Part I: Geographic and Topological Survey
(The landscape and what lives there, the rough features of the domain. What the land is like physically?)
* Climate
* Indigenous Plants
* Indigenous Animals
* Towns and neighbourhoods
Part II: Sociological Survey
(General cultural feel here. Primitive? Advanced? What is the land like emotionally?)
* Indigenous People
* Daily Life, clothing and food
* Language
* Outlook and worldview
*Trade
* Local History
* Governments
Part III: Religious Survey
Part IV: DM Appendix
(the crunch)
* Magic (local variants and unique elements)
* Places and people of Interest
* Feats, monsters, salient abilities, PrC, items, NPCs, etc
For examples of how it was done last time, Joel handled much of part I while I focused on part II. However, I added a number of plants and he did the section on government. I also incorporated several submissions into food and local history (and am sure Joel did similar things). We were also in constant contact (probably a good idea to start a thread in Community projects to allow for this) and commenting on each other’s work.
So sections and topics should be called and the research and brainstorming can begin. Meanwhile things like theme and mood need to be established.
All domains should reflect the lord, so the question is: “how does Paridon mirror Sodo?” Ditto Timor.
The metaplot can be edited in and added during the Fraternity revision period, along with a prologue and epilogue.
The following is a list of articles from the site’s netbooks which might be considered as sources and/or inspiration for the Gazetteer. If I've omitted any, please let me know!
Book of Sorrows: The Brotherhood of Mortis, p.14
Book of Sacrifices: an adaptation of The Old Brewery, p.204
QtR 1: Extraordinary Expertise: see Ninja of the Crescent Moon p.89
QtR 2: The Shining Bay p.14
Children of the Night- The Invisible Man p.47
QtR 3: Defenders of the Misty Faiths: see Knights of the Middle Circle p.84
QtR 6: La Confrérie des Rêveurs see Frederick Pip p.55
QtR 7: Heinrich’s Curiosities: see The Shroud Drakonis p.92
QtR 8: Malwid’s Guide to All Things Aberrant: see Destrachan, Drider p.29; The Human Ooze p.51
Xavier D’Arcey p.123
QtR 10: The Complete Misty Warrior:see Dark Hunters p.154, Drunken Master p.155, Exotic Weapon Master p.156, Tattooed Monk p.170
QtR 12: Misty Divine: see Sacred Fist, p.76
USS 2001: Faiths of the Mists: see Divinity of Mankind p.4
USS 2002: Scholars of Darkness p.7
Of Secret Skies and Troubled Lands p.126
Traumatized Spirits: see Rage, p.141
USS 2003: Travelogue of the Northlands p.173 (narrator is Zherisian)
New Horrors: see Childsnatcher p229
His only real danger is if stupidity is contagious and lethal. In which case, we’re all dead…-Gertrude
Paridon presents a nice image to a visitor. It appears to be an enlightened society that can deal with just about anything with a little know-how and a stiff upper lip. In reality it is a bubbling cauldron of fear and inequality. The poor are abused by their betters while other races are considered little better than animals. They fear starvation and forcibily isolate themselves because of the fear of the monsters that walk among them or rise up from below.
Sodo sits at the center of this. He commands the doppelgangers, granting him power in every aspect of society. If he demands something, it will happen. In many ways he controls the domain itself. But he is consumed by fear. Fear that he wil be deposed by the other doppelgangers. Fear that he will be consumed by the creatures from below. Fear that shadowy enemies surround him, ready to strike at any moment. But unlike Paridon he cannot keep up appearances.
Once part of a vast empire, Paridon has been reduced to a tiny, isolated speck, while Sodo has lost the very thing that would have allowed him to disappear into the crowd at will or even control everything himself. And just as Paridon doesn't quite know who to trust, Sodo is required to delagate to others and make himself vunerable.
The Remnants have one saying to represent loss, disappearance, exile, and death. It is [i]Shiao Marests[/i], "Taken by The Shadows".
Tobias Blackburn wrote:Paridon presents a nice image to a visitor.
The city itself is more of a claustrophibic feel with it's narrow streets and high buildings. I believe visitors, especially from more rural domains will find it threatening in itself.
Tobias Blackburn wrote:Paridon presents a nice image to a visitor.
The city itself is more of a claustrophibic feel with it's narrow streets and high buildings. I believe visitors, especially from more rural domains will find it threatening in itself.
I meant in more of a social context. I don't think that the citizens constantly talk to strangers about their fears and worries or social problems. At the least they know they're one of the most advanced cultures in the land and they probably act like it.
