Serpenteye
First Post
Let There Be Light!
The World of Rokugan has been created.
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1) Dragonspine Mountains. 80 PL, AL: N, NE, CE. Monsters and beasts
A massive formation of mountains and plateaus extending from the borders of Rokugan to the vast glaciers of the North Pole, the Dragonspine Mountains are cold and desolate. Few intelligent beings inhabit these forbidding peaks, except for Yetis and the occasional Ice Elemental.
This area lacks any internal organization or rule but if it was to be attacked the aggressor would be faced by 80 PLs (1 IR) scattered over the mountains.
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2) Hjavallinda. 110 + 50 PL, Al: CE, NE, N. Frost Giants (Bloodthirsty Vikings)
The tundra of the subarctic extend south into this cold land, meeting the warmer taiga in the west and south. Hjavallinda is a chaotic and unstabile country, ruled by Frost Giants and their orcish servitors. A richer land than the Dragonspine Mountains, it supports an impressive population of cold-loving monsters. Twelve tribes compete for dominance, but will usually unite to face outside threats. Their PL and IR is as follows: 25:7, 16:4, 12:8, 10:3, 10:2, 8:3, 6:4, 5:2, 5:1, 5:1, 5:1, 3:1.
The untamed monsters account for another 50 PL (1 IR), but will not fight lest attacked or hungry.
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3) Red Sands. 60 PL, AL: N, LN, LE, NG. Human (Mongol-like culture)
The smows of winter seldom reaches this dry, warm land, that is constantly raided from the north and the south, but its people have learned to cope with the rough conditions. A loose confederation of warlike Human tribes eke out a living here. Most monsters, and foreigners, have been killed or driven out.
10*(6 PL : 3 IR)
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4) Burning Sands.
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5) Kacheri(talevianteru)'s Empire. 40 PL, AL: CE, NE, LE. Dragons and Kobolds (not making nice).
Between desert and taiga lies this land af grassy hills. Despite its pastoral appearence it is not a pleasant place. An insane but extremely powerful Red Dragon and his decendant Wyrms and Half-Dragon-Kobolds rule the Kobolds of this land with an Iron-Fist.
5PL:- , 5*(3PL, 3*(5PL:3IR)
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6) Shivering Desert. 18 PL, AL: LG, LN, NG, CG. Elves
A small but fierce nation of elves, this cold and dry country is rapidly loosing land to its larger neigbours, having lost 70% of its territory in 12 years. Despite the inhabitant's skill with magic and arrow this realm seems doomed.
8:1, 5:1, 5:0
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7) Noveradu 120 PL. AL: N, LN, NG. Humans (Samarkand with chinese cultural influences)
A civilized country, by Gajin standards, Noveradu has adapted quite much of Rokugani culture, but is under greater cultural influence by the powerful Sankei Caliphate to the south. Noveradu is somewhat well known in the region for its skilled merchants and its advanced and complicated financial institutions, but the majority of the population is farming the temperate lands by the inner sea.
30:15, 10:12, 3*(10:10), 7*(5:5), 5*(3:2)
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8) Southern Sands, 70 PL, Al: CE, NE. Halflings (Cannibalistic Athas-style halflings)
Seven allied tribes of bandits and raiders inhabit these dusty plains and deserts. The surrounding nations view these people with hatred and fear and that sentiment is returned with interest. The only exception to this is the relation of the tribes to the Tana'ri of the Darkspire Mountains, who are their main ally and trading partner. Demon-worshipping cults are the main religion here and half-fiends are quite common and respected.
20:10, 3*(10:5), 4*(5:4)
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9) The Darkspire Mountains. 675 PL, AL: CE, NE. Demons and half-fiends of many races
The Darkspire Mountains have long been touched by the taint of the Shadowlands to the north and shows many similarities to that twisted land. It was the corruptive influence of the Shadowlands that allowed a small horde of Tana'ri to use an unusual planar conjunction to rip open a temporary portal to Rokuworld 500 years ago. Since then they have expanded their power greatly and are now in a position to threaten much of the South-Central continent. The internal divisions of the past have been narrowed by a new, dreadful ruler, a Marilith of awesome power and cunning.
