29 October, 2010

Event: Hallows


As the first in our series on festivals and other special events in the Bay, we take a look at Hallows, which takes place at the juncture between the months of Little Tober and Great Tober.

What is Hallows about?
The primary purpose of the Hallows festival is to celebrate the end of the year’s successful harvest. Hallows is a time to thank Voland for the bounty of the season that will hopefully sustain everyone through the long winter. The festival can be seen as an analogue of Thanksgiving.

Because the start and end of seasons can vary from year to year, sometimes the harvest runs later than expected; when that happens Hallows is postponed until the work is done. What this means is that Little Tober continues, adding more days beyond the usual 25, until the harvest’s end, at which point Hallows day occurs. Days added to Little Tober are subtracted from Great Tober.

Though not directly related to the harvest, tales of horror abound during Hallows. Somewhat linking to the harvest, many of the stories include scarecrows come to life roaming the countryside. One particularly famous scarecrow is known as Mister Unlucky, who has a massive pumpkin for a head and is said to devour children in the night. The stories say that children can protect themselves from Mister Unlucky and the other scarecrows by saying a prayer to Voland and hanging a wreath in their windows on Hallows night.

What are normal Hallows activities?
On Hallows day, a special service is held outside of the kirkhall. A large bonfire is built up, but not immediately lit. Instead there is a ceremony where a pumpkin is placed among the wood by the Keeper as a symbolic sacrifice to Voland. Only once the sacrifice is in place is the bonfire set ablaze and the pumpkin is consumed by fire, symbolizing Voland’s acceptance of the gift.

After the ceremony the Keepers generally organize games and festivities for the children, while adults go about their business. One game involves the Keeper masquerading as Mister Unlucky and chasing the children, who must hide from the mad scarecrow or be gobbled up. This game is usually the last played, and concludes with the ringing of the kirkhall bell at sunset, signalling the dinner hour.

While some of the time without the children is spent preparing the evening meal, it is tradition among many for a couple to take the opportunity to share their bed. As a result, many children are conceived on Hallows, and there is a spike in births around the end of Great Solen and beginning of Little Greening.

What is eaten during Hallows?
The highlight of the festival is the evening feast. The term feast may be a bit misleading; the people of the bay in no way overeat as is common in real world Thanksgiving, but they do eat more than usual. Waterfowl is the traditional dish, usually duck among the commoners, while nobles and the wealthy eat goose. Some families may not be able to afford even a duck, and so they will often resort to other fowl such as chicken or squab.

Side dishes that you might find at the meal include potatoes, squash or pumpkin soup, and a variety of greens. Some households also bake a special cranberry bread for the occasion. The specifics of the food in any given table can vary wildly, just as in the real world.

Possible Adventure Hooks
The most obvious adventure hook relating to Hallows is Mister Unlucky. You can have your adventurers deal with disappearing children, and discover that the stories of living scarecrows are more than just stories. This adventure should probably conclude with a fight against Mister Unlucky himself, perhaps with a retinue of ghasts or scarecrows.

A more mundane threat to deal with during hallows might be bandits. Following the successful harvest, the freshly reaped food is nowhere to be found. The player characters may discover that varkers are behind the missing stores, or perhaps the culprits are closer to home, people living in their midst looking out only for themselves rather than the community.

If you want to bring the Blackwood Scions into your adventure, either of the above hooks could be adjusted to their aims. Mister Unlucky and his followers could be constructs created by the Scions to spread terror and undermine the Baron’s rule, or could even simply be Scions in disguise. For the missing food hook, the Scions could again be attempting to undermine the established authority, or they may be simply building up their own stores in preparation for something bigger.

Monday: The Hodekin Nation

27 October, 2010

Source of Magic: The Order


Of the governments and organizations in the Bay, only one holds near-universal reverence and respect. The Order is the church of the people of the Bay, tending to their spiritual needs and attempting to bring the different races together.

Divine Magic
Magic related to the gods, primarily Voland (and Orich), is mostly the domain of the Order. Students are usually taught how to use the holy light to heal, but it is also possible to use divine power to strike your enemies.