The Remnants have one saying to represent loss, disappearance, exile, and death. It is [i]Shiao Marests[/i], "Taken by The Shadows".
Dread Possibility- Dr Longwell’s Home for Wayward Youth
A sinister clinic owned by a equaly sinister doctor. (completely written)
Dread Possibility- The Body Trade
Brothers Jacob and William unknowingly sell the bodies of Sodo's victums to universities in Mordent and Dementliu. (completely written)
"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish it's source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings."
Anais Nin
Has anyone figured out what Sodo does during the "off-season" when he doesn't need to recharge? Considering the power he wields he's got to have some goals beyond "living to the next sunrise". And fighting off the the Horrors from Below (TM) of course.
EDIT: I'll post this here in since there was no chance to discuss it.
The easiest thing to do is to "segment" Timor. Create several types of environments that are scattered throughout the domain. Kinda like the following:
The Sewers: These are the remaiments of the sewers of Paridon. They retain their old system, for the most part, but have odd twists and turns not recorded on maps, and dead ends that seem to come out of no where. There are even rumors that these tunnels move by themselves, trying to prevent those that have entered from escaping. Unlike the old sewers of Paridon these go further down and seem to go on forever. Anyone who seeks to enter or leave Timor must navigate the sewers.
The Darkened Tunnels: These are rough stone caverns dug out by water and inhuman hands. They are hot, humid and filled with detrius that drips down from above. This makes up the largest portion of Timor and are filled with huge caverns and thin crawlspaces. The other areas of Timor are found within the tunnels.
The Hive: The Marilkith Hive is the home of the Hideous Queen and her brood. The Hive takes up the lowest points of Timor and rises up to fill areas of the Darkened Tunnels. These areas have a more organic look to them and it is rare to find any creatures other than the Marilkith there. (By the way, we need to think up a few more Marilkits. We've got hunters and Queens. We should probably have workers and handmaidens). The area that the Hive takes up varies, depending on the marilkith population (this takes into account the Queens rages where she kills off most of the Hive and then makes more when she feels the need).
The Sunken Ruins: Found scattered in caverns around the Darkened Tunnels are the remains of a large metropolios. These pieces are all that remain of the city of Timor before it's destruction during the Grand Conjunction (when the Marilkith Queen used the ensuing chaos to destroy the doppelgangers above and absorb the city into her Hive). These ruins can vary from single houses that were buried in cave-ins to entire city blocks left all but untouched, bearing only signs of the final rush that ended the city's existance and and it's time underground. There are rumors of a massive catherdral, peopled with the spirits of it's worshippers, and a marketplace with a fountain that provides one of the few sources of clean water in the domain. The borders of these ruins seem to just disappear into the stone walls that surround them, and there is no rhyme or reason to their placement. An old shop could easily be found mere feet away from a cavern that holds a the remains of a nobleman's home. Intrepid explores have been able to bring back artifacts from these areas, bringing the history of Timor to the light. The poor souls (often mad and deformed) who leave Paridon for the lightless world below usually find home in these ruins, living on the fungus and seeing by the thin glow of luminesent lichen.
The ruins are based (loosely) on the Undercity in the computer game Thief: The Dark Project. I also figure that it makes sense that the Queen would have used the Grand Conjuction to take over her old city only to have it ripped from her grasp.
In order to incorporate the Queen's vanity and desire to be human, there should probably be an area in her nest made up to look like the bedroom of royalty. There are books, combs, dolls, even dresses, shoes and a huge luxurious bed, all gathered from the world above and the ruins below. There are, of course, no mirrors or shiny surfaces. The Queen goes there to "feel human" for a while, but everything is rotting and filthy.
The Remnants have one saying to represent loss, disappearance, exile, and death. It is [i]Shiao Marests[/i], "Taken by The Shadows".
I was thinking about Paridon and Sodo today, major themes and the like. The ones that pop out (including ones mentioned in other threads) are:
* Fear and claustrophobia. Good themes but a little applicable to every domain given the right mood.
* High society and scheming, Sodo’s desire to climb the ranks reflected. This is nice but very Borcan.
* Competition. I like this. Struggles and rivalry as Sodo completes endlessly with upstart doppelgangers and gangs of were (rats and whatever) in the streets while the entire surface fights with the forces below. The upper classes struggle against each other while the lower classes struggle to rise and survive. Meanwhile, below the streets, competition also rages between the Queen and the surface plus whatever horrors and survivors sulk in the endless caverns of Timor.