The Darkspire Demons have a strong, and growing influence in Southern Sands, Goorwood and the Fetid Swamp and collect much of their breeding-material from those areas. They have large armies of half-fiend monsters, quite a few of which are trolls, that they usually send as a first wave of attack against their enemies in battle. Their primary enemies are the Sankei Caliphate to the North-West and the ISA to the south.
100:60, 75:50, 6*(50:30), 10*(20:5)
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10) Goorwood. 300 PL, Al: CE, NE, N. Monsters of many kinds
The Goorwood is a hellish, stinking and deadly tropical rainforest. The northen reaches have been heavily fouled by the taint and all of the forest has long been tormented by the Darkspire Demons and their obcene experiments. Many beasts of the forest have been tied and twisted into the service of the fiends from the mountains. An order of militant NE elven druids (PL 20) are fighting a loosing battle, against both demon and monster, to rebuild the natural order to suit their own desires. Nevertheless, the demons are able to mobilize up to 200 PL of monsters against their enemies.
200:1 (Demon-controlled), 80:1 (Untamed), 20:1 (Druids)
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11) The Fetid Swamp. 200 PL, Al: CE. Monsters, Trolls, Lizardfolk, Troglodytes
The Fetid Swamp is, if possible, an even viler place than the Goorwood. The taint has touched this land deeply and the demons roam as freely here as in the western woods. The monsters here are every bit as dangerous, if not more so. A mighty nation of Trolls is rumoured to have existed here millennia ago and they are still the main species of the swamp, though there is no trace of civilisation in them today. A small, and failing, nation of Troglodytes are competing with the stronger Lizardfolk for dominance by the coast, while the trolls are stronger in the drier east. They all greet the demons as their lords, though. The Druid order was strong here once, now it's completely wiped out.
80:1 (Demon-controlled monsters), 30:1 (Untamed), 60:1 (Trolls), 20:1 (Lizardfolk), 10:1 (Trog.)
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12) Solrek. 50 PL, Al: LG, NG. Gnomes (Thai)
Adversity has been hard on this beautiful country and the people have suffered long under attack by the awesome power of the Darkspire, but the people have endured and grewn stronger in their love and solidarity for one an other. Without the alliance of their mighty dwarwen neigbours all their valour and strength would long ago have been for naught. However, they rue the day when the enemy is defeated, for surely then there will be nothing to stop the dwarven nation from devouring their small and war-torn land.
10:4, 7*(5:1), 5*(1:1)
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13) Debek. 70 PL. AL: GC, CN. Gnomes (Angkor)
Richer and traditionally more sheltered than its northern neigbour, Debek has until recently enjoyed a life of easy pleasures and good-natured decadence. All that changed when the powerful Dwarven empire to the west and south moved a great army to the border and made their ultimatum to either join them against the Demons of Darkspire or be treated as their ally and be destroyed. Terrified, both of Dwarf and Demon, Debek made the only possible choice and marched north with the Dwarves. Though there has been much resentment and outright rebellion against the Dwarven dominance all rebellion has been crushed and the majority of the population now support the war.
20:10, 5*(5:4), 10*(2:1), 5*(1:1)
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14) The Dwarven People's Republic. 750 PL. AL: LN, LE. Nibelungen Dwarves. 7th rank manufacturing, 5th rank engineering, 5th rank geography, 4th rank physics. Year 1710 technology.
400 years ago a great cataclysm devastated the traditional dwarven clans of the Darkspire mountains, probably instigated by the fledgling demonic empire of that region. This caused the deaths of thousands of dwarves and wiped out the entire leadership of the dwarven clans. The society was shattered and the people were forced to flee from the Tana'ri into the lowlands to the south where they were assaulted by the native Humans. Their losses were catastrofic but they eventually managed to rebuild and reorganize their social structure. They fought back and after many years of battle they were victorious. The wars of the exile had changed and darkened the spirit of the Dwarven people, however, and the pressures of those great conflicts strengthened their lawful nature. They had become completely selfless as individuals, sacrificing all for the race and for the new and united government they had elected, allowing nothing to stand in the way of their collective quest for greatness and revenge.
