corrupted these defectors, and that their inheritors retained the texts and knowledge of the language of ancient Aztlan, allowing them to perhaps help release the bloodthirsty deities. The truth is far worse than even the Guardians know, however - those rogue Guardians' descendants are their greatest foes, the Council of the Old Gods.

The Guardians are made of those who have devoted themselves to service to the continent of Aztlan and all its people. Most are taken into the conspiracy as children, usually orphans or those purchased from poor families. They are raised as Guardians, taught important skills. Typically, an Initiate will remain with only one Master during their formative years. They are trained in a number of areas, including learning how to read and write in Old Aztlani, advanced combat techniques for ranged and close-quarters fighting, understanding and use of ancient Aztlani technology and more. Once a master feels their initiate is ready, they present them to the Grand Master's Council. The Initiate is tested, and made a Master if they are found worthy. If not, the Initiate is assigned to a Grand Master for more lessons. A new Master is an independent member of the Guardians, serving as they see fit. They often work closely with their old instructor, who is often the closest relationship they have in life. Grand Masters are chosen from the best Masters in the group. If they accept the offer, they are retired from active duty and made a Grand Master. The role of the Grand Masters is to monitor activity related to ancient Aztlani technology and particularly the old machines, as well as directing the Guardians' efforts against the Old Gods.

The Guardians primarily care about defending the Aztlani peoples, regardless of nation, religion or status, from external threats. Their greatest foe has always been the Old Gods, but the Theans have recently occupied their attention as well. The group prefers to avoid attention if at all possible. Providing the Grand Masters with information about an external threat is worth 3 Favor, and defeating an external threat to the Aztlani is worth 6 Favor. You may spend 7 Favor to request access to an Aztlani Empire text or artifact, which may contain dangerous information and technology greater than any Terran nation has access to; as such, you're expected to return it. Gaining the aid of a Master costs 4 Favor. Masters are Strength 8 and are never sorcerers.

Next time: The Secret Societies That Don't Piss Mors Off By Answering Setting Questions That Should Be Left Open

The New World - The Great Jaguar

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - The Great Jaguar

The Jaguar appears in legends across Aztlan. Some speak of the prior age, claiming that a lineage of werejaguars founded the Aztlani Empire. The Nahuacans once prayed to the god Tahtli Ocelotl, 'the Great Werejaguar,' who was the Chief of Magicians, the Great Sorcerer and the Great Shapeshifter. The priests that dedicated themselves to this god were said to be the greatest of sorcerers and wise people. In modern Tzak K'ani, the jaguars are creatures of night, symbols of the sun on its nightly journey to dawn. They worship or at least know of a jaguar deity whose domains include war and the underworld, and the jaguar is known to be a powerful spiritual animal of great strength, skill and dominance. Even the Kuraq hold jaguars in esteem, and the Wild People to the south worship a star that they say is a jaguar, a god of jaguars, bears and pumas. The jaguar is vital to Aztlani cosmology. And the Jaguar's Heirs are the descendants of the most honored traditions of Aztlan.

The Heirs are a society of magicians and sorcerers who wish to gather all of the sorcerous knowledge of the lands of Aztlan and advance magical knowledge. They encourage experimentation with magic and will even support research into forbidden areas like necromancy. As long as a magician uses their power to help others, the Jaguar's Heirs look on them kindly and support them. Thus, the Heirs contain members from all Aztlani nations. They are open-minded and welcoming, discriminating against no magic-user, no matter what their origin or field of study. The only limit they place is that no sorcerer must ever use their powers for evil. If they do, they draw the wrath of the Heirs, who may even summon a were-jaguar hunting pack to destroy such magicians.

To join the Heirs, all you need to do is use magic to help the needy. They don't care where your magic comes from or what it is, as they believe magic, in general, is a gift of the gods. Thus, they are the only Aztlani secret society that has a sizable Thean presence. Express an interest in joining and they will find you. They have spies across Aztlan. Then, they will assign you a mission to prove your worth, show your magical skills and prove your resourcefulness and determination. Once you pass, you are an Heir. The greatest members of the society form the Inner Circle, who control the Face of the Jaguar. They are the judges and administrators of the Heirs, and anyone that wishes to join their ranks must put their life on the line to serve the society. Only those who spend years in faithful service can advance to these high ranks.