Evolution and survival of the fittest in an urban setting.
* Ego and self. The Me-city. The land of the selfish. Everyone tries to exploit everyone else and there is a cycle of downward abuse.
* What lurks beneath. Beneath and city, beneath the skin and beneath the smile. Monsters all, both human and not. This is my favorite, especially with a twist.
It’s essentially “appearances are deceiving” and “things are not what they seem”. People can be shapeshifers of many varieties while ordinary humans can be just as cruel and monstrous. Simple houses hold dark secrets behind their plain walls and even the most ordinary of people have secrets.
On the surface everything seems ordinary, boring even. Just another semi-functional society worried about food and politics and local sporting teams. But once you start peeling apart the layers you find secrets and mysteries everywhere.
Sodo being the epitome of this hidden nature. A monstrous murderer who is a fiend even to his own murderous people, but one who can only heal people. A doppelganger that cannot change shape or disguise himself (without magical aid). Someone who relies of magic items to do his dirty work and less on natural talents. He is not what you expect.
My personal takes and ideas:
* Paridon needs something to trade. Something valuable to offer other domains for food. I envision a trade agreement with Nosos made through a semi-reliable mistway. Both probably share resources in order to import food from the Core and other lands.
How about health care?
While they are an enlightened people, I doubt Paridon’s university could attract as many people as Port-a-Lucine’s. And they’re not likely to lead the world in mental health. But what about doctors, nurses and medicine? This would appeal to Nosos and they would be able to name their price across all the lands for the cures and ointments. Plus it ties into Sodo’s curse nicely.
Of course, this booming business is attracting its share of poor scientists, quacks, charlatans and the like.
* Lunacy! While causing fear in Timor and the sewers makes one less human, it should have other effects above ground. The change might be physical below but how about mental above? Bullies and the casually cruel slowly become less and less human in mind and personality, decending further into depravity and insanity.
* Timor. Okay, the original city was smaller than Paridon, and ditto the horizontal size of the sewers. When Timor replaced the new sewer many of the old inhabitants found their homes part of a new, unfamiliar landscape.
The Queen’s territory should include most of the top layers so it is commonly assumed she controls everything, but there are patches in the outskirts where she has little control.
I picture her territory like a giant spider’s web of tunnels and sewer lines, all leading to the hive in the heart of the domain. Outside the ‘core’ there are small human settlements (Paridon poor both pre and post GC and Timor survivors) along with many other strange and unearthly creatures (see the excellent list on the old thread).
I like the Neverwhere idea but it shouldn’t be ripped off entirely, there’s no need for people to becoming magically ‘lost’ or to have such an elaborate society down below (floating markets, secret bridges, trains, etc). Just a small couple villages under a city comprised of the poor and semi-human.
* Darklord plans and problems. Sodo needs a life. Something to do during the off years, evil plans and the like. Perhaps finding a way to break his curse or at least mimic human life for abit. I like the Shining Bay idea of him using the Hat of Disguise, but I’d find a way to put restrictions on this. Perhaps it only puts his wild shapechanging on hold for a short time.
Since he is very much a sadist who cannot physically hurt people, he may be interesting in shattering lives. Ammusing himself by ruining the hopes and dreams of random people. Obsessing over them for a time and then crushing them.
The Queen should have other problems. Perhaps an egg escaped and there is an infant queen setting up a hive elsewhere underground. This is causing a struggle between the two for territory and hunters. This could at least be a dread possibility.
Meanwhile, she still wishes to rule, she has always wanted to rule over her kingdom and now has a whole new realm above. Since force does not work (too many humans, too many cunning doppelgangers) she is thinking of other plans. If she could learn the secrets of shapeshifting from the doppelgangers then she could restore her beauty and rule above while maintaining her power as the Queen below. She might be experimenting with poisoning doppelgangers or simply applying magic to them.
I wouldn’t worry about stating the darklords. Thankfully, 3.X versions were the last thing provided by the Kargatane to the fan community before their site imploded, they can still be found in the Shadow of the Knife adventure.
So yay (!) for that. One less copyright law to bend.