The ancient magical lore of this race was saved and they rebuilt their population by using a strange kind of polymorphing magic to convert Human prisoners to Dwarves and using them as breeding stock. The result of that breeding was 100% dwarven, though not as powerful as their Nibelungen parent. Combining numbers and flawless organization they swept trough and conquered their Human neigbours, their confidence and strength growing with every victory. The wars sparked in them a greater desire for knowledge and power and they started to advance in the field of technology. Slowly this new knowledge spread into the outside world, even to distant Rokugan.
Their hatred for the Demons of Darkspire continued to grow and as the power of the DPR increased it hardened into an unshakable resolve to eradicate them. They forceibly conscripted the neigbouring gnomish nations and the Avariel nation of Eliseraferem into their International Security Alliance (ISA) and are offering heavy resistance to the recent powerful demonic offensive.
3*(100:50), 30*(10:10), 30*(5:7)
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15) Slauhthorn Peninsula. 35 PL. AL: N, CN, CG. Human (Iron-age tribes, asian Indians)
Defeated tribal remnants of the once powerful nations that were driven south by the inexorable advance of the DPR. Repeatedly crushed and broken they are now too insignificant for the Dwarves to bother enslaving and are, for the moment, safe to pursue their own petty interior conflicts.
5*(7:0)
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16) Eliseraferem. 10 PL. AL: LG. Avariel Elves
No people has been worse damaged by the Demonwars than the Avariel. They once had a strong precence in the Darkspire mountains, but are now nothing but a remnant of their former power. The only thing that protects their continued existance is the strong Dwarven legions stationed in the mountain fortresses of their land. The Elves are now completely subserviant to their Nibelungen overlords.
10:1
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17) Ilaver Forest. 550 PL. Al: All, mostly chaotic. Elves, Seelie, Unseelie, Goblins, Humans, Hags, Monsters.
This temperate and sub-arctical forest is the largest woodland in the world, covering almost three times as much land as Rokugan. Even though it is sparcely populated this vast forest still provide a huge number of species and individuals with a home. The terrain is unsuited for large empires and with a few exceptions the people here live in tiny, isolated tribes and villages without much, or any, government above the local chieftain or village-council.
Two neigbouring Seelie and Unseelie countries (55pl:10ir / 50pl:8ir) are locked together in an ancient but relatively unbloody war. Constantly shifting alliances with Elves, Humans, Goblins, other Humans and Hags makes the situation impossibly chaotic for outside observers.
Some 200 000 elves (40PL) live in the impressive Suerovlinan Fortress and its surrounding lands at the mouth of the Iceflow River (the large river flowing into the inner sea on the map). United for mutual protection and the preservation of the forest they have repeatedly blocked attempts from the civilizations to the south of exploiting the forest, though that has greatly strained their resources and cost then casualties they can ill afford in the face of increasing raids from savage Humans and Goblinoids
A powerful group of Hags of high level, calling themselves The Coven (99PL), cast their dark shadow over the western parts of the forest. All beings not bonded to them have their dreams haunted by nightmares if they sleep within 200 miles of the Hags' terrible fortress, a disgusting Palace of Sculpted Flesh capable of attacking any enemy of the Coven who enter it (it is 50PL and fights at +2/+2, its obcene pseudopods have a considerable range). Four times a year, on every solstice, the Hags sacrifice a particularly powerful or good enemy to the fortress, adding his flesh and soul (and PL) to the terrible construct.
Elves are also affected by the nightmares during their reverie and even the seelie are not unaffected, all beings except Undead, Demons and CE Oni find themselves unable of memorizing (or eqv.) spells within 150 miles of the place. The nightmares are increasingly severe the closer one travel to the fortress and also get worse every night one spends within the nightmare forest. Every night spent within the zone one must succeed a Will save, the DC based on time and distance, or go irreversibly insane.