Classes from 4th Edition D&D that would fall under the purview of the Order include: the cleric, paladin, invoker, runepriest, and to a lesser degree the monk and avenger. Being a monk might mean you have gone to the Silver Keep or an abbey, but have only just begun your training, or perhaps that you have chosen to focus your contemplation inward upon yourself rather than outward on the gods and the world at large. An avenger would most likely be an attendant of an abbey and has been schooled in the specific dogma of that institution rather than the Order.

Structure of the Order
Internally, the Order is divided into six sects, each serving a different portion of the population of the Bay. Each sect is indentified with a colour that also corresponds to the people or nation it primarily serves: red for the uruks, blue for the elben, green for the alfar, yellow for the humans, purple for the hodekin, and white for the yadekin. Leading the sects are the High Keepers, two for each, generally a man and a woman (though obviously this isn’t the case for the Purple and White Sects). A High Keeper is usually elected to the position by the other Keepers of their sect, and in turn the High Keepers elect the Deacon, who leads the Order as a whole.

The Silver Keep, in the human town of Dunstable, is the headquarters of the Order. It is the permanent home of the Deacon, and is also the primary residence of many High Keepers. Part of the Silver Keep is the priory where new Keepers are educated. Master Keepers from each sect teach their new inductees the ways of the Order.

In addition to the Silver Keep, there are a number of smaller abbeys scattered around the Bay that may teach slightly differing versions of the faith. While most of these are at least acknowledged by the Order as valid, the Blackwood Abbey on Perry Island is an exception. The Order has officially rescinded the membership of any Keeper, Brother, or Sister associated with Blackwood Abbey, but that does not prevent them from continuing to use their titles and preaching their own hateful form of the faith.

Joining the Order
The choice to enter the Order is not one to be taken lightly as it usually defines your life from that point onward. Generally, a prospective student would first attend personal lessons with his or her local Keeper learning the Libram, their holy text, in great detail. Going to the priory at the Silver Keep can only be done on the recommendation of a Keeper, so the Keeper teaching you the Libram decides when and if you are ready to take that next step.

If you are accepted into the priory, you journey to Dunstable and begin your real training. As a student, you are granted the title of Ember; you are recognized as a member of the Order, but you are not granted all the rights and responsibilities of a full Keeper. Ember training lasts for a minimum of three years, but can last longer if your teachers, the Master Keepers, do not deem you yet ready. Lessons taught include healing, defence, deeper understanding of the scripture, as well as lessons in how to counsel others in times of crisis.

When it is time for your full ordination, there is a ceremony performed on the first day of the new year, the day after Nighsend. Each Ember vows to remain devoted to the Order and to Voland (or Orich), to defend and protect the innocent from harm, and to use the holy power and their knowledge for the benefit of the people. Part of the vow of devotion to the Order and Voland (or Orich) is agreement not to marry or become romantically involved with others. In addition, a small sacrifice of blood is required of each Ember. The blood is mixed together with that of a rabbit and then used to mark a circle (the symbol of the Order) on the Embers’ foreheads. Finally, at the end of the ceremony, as each Ember is granted the title of Keeper, they are given a pendant of a silver circle, called an annulus, which serves as a reminder of their vows.

If you join an abbey instead of attending the priory at the Silver Keep, your experience may differ from the norm. Most who join abbeys do eventually attend the priory as well, but not all. Those who never attend the priory, but are still acknowledged by the Order, are granted the title of Brother or Sister. The vow of a Brother or Sister varies from abbey to abbey, and some may even allow marriage or romantic relationships. Non-Keepers, however, are never granted many of the rights of the Order, such as performing marriages, and also never receive an annulus, but may wear a silver ring on their right ring finger.

Friday: The Hallows Festival

25 October, 2010

Race: Hodekin


What is a Hodech? What is a Yadech?
While the race as a whole is usually referred to as hodekin, an individual female is called a hodech. Males, in large part due the physical differences from females, are not afforded this term, and are instead referred to as yadekin; yadech individually. The two sexes do have some similarities, most notably their short stature compared to the other races, but also including their pointed ears (as one would expect on elves in other settings). Both sexes also share the same skin tone, a somewhat stony greyish hue, and they are well known for red hair.