The jaguar is known to be both a creator and a destroyer. It brings fortune, but also disaster. The Heirs consider the study of magic to embody the nature of the jaguar, for they too wield the powers of creation and destruction. The Heirs follow what they call the Way of the Jaguar, which commands them as follows:
Breaking these laws draws the ire of the Heirs, with serious consequences. The Heirs have been known to forbid use of magic or even to kill, if they think that a sorcerer's crimes are bad enough.

The Face of the Jaguar is the greatest gift of the Heirs - the ability to shapeshift and take on the form of a werejaguar. In this form, the Heirs are deadly, especially to sorcerers, for they retain all magical abilities in the form of the werejaguar but combine them with the beast's swiftness and power. As more joined the Heirs, the Inner Circle eventually decided that the power was too much, and must remain guarded by the Inner Circle. Other Heirs could request the use of the power, but would not be taught how to call it down personally. Thus were the hunting packs born. A hunting pack is a group of Heirs (and, more rarely, non-Heir allies) who are granted the Face of the Jaguar for a single night. This is generally given only for the purpose of hunting down an evil sorcerer. Once the task is complete, all werejaguars must return to the agreed on rendezvous point in order to return to human form. If dawn comes without the Inner Circle turning you human again, the sun will claim your soul and kill you instantly. Due to this, many Heirs prefer to just let the society know about Villains without actually taking up the werejaguar's form. Others will even face down the villain alone rather than risk their lives as jaguars.

The Jaguar's Heirs mostly care about recovering ancient magic and artifacts, expanding magical knowledge and hunting down evil sorcerers. Discovering an unknown text or artifact, or presenting innovative magical research of any discipline, is worth 4 Favor. Defeating an evil sorcerer is worth 8 Favor if you do it without werejaguar help. Calling on the aid of a werejaguar hunting pack costs 10 Favor. You and any PCs you choose can join the hunting pack. If you do, you become werejaguars for one night. Werejaguar NPCs are Strength 8, Nocturnal, Shapeshifting and Swift. PC Werejaguars may use any of these Monstrous Qualities, and retain all of their own abilities within reason. (Lacking hands may cause problems, for example.) The transformation lasts only one night. Accessing a magical text or artifact of the Heirs costs 3 Favor, and you're expected to return it.

The Pochteca date back to 1474, or the Nahuacan year Eight Rabbit. It was founded by 12 Nahuacan merchant families, who feared that the Alliance's rulers would fear their economic power, and so they made a pact with the Great Speaker. They would abandon all the visible trappings of wealth and success, and in return, they would do business without fear of noble interference. Over time, however, the Pochteca realized their wealth could become something more. They swore to use their wealth and power to help the less fortunate across Aztlan, reorganizing themselves into twelve guilds, each based out of one of the major urban centers of Nahuaca. At first, they mostly worked to ensure the poor received basic necessities. It became clear, though, this was not enough. They realized that the problem was not in the amount of wealth and resources but its distribution. Thus, they dedicated themselves to bettering the lives of the common people across the continent. Sometimes they do this by distributing clothing or food, sometimes by stopping those elites that abuse their power. They will bribe, coerce, even threaten these misguided leaders, to ensure the improvement of the daily lives of normal people. Some rulers, however, are too stubborn and powerful to be stopped so easily. In these cases, the Pochteca use their wealth and influence to incite people against them and to help any that oppose such villainy.

The Pochteca are organized into mercantile and craft guilds specialized in different areas. Each operates from a major Nahuacan city and is run by a group of three to five elders known as Mothers and Fathers, who speak for the guild. Each is responsible for some aspect of the Pochteca's general operations. The textiles guild, for example, ensure that all members have access to weapons and armor if needed, to protect the less able, while the merchants' guild handles sending out spies to seek out villainous leaders. All members do what they can to help the common folk, but the guilds and their elders give guidance and direction on how to do it.