4pl, 12*2pl (the Thirteen Sisters), 50PL (the Palace), 15pl:15ir (the junior sisters), 6pl:6ir (slaves and constructs)
The remaining inhabitants of the forest are disorganized and weak. 50pl:5ir (The Goblin tribes), 15pl:3ir (the Human tribes (Siberian and iron-age Finnish)), 20pl:3ir (The Free Seelie), 30pl:5ir (The Free Unseelie), 11pl:2ir (The Free Elves), 180pl:18ir (misc. monsters)
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18) Poison Isles. 200PL. AL: LE. Gold Elves, polynesian Humans. 5th Rank Biology and Medicine
The home of 412 kinds of venomous serpents, 593 kinds of venomous spiders, 15 kinds of venomous insects, 57 kinds of poisonous plants, 5 kinds of venomous birds, 39 kinds of venomous lizards, 14 kinds of poisonous mammals and a countless amount of poisonous lies makes these islands into an assassins candystore. Not even the Goorwood is the source of this many potent toxins.
These islands have long supplied the armies and assassins of the eastern half of the continent with agents of chemical warfare, and though the majority of the population are farmers and fishermen the poisons are the source of the nation's wealth. The hierarchy of their society is quite simple, the population is divided by racial and familial lines into a number of castes with a rigid set of responsibilities. The lower castes, labourers of all kinds working and living under the harchest possible conditions, are all composed of Humans (except for the occasional elf who is demoted as punishment for a capital crime, prevented by magic from commiting suicide). The elves are the educated classes. They are the managers, engineers, soldiers, mages, government officials and the all-important alchemists, refining natural poisons and enhancing their potency with magic.
20*(10:2)
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19) Kapey g'rak. 170PL. AL: CE, NE, N. Orcs.
Also known as the Pirate Isles, Kapey g'rak is infamous amongst the merchants of the southern seas, but their reputation is worse than the truth. A powerful fleet patrol the waters between the isles and the mainland, intercepting and capturing any vessel that seems worth the effort but most of the population is peaceful farmers, minding their own business trying to survive in a hostile world. The islands have a rich, volcanic soil but the bountiful harvests have led to an ever increasing population and gradually the spice-plantations have been converted to food-production to prevent starvation. This have decreased the production of spices, the islands main source of income and since the islands are the main producer of spices in the world this will have severe repercussions for Kapey g'rak.
Whilst millions of poor and starving orcs are desperately trying to survive by any means, causing widespread rioting and looting that's increasingly difficult to contain or control, distant eyes have set their sights on the islands. Spices are of immense value to the merchant princes of the far west and the islands will have to be dealt with in any case because of the piracy and the heretical nature of the Orcs. Though the orcs don't realise it, their situation might soon be a lot worse.
50pl:0ir (pirate fleet), 12*(10pl:1ir)
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25) The Ivory Kingdoms. 300 PL. AL: N, CN, CE. Humans, Ogres, (West Indies, West Africa)
Fertile plantations, ricefields and orchards line the tropical coastline, long ago having replaced the ancient tropical rainforest that once grew here on what is probably the most productive farmland in the world. The ebony humans of these tiny countries are quite wealthy, relying on domesticated ogres and awakened trees to perform most of the heavy labour in the fields. Druidism is the most prominent form of magic here, but the druids here place less importance on serving nature than having nature serve them. The terror spread by the undead spirits of the razed jungle have caused a large part of the population to turn to a dark kind of woodoo, narcotics and human sacrifice.
A vast savanna occupies the northern highlands of the confederated countries and continues all the way to the western foothills of the darkspire mountains. The warlike tribes in this region supplies a huge amount of elefant- and monster- ivory to the traders from the south.
10*(30:10)
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26) Yabany. 50 PL. AL: N, CN. Humans (early Iron-age Japan)
Warlike tribes who spend most of the time fighting against each others occasionally raid across the border into the northern lands of the Phoenix. Even though they are often at war amongst themselves they have enough cultural bonds and loyalties to unite against an invading enemy.