The typical hodech is perhaps best described as sturdy. They are extremely well muscled even compared to males of other races, but despite this are somewhat slower because of their stubby legs. Hodekin are also well known for being busty. Although in their youth a hodech is clean-faced like any other female, once they reach menopause their bodies begin overproducing testosterone and most grow voluminous beards.

Though not tremendously strong, yadekin are very nimble and quick. A typical yadech is somewhat taller and more slender than a hodech, but still considerably shorter than a human. Males never, under any circumstances, grow facial hair and, because beards are seen as a sign of experience and wisdom, males are therefore seen as dim-witted but pretty.

What are Hodekin like?
The hodekin are, in a word, proud; but that pride manifests differently in the two sexes. Females are proud of their place in the family; they are the source of both children and wealth, and they are incredibly protective of their children. For a hodech, family is everything, and the success of her daughters is her success. For a male there is a sense of duty, they are far more protective of one another. A yadech is still fiercely loyal to his family, but cares more for his sons; the success of a son is seen as an affirmation of the worth of all yadekin. Males also take pride in the fact that while females are the ones to carry and give birth to children, that act is ultimately impossible without a male. Some yadekin are more reserved, and many hodekin prefer it that way, because it was a male’s interference that killed Voland, which is seen somewhat similarly to the original sin of Eve in our world.

Hodekin Society
For the most part hodekin society is fairly static; you are generally born to your station and never really move. There is a very small noble class made up of Dames and Digems, and to a lesser extent Ritters and Rittrems. Below that is a somewhat larger class of artisans and other skilled workers. At the bottom is the serf class, the farmers and miners and other similar labourers. Finally there is the priesthood, which stands somewhat to the side of the normal hierarchy; joining the Order is the only easy way to rise in social status, but Keepers often serve hodekin of a similar status as they were born.

Yadekin are mostly expected to do the housework and watch over the children, but during the growing season they join the workforce alongside the females. Males are rarely allowed to enter skilled professions as the view is that they exist simply to makes the lives of females easier. Because many medics are Keepers, male physicians do exist in small numbers. Historically males have not been allowed to serve in the military; more recently, out of necessity, they have been allowed to enter armed service, but only as crossbowmen.

Sexuality among hodekin is a point of interest. The two sexes are viewed as wholly separate animals, and as a result sexual relations with another of your own gender isn’t really viewed as sex at all. Everyone is expected to find a mate of the opposite gender, and adultery is harshly punished, but same-sex relations, not being viewed as sex, do not constitute adultery by hodekin social mores or laws. The exception to the expectation that all hodekin get married are Keepers, who are instead forbidden to marry or have sex, but like all hodekin can have sex within their own gender.

Hodekin Faith
The religious views of the hodekin depart a fair bit from the traditional teachings of the Order, but are nonetheless served and taught to hodekin by the Order of the Bay. The primary difference rests in the fact that in hodekin faith there are not two gods, but four, two female and two male. The females take the traditional names of Voland, Dame of Fire, and Bishal, Dame of Ice. The males, unique to hodekin faith, are Orich, Digem of Light and husband of Voland, and Yarem, Digem of Darkness and husband of Bishal.

The story is altered so that Bishal was not initially evil, but rather helped Voland to create the world. Yarem, however, was jealous of the way that fire could overcome ice, and light could overcome darkness. To right this perceived wrong, Yarem slowly convinced his wife to turn on Voland for fear of being destroyed. Voland fell dead, but her husband Orich used his light to heal her and watched over her with the first Keepers.

Each kirkhall is made up of two identical sets of rooms with separate entrances and no connecting doors between the two inside. Hodekin and yadekin are segregated for services, and are never allowed to enter the other sex’s half of the kirkhall. As a result of this division, the Order is the only realm in which males have as much power and prominence as females, even being allowed to hold higher ranking positions.

Wednesday: The Order

22 October, 2010

Threat: Varkers

A number of outside forces threaten the security of the Bay, but by far the most well known of these are the ubiquitous varkers.