Alfred Larner, head of the Paridon cell of the Fraternity of Shadows
Male human Mnk2/Ill3/FoS6; CR 11; Medium humanoid (human); HD 2d8+9d4+11; hp 46; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12; Base Atk +5; Grap +6; Atk +6 melee (1d6+1, unarmed attack) or +7 ranged (1d10, pistol); Full attack +6 melee (1d6+1, unarmed attack) or flurry of blows +4/+4 (1d6+1, unarmed attack); SA flurry of blows, spells; SQ evasion, slippery mind; AL NE; SV Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +15; Str 12 Dex 15 Con 13 Int 18 Wis 14 Cha 10.
Spells per day: (4+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/3+1/1+1). Specialist school Illusion; cannot cast spells from the schools of Conjuration and Necromancy.
Spellbook: 0th: all non-conjuration, non-necromancy
1st: protection from chaos/evil/good/law, shield, comprehend languages, identify, charm person, sleep, magic missile, shocking grasp, color spray, disguise self, Nystul’s magic aura, silent image, ventriloquism, feather fall, jump
2nd: arcane lock, detect thoughts, see invibility, daze monster, continual flame, darkness, scorching ray, blur, invisibility, magic mouth, minor image, mirror image, misdirection, alter self, cat’s grace, darkvision, knock, pyrotechnics, rope trick, spider climb
3rd: dispel magic, nondetection, clairaudience/clairvoyance, hold person, lightning bolt, displacement, illusory script, major image, blink, gaseous form, secret page, water breathing
4th: lesser globe of invulnerability, scrying, charm monster, hallucinatory terrain, greater invisibility, phantasmal killer, shadow conjuration
5th: break enchantment, mind fog, sending, dream, mirage arcana, persistent image, seeming, fabricate
Signature possessions: crystal ball, pistol, ring of shooting stars.
Alfred Larner was born in Paridon in 718 BC to a lower middle class family, the ninth of eleven children. His family hovered perpetually on the edge of poverty, and their house was never quiet; perhaps this is at the root of the dislike which Alfred still has for noise and clutter, and also his disdain for those low in social station and his ambition to become a gentleman—or, at least, someone so powerful that he cannot be ignored. Alfred was interested in the philosophical teachings and physical training of the Divinity of Mankind from an early age—partly for their own sakes, and partly as an excuse to leave his family behind and find a more tranquil atmosphere—and one more conducive to advancement. His diligence in pursuing his studies, combined with the backing of his superiors within the order of the Divinity of Mankind, led to his obtaining a scholarship to study philosophy in the Core. Financial considerations led him to reject Il Aluk and Port-a-Lucine; instead, he found himself studying at the University of Richemulot, where he soon came to the attention of Viktor Hazan and Erik van Rijn. Seeing in him a potential Brother, they used his philosophical background to draw him into the viewpoints of the Fraternity. After all, the real difference between mankind and the animals was his power of intellect; why, then, should there not be a further division within mankind, with those of greater intellect and mental power ruling over their lesser fellows? After a brief period of skepticism, Alfred became entirely convinced by this argument and began to apply it in ways even his mentors found rather startlingly liberal. If intellect were truly the measuring rod of worth, then why should a non-human of great intelligence not be accepted as an equal? Why, equally, should an intelligent woman not be considered equal to an intelligent man?
Despite these rather unorthodox formulations, Alfred was soon found worthy of admission into the Fraternity, with his first papers being on the relationship between physical health and mental responses, including an exploration of why people suffering from disease tend to be more susceptible to illusions and enchantments. After completing his degree at the University, Alfred returned to Paridon in 742 and immediately set about attempting to recruit for the Fraternity there. At first he returned to work in the Chapter House of the Order of the Divinity of Mankind, but his philosophical outlook had changed so much that he found himself continually at odds with the main body of the order; tiring of the continual conflict and knowing that he was unlikely to persuade the Order to adopt his views, he left and began teaching as a private tutor to noble families, which he has done up to the present time. His backing of unusual candidates for membership in the Fraternity (including humanoids, bards, and women, in increasing order of scandal) is counted against him in the more doctrinaire corners of the Fraternity, but his continued scholarship and efforts to expand the Fraternity in Paridon have led to his maintaining a slow but steady advancement through the ranks of the Fraternity. Alfred has shepherded his flock of Brothers with great care and determination, as he is determined to see the Fraternity succeed in Paridon; despite his relatively obscure position, the position of Exalted Brother and even Father of the Fraternity may not be beyond his grasp—or so he hopes. Alfred has had some success in recruiting others to the Fraternity’s cause, especially from those on the outskirts of the orthodox alchemical traditions and philosophies of the Divinity of Mankind. Because of their backgrounds, those he has recruited tend strongly toward being alchemical philosophers and transmuters. Knowing that this makes the Paridon cell vulnerable to van Rijn’s enticements, and hoping to avoid insinuations of complicity with the arch-traitor, Alfred has resolved to take the bull by the horns and launch an extensive man-hunt for van Rijn in Paridon. He and his fellow Fraternity members are compiling the information they have on Paridon in the hope of finding any clues that may hint at van Rijn’s presence in their city, and are even planning a full-scale exploratory expedition into the sewers to ensure that he is not hiding from the Fraternity there.