Anyone can join the Pochteca, if they are able and willing to serve. The original group were all wealthy merchants, but now they will take on anyone who wants to make Aztlan better. The lower ranks include merchants that lead trade and exploratory missions, porters and warriors that protect caravans and fight for the people, or spies who unobtrusively gather information. Elders in each guild are recruited from within their own members. These Mothers and Fathers direct their guild and communicate with the other guilds, meeting once each year in Pepechotlan to discuss strategy and discoveries. Few who do not attend the meetings ever understand that they are driven by something far more vital than mere profit and greed. They want to make Aztlan a better place, and, ideally, one day redistribute the wealth such that all citizens prosper regardless of status.

The Pochteca care about gaining and redistributing wealth, reshaping society with the power of capitalism and funding rebels against tyrannical rulers. Helping protect a caravan, performing diplomacy in the name of the society or informing the Mothers and Fathers of a misguided ruler is worth 2 Favor. Deposing a Villainous ruler is worth 5 Favor as long as the replacement is an improvement. Gaining access to Pochteca storehouses for up to 2 Wealth in trade goods or a minor Aztlani relic costs 4 Favor and you're expected to pay it back or return it when possible. Requesting the Pochteca's aid costs 6 Favor to get just about any material good, political secret or access with rebel figures you might need.

Next time: The Other Illuminati

The New World - Evil Gods

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Evil Gods

In modern day, each nation has their own gods, who helped them rebuild after the Fall. In ancient times, before the Fall, however, all worshipped the same deities. These, called the Old Gods, are now forbidden, have been forbidden for a very long time. This, of course, does little to stop the Council of the Old Gods. Their goal is quite simple: restore the ancient ways of the Old Gods and return Aztlan to the light of its old glories. Of course, this implies the destruction of the current Aztlan to remake what once was. The Council's fine with that, because they're fairly certain they'll be spared by the returning Old Gods. They know that in the Fall, the Old Gods did not die - they were imprisoned. The Syrneth turned the Old Gods to crystal as fuel for their old machines, cursing them to be forever bound, and during the Fall, those prisons held - it was a close thing, but they did.

To free the Old Gods, the Council must gather the 13 Blood Crystals and return them to the Heart of the World. This is the only way to open the portal that will allow the Old Gods to escape their prisons, return to Terra, and conquer Aztlan. As is, of course, right and just. And which will, of course, cause the deaths of 90% of the current Aztlani peoples. Once this is all done, the Council expects to rule the ashes of the world, governing over an Aztlan with only one faith and one culture. There will be no more Nahuacan Alliance, no Tzak K'ani city-states, no Kuraq Empire. All such differences will fade before the might of the Old Gods.

The technology behind the Blood Crystals was discovered in ancient texts by the precursors of the modern Council. These texts of the prior age are the greatest treasure the Council has, and they revealed that in order to make a Blood Crystal, you need massive amounts of bloodshed - specifically, mass sacrifices of human beings by other human beings, dedicated to the Old Gods. Because of this, the primary job the Council has set its agent towards is to ensure there is conflict between large groups on the continent. Their best case scenario is open warfare, and so they work to push both rebels and rulers to greater heights of violence under any circumstances. They don't care who wins such conflicts because all they want is to benefit from the chaos and murder. Every violent death gets them one step closer to a Blood Crystal, and thus to the Old Gods.

The Council of the Old Gods is run by three leaders, known as the First Prophets - one from each nation of Aztlan. They have met in secret for the past thousand years in the Heart of the World, which is a location in which logic holds no sway, being halfway between this world and the Seventh Sea. Under them are a handful of Council members, lesser but still highly influential, and under them, large numbers of field agents. Council field agents rarely know all of what's going on, and are usually recruited from the desperate and hopeless. However, sometimes even apparently happy and successful people join the Council, because they see it as a way to remove the divisions and chaos of the world. They want an ordered, homogenous society without conflict or differences. What they fail to understand or willfully blind themselves to is that this can only happen once the world is destroyed.