What is a Varker?
Varkers are a race of thinking beings, like humans and the other races of the Bay. However, unlike the races of the Bay varkers are generally uncivilized. Instead of living in organized towns and villages, varkers live in tiny groups, called bands, in the wilderness. Each band is part of a larger tribe that occupies a region.

In appearance, varkers from different tribes can vary wildly. They tend to be shorter than humans, more on the size scale of hodekin, but some tribes are exceptions. Varkers, especially the local Redfeather tribe, are often described as rat-like in appearance, with elongated snouts and long hairless tails. Redfeather varkers are lightly furred across their whole bodies, and their fur ranges from bright oranges to deep rich auburns. In general you can think of a varker as being like an anthropomorphized rat, mouse, or other rodent.

You can treat Redfeather varkers as a baseline; some tribes tend to be taller than Redfeathers, others somewhat smaller; some have radically different hair colour; much more hair, or much less; some have no tails, or differently shaped tails; some are heavyset and bulky, others slender and lithe. Each tribe is different, and mixture between tribes happens fairly seldom.

What are Varkers like?
The primary thing to know about varkers is that they respect strength. A varker doesn’t fight you because he hates you, but rather either because he sees you as a threat that has to be put down, or because you have something he wants. For a varker strength is everything, and if you have the strength to take something from someone else, then you have earned the right to possess it. Varkers will generally decline negotiations, but they can be reasonable and a show of force will be respected and might lead them to back down.

In general, varkers want the same things as other races: they want to keep their family, band, and tribe protected and safe, and they want to provide for their own as well. Sometimes, if supplies are tight, providing for their own means taking what they need from someone else such as another tribe or the people of the Bay. The fact that needs to be remembered is that varkers are not any more evil that humans, they simply have a different worldview that is sometimes at odds with that of civilized people.

Varker Society
Each tribe is a distinct entity and a varker doesn’t usually show any more affinity for a member of a different tribe than he would for a human, uruk, or alfar. That said, there are rare occasions when tribes will work together if they all stand to gain from it, but these arrangements are always short-lived and usually end with one tribe betraying the other.

Leadership among varkers is, perhaps unsurprisingly, based on strength. A varker will declare himself Ri of the band, and gains the position if none oppose him. If he does face opposition, the matter is solved with simple combat. Nearly all disputes among varkers are solved in this manner; they do not usually fight to the death, instead the weaker individual usually concedes defeat and the stronger is considered the winner of the argument. While each band is led by a Ri, there is also a higher position called an Ardri who leads the tribe as a whole.

Using Varkers in Play
Many different monsters can be used to represent varkers, and you may want to represent different tribes with different races. The best race to use for the Redfeather varkers would be kobolds, as their abilities agree with the baseline rat-like nature. Other monsters that can be used for varkers include goblins, orcs, lizardfolk, gnolls, minotaurs. and anything else you might think appropriate. Don’t be afraid to re-skin more exotic creatures into varkers as well, especially for a champion, Ri, or Ardri.

Monday: The Hodekin Race

20 October, 2010

Goverment: Leadership


In Butter Bay, society is divided into five nations. The divisions are primarily along racial lines, but members of others races do live in nations not their own. While each nation ultimately has one overarching leader, the methods for selecting these leaders vary, generally reflecting the culture of that nation’s dominant race.

The Five Nations
Beginning with the simplest, we have the Hodekin nation. Hodekin society is very simple; females are superior to males, and one’s standing in society is everything. Social standing can very rarely be gained and is also rarely lost; it is something you are born into, not something you earn. As such, the hodekin are led by several Dames, whose position is hereditary and cannot be held by a male. Though all the Dames are technically equal, tradition places one ahead of the others; she is the Vidame of Audlem. The current Vidame is a harsh old crone named Morwyn Reysdal. Few now remember the time before Vidame Morwyn’s rule, but those who do know her mother was a kinder Vidame.