Current sketch: Alfred Larner appears to be a rather ordinary Paridonish not-quite-gentleman in his early 40s. He is balding somewhat and wears his ginger hair short, with full sideburns and a handlebar mustache; he's otherwise clean-shaven. He is physically slight, but quite a bit stronger than he looks; he wears spectacles for purely cosmetic reasons, as he feels it gives him a certain amount of gravitas. The spectacles are plain glass, and he sees perfectly well without them. He goes to some pains to cultivate a meek public persona, but beneath it--and not very far beneath it, at times--lies the ambitious and aggressive mind of a senior member of the Fraternity of Shadows.
Last edited by Nathan of the FoS on Wed Feb 22, 2006 4:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
@Jasper: I don't know if your ideas need to be Dread Possibilities, these could be general locations.
@ Nathan:
This fellow ought to be of general interest:
Why?
No, I know why. But actually, apart from the "Meta-Plot" (which shouldn't be overly emphazized in the Gazetteers, like "S" didn't talked about Azalins plan all the time), I would prefer to keep "Fraternity buisness" to a minimum in the domains descriptions apart from their "home"-domains. I don't know if he actually needs a complete write-up. The Fraternity isn't something I overly connect with Paridon and therefore isn't really of general interest here to me.
If there has to be an overly Meta-Plot connetion among the Gazetters, I suggest an Appendix part called "The Meta-Plot in (Domain)" about one page long.
It's nothing against your character Nathan.
@ David:
Paridon needs something to trade.
As said, i would like to describe a trading company, who will ship in food and resources from "the colonies" and trades finished products in return, as Paridon has quite it's share of factories.
On Sodo:
IMO Sodo is just screwed up. They tried to put to much into him at once.
He can't do the killings himself? Can't keep his form? He feels pain every 5 Days if he doesn't inflict pain? That last one must be Hell on Earth for a sadist like him...
His greatest fear should be discovery: He's after all a doppelganger (who fear discovery by nature) and also an ursurper who hid behind the mask of an elder. His greatest fear should be that the other dopp's finally discover that he actually is Sodo and not the clan elder. (I know it happend a long time ago, but that would've been a better curse, maybe there is some sort of racial memory about the traitor Sodo)
Instead of pain he should loss his ability to change, leaving him exposed.
As the 5 days pass, the "flickering" slows down on day 4 to the point of him being able to change normally (forcing him to wait to the last possible moment to inflict pain, that might be quite hard for a sadist ). That still would leave him unable to do the serial killings himself, as they've to happen in 6 night in a row.
It would also compliment Paridon's nature in a way that everything is about appearance, no one want's the other's to discover, who oneself really is (Paridon wants to appear progressiv but is a racist society, the nobels want to appear powerful, but fear the masses, the people want to appear self-governed but actually feel more save under the nobility's reign, the courtesans/ dopp's and serial killers want to appear beautieful/ normal for obvious reasons, and so on)
There still would be fear and paranoia aplenty.
William
Last edited by William Blackmoor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Why?
No, I know why. But actually, apart from the "Meta-Plot" (which shouldn't be overly emphazized in the Gazetteers, like "S" didn't talked about Azalins plan all the time), I would prefer to keep "Fraternity buisness" to a minimum in the domains descriptions apart from their "home"-domains. I don't know if he actually needs a complete write-up. The Fraternity isn't something I overly connect with Paridon and therefore isn't really of general interest here to me.
What you say is true; Master Larner is not a particularly important NPC for Gazetteer purposes. Except that he's the one writing the thing.
The other reason for this write-up is that it explains how the Fraternity is going to get information on Timor--Larner is going to lead the local Fraternity members down there.
Once we've got those two things accounted for, though, you're right--he's not worth as much space as I give him here. In the end he'll get a paragraph. Or maybe half a paragraph (sigh). But the fuller write-up might give y'all something cohesive to refer to in passing as you add your in-character blurbs to your articles.