PCs cannot join the Council. It is made purely of Villains. To become a member of the Council, you must face the Old Gods, covered in the blood of an innocent you have personally slain in cold blood. If you are not accepted, you are killed by the rest of the Council in sacrifice to the Old Gods. If you are accepted, the Old Gods whisper their twisted commands directly into your mind, shaping it to a form more to their liking. IE, an evil one that will sacrifice in their name.

The greatest strength the Council has is that almost no one that doesn't belong to it knows that it exists at all. They have infiltrated all nations of Aztlan and even have a handful of members among the Thean arrivals. They take all walks of life - noble or commoner, it doesn't matter, as long as you can provoke more death in the name of the Old Gods and bring more blood. Most Council agents are so disturbed by the violent initiation ritual, in which they must slay an innocent to prove their faith, that they never doubt their allegiance after that. The few who do are killed off unceremoniously when discovered, their deaths serving as one final contribution to the cause.

So, that happened! We then get a chapter on how to randomly generate Tzak K'ani city-states. Largely it involves rolling or selecting options from charts to determine the city's patron god, atmosphere, geography, ruler type and iconography. You then fit those together and massage them into a coherent whole. So, for example, we might roll 3, 5, 5, 6, 4. This would get us:

Iconography: 3 - Eagle. Eagles may be seen as semi-divine messengers of the gods, or may be used by local hunters on a more practical level. The city's symbol may be an eagle, talon, feather or win.
Geography: 5 - Hills. The area is a hilly region, or perhaps a bluff, mesa or ridge.
Patron God: 5 - Buluk Cha'wil. Buluk Cha'wil is the war and lightning god, revered by warriors and gneerals. He is shown as a grizzled, aging male warrior with glowing armor and a smoking, fiery axe. He values action, militarism, structure, power and sacrifice.
Atmosphere: 6 - Open. The people are warm, hospitable and generous with outsiders. They may be particularly pious and have a tale of a religious figure being taken in by someone generous, who was rewarded. They might just be really giving, nice people with a culture of friendliness. The are may be very harsh, and generosity is a survival trait - if you have water, share it, and if you need water, it will be shared, so to speak.
Ruler: 4 - Progressivist. The ruler believes stagnation is death, and that adaptation, growth and change to fit circumstances are what bring prosperity and wisdom.

so, bringing those together, we have a city that idolizes predatory birds as symbols of war and strength, holy to Buluk Cha'wil, the lord of storms and battle. They are located atop a rough mesa, and their generosity is an act of superiority. They rule over the local region as mighty warriors, and therefore they can make a show of strength by offering goods and hospitality to any visitor. Their ruler has been aggressively modernizing their military to maintain the local power base, and they have more guns than any other city in the area as a result. She is currently attempting to work out how to make guns.

Next time: Hazards

The New World - Hazard A Guess

posted by Mors Rattus Original SA post

7th Sea 2e: The New World - Hazard A Guess

Hazards basically finish out the book - a new kind of 'antagonist,' distinct from Villains and Brutes. They can be the only threat present, or just one of many. They represent environmental dangers and can be 'defeated' in several ways. Most of the time, a Hazard is restricted geographically, and if the PCs just...leave, well, it can't pursue them. This costs no Raises, but the consequences of fleeing might vary - you might become Helpless, have no control over your destination or otherwise end up in a different kind of trouble. Second, you can Brave the Hazard. Braving the Hazard means that the PCs must, collectively, spend Raises equal to the Hazard's Threat. This doesn't reduce the Threat - the haunted house doesn't get less scary and weird because you've discovered its dark secret, say - but does mean you get what you want or otherwise get a favorable and controlled outcome to the danger.