Similarly to the hodekin, a hereditary nobleman, the Baron, rules the humans. Ebraen Coel took power twelve years ago, but little has changed in the lives of his people since his father passed. Although the Baron also holds personal lordship over Mondegreen, Ebraen has delegated that rule to his son, Lord Alliver Coel. While some of the other towns in the Human nation are directly ruled by Lords as well, several instead have an elected Mayor. Unlike the hodekin, the Lords and Mayors are fully subject to the Baron’s will, but thankfully the effort of leading his people through the Freeze has not hardened Ebraen Coel’s heart and he is seen by most as a just ruler.

The idea of a hereditary position is unacceptable to the uruks. Instead they insist on holding elections for nearly every governmental position. The top job in the uruk nation is that of Governor, who does not rule so much as act out the will of the people. In uruk law it is not a difficult matter to remove a leader from office if enough of the populace choose to do so, but the current Governor, Stoll Raener, has had little reason to fear impeachment in his term in office, enjoying support both from the town Mayors and the citizenry. Entering his nation into the war was seen as a defence of uruk ideals of equality and justice.

Among the alfar, however, the only thing that gets you power is connections. The position of Alder, the leader of the Alfar nation, is neither elected nor inherited, but rather bestowed by the previous Alder. Each year, the Alder declares his or her current choice of successor should death arrive. As a result, ideals are best left behind if you want power. The Alfar nation is divided into three townships, with the Alder holding control over Benshaw and the other townships of Ringwood and Nefyn led by Onders. The Onders are selected in the same manner as the Alder, but are ultimately subordinate to the Alder. The current Alder is Dallick vo Nayer. Dallick, who comes from a well-connected family, gained his position only four years ago, just in time to start the War.

Finally, the leader of the Elben nation is the Graf. When a Graf dies or steps down, the Reeves of the elben villages each nominate a candidate for the position. The candidates are then subjected to a series of tests and trials, and candidates are eliminated until only one remains. Joral de Roen is a fairly young idealist who made a name for herself defending the Bay from varkers. The skills she learned in that time have served her well in the war, saving many lives and winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Wigby.

Other Organizations
The most prominent of the other organizations is the Order. Deacon Torren Hoster, a human, has held power for nearly as long as Vidame Morwyn, but their viewpoints have always differed. Since Hoster was elevated from High Keeper to Deacon he has remained devoted to the Order being a place for all races and genders to stand on equal ground in Voland’s eyes. Unfortunately, his insistence on neutrality leads some to blame him for the war, which in turn has somewhat tarnished the image of the Order.

The Kindred, a group who commune with the spirits of the world and teach primal magic, is led by the Seer. While the Kindred is made up of members of all races, it is traditional for the Seer to be an alfar. Olwen vo Nayer, uncle of Alder Dallick vo Nayer, has led the Kindred for two decades, which has contributed to the prominence of his family. He is opposed to the Academy from a philosophical standpoint, believing that the spirits can give all the knowledge that is needed for life. While his predecessor suggested that perhaps the Academy should have a Belltower seat, he has always been staunchly against it, in part because it would weaken his own vote.

Appointed by the Board of Directors of the Academy, the elben Priam de Loskop is an accomplished arcanist and in his youth won a great number of competitions at the Academy. In his role as Headmaster he has been somewhat less successful. Though many view him as the best Headmaster since Tomin am Tollis, his political efforts have made little headway, in large part due to Seer Olwen’s opposition. Though shaken by the aggressive actions of the alfar and hodekin, he has thrown the support of the Academy behind the elben and uruk war effort.

The Belltower Council
Of the eight leaders discussed above, seven hold seats on the Belltower Council, all except the Headmaster of the Academy. Having its origins in the time of Barton Butter, the Belltower Council is made up of the leaders of the Bay and is intended to keep life during the Freeze running as smoothly as possible. Meetings are held every second year at the start of the winter. The Steward of the Dunstable Belltower, an ancient position that was once little more than a maintenance man for the tower, is hereditary. The current Steward is a sonnen (human-alfar half-blood) by the name of Ellim vo Vadrac. Though he has no official vote on the council, primarily calling and administrating the meetings, he also has the job of breaking stalemate votes. Because of his alfar heritage he is seen by some as being biased, a perception which has contributed to the current state of affairs.

Friday: The Threat of Varkers