A Hazard's Threat determines its dicepool. This ranged from 5 ('dangerous') to 15 ('cataclysmic'). Gusting winds on a high cliff? Threat 5. Giant hole in reality caused by an evil sorcier? 15. Hazards also have Elements that give them special things they can do with their Raises or the GM's Danger Points. Elements can, unless otherwise indicated, be activated multiple times or have variable effects based on the amount of Raises spent, but a Hazard can only activate a single Hazard at a time on its turn during a Sequence or scene.

All hazards have the following Elements:
Intensify: The GM may spend a Danger Point before rolling to increase the Hazard's Threat by 1 for the rest of the Scene. The GM can spend only 1 Danger Point this way per round.
Chaotic: The Hazard may spend a Raise to immediately deal 1 Wound to all characters in the scene. (Brute Squads have their Strength reduced by 1 instead.)
Habitat: Any creature or Monster that lives in the Hazard is immune to any Wounds or disadvantages caused by the Hazard spending Raises or Danger Points. Heroes and Villains cannot benefit from this unless they are Monsters.
Treacherous: The Hazard may spend a Raise to create a Consequence. The Consequence occurs at Action 0 (IE, end of the Round after everyone has done everything) and causes 1 Dramatic Wound to all characters present. You need to spend 5 Raises to overcome this consequence, and all characters, Hero or Villain, may collectively pool Raises spent to do so. It must be completely overcome or else the full effect happens. Brute Squads instead halve their current Strength.

Optional Elements:
Confounding: The Hazard may spend a Raise to separate one character from the others. Until reunited, they cannot benefit from any proximity-based Advantages or abilities or those reliant on sight or hearing, and cannot give Hero Points to others or benefit from Hero Points spent by others via any effect. To be reunited, another character must make an Opportunity and the separated character must activate it.
Deadly: Raises spent on the Chaotic element deal 2 Wounds instead of 1.
Deafening: The Hazard may spend a Raise to become unbearably loud. Until it spends another Raise, any form of verbal communication between characters costs 1 Raise.
Destructive: The Hazard may spend a Raise to destroy a structure or object, such as a small building or a boat. This causes 1 Wound to anyone in a position to be harmed by the destruction, such as being in the building or on the boat, unless they spend a Raise in response. If this Element is used in a scene with one or more Ships, all Ships present take 1 Critical Hit rather than being destroyed; other effects remain unchanged.
Dominion: The Hazard is under the control of a character in the scene or Sequence. The controller is immune to all of its effects caused by spending Raises.
Escalating: The GM can spend 2 Danger Points per round on Intensify instead of 1.
Foreboding: The GM can spend 1 Danger Point whenever rolls are made during a Sequence. For this Sequence, the Hazard gains 1 rank of Fear per 5 Threat it has.
Gloomy: The Hazard may spend a Raise to plunge the area into darkness for the Round. Any Action significantly relying on sight costs 2 Raises instead of 1 until the end of the Round.
Intense: When the Hazard deals Wounds, the GM may spend a Danger Point to have any character that takes Wounds also lose 1 Raise.
Piercing: When the Hazard spends a Raise on Chaotic, the damage cannot be prevented by spending a Raise.
Savage: When the Hazard uses Treacherous to deal a Dramatic Wound, randomly select one Brute Squad that is present. That Brute Squad is destroyed, period.
Surging: The GM may spend any number of Danger Points to give the Hazard twice that many Bonus Dice for a single Round.
Unpredictable: The Hazard may spend a Raise to push any Consequences it creates forward by 1 Action, including the Consequences created by Treacherous. It may do this even after the Consequence is created, and even if it would mean the Consequence occurs immediately.
Unwelcoming: The Hazard may spend a Raise to apply Pressure to all characters present. Typically, the Pressure will be to leave, so any action remaining in the Hazard costs 2 Raises rather than 1.

We then get a brief discussion of GM advice and the themes of the setting, about politics and exploitation versus exploration and all that. It's short and decent.

The End

No new books for 7th Sea 2e yet, though Secret Societies comes out soonish. I might also cover WFRP 4e, which finalized a week or two ago, so we can see what changed and what didn't.