5*(10:1)
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27) Kanogor Savanna. 100 PL. AL: N. Humans (African plainsmen, Turk nomads), Monsters.
This geographical region serves as a buffer-zone between the Ivory Kingdoms in the south and the Sankei Caliphate in the north and as such is under heavy pressure from two very different and advanced cultures. Merchants and armies have marched into this region from all directions, the merchants have passed, the armies have not. The Humans of the savanna are organised into tribes, clans and city- or rather village-states. For centuries they have honed their skill with weapons and tactics against each others and the dangerous beasts and monsters of the savanna and grown into highly effective warparties. However, the lack of unity between the tribes makes sure that they are little more than a nuisance for the surrounding nations.
12*(5pl:1ir) (humans), 40pl:0ir (monsters)
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28) Drakar. 500 PL. AL: N, LN, CN. Gem Dragons.
In the beginning there were Dragons... Then the lesser races were created... And the Metal and the Chromatic went to war... We were pulled in, on both sides, and we died while the bipeds prospered... We died, but we were mercenaries... The opposite aligned, they had passion... Passion burned and they burned... They are ashes... We still live.
There are still dragons in the world, Oriental Dragons, Occidental Dragons, Dragons of all colours, but they are but insignificant remnants of what they once were. The only nation of Dragons remaining in the world, except the pathetic Kacheri(talevianteru)'s Empire, is this and even mighty Drakar is fading, dying. The Dragons of Drakar were cursed by the last breath of the last Queen of the Gold Wyrms and the last Queen of the Red Wyrms as they died biting one anothers throaths, both blaiming the neutral Gem Dragons for their defeat, and ever since then they have been infertile. The Dragons of Drakar can not afford a single death, for every casualty brings them closer to oblivion, so they spend their long lives carefully protecting their great hoards, and though they will not admit it they are afraid.
Nevertheless, their power is unquestionable and few would dare to challenge them, so their country is secure. Occasionally a group of powerful adventurers seeking to make themselves rich and famous will attempt to penetrate the border defences and travel into the mazelike trapped lairs of the Great Wyrms (because of their age they are all ancient Great Wyrms). Most of them will perish but sometimes they are successful and the number of Dragons is reduced again, irreversibly. Every few decades or centuries a Dragon, of CN or N alignment, will go abroad in frustration or boredom, and eventually they too will perish.
Effectively, Drakar serves as a buffer-zone between the Ivory Kingdoms and the Suel Empire. They are unlikely to ever involve themselves in the outside world to any significant degree.
500pl:0ir
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29) The Suel Empire.
Mr. Draco-Land...
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30) Suhrypt. 60PL. AL: N, LG. Humans and Mummies (Ancient Egypt).
This small dusty plain is all that remain of the once mighty Suhrypt. Driven from their lush river-plain centuries ago these people subsist mostly by hearding camels and goats under the watchful and benevolent eyes of their long dead mummy pharaos.
10*(6pl:2ir)
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31) Cetesef. 350PL. AL: LG, N, NG. Humans (Babylonian)
When the old Blessed Empire collapsed it left behind chaos and death, as barbarians and imperial generals turned warlords competed with each others for power. All over the broken Empire civilians suffered and died to an unprecedented extent. That was also the case in Cetesef, but to a lesser degree, for Cetesef was older and far more civilized than the Empire that it was once conquered by and when the Empire fell the priests of the old religion declared Cetesef reborn as an independent nation. The people united behind the powerful symbols of their nationality and, under the banners of the priests, expelled barbarians and imperial generals both. In a famous battle the land itself came to life and swallowed a large imperial legion at the guidance of clerical magics. Since then Cetesef has been mostly left in peace by its neigbours.
The Clerics and their Priest-King of Cetesef rule the country in the name of their God of Earth. Their control over that element is astounding and provides military protection trough enormous stoneshaped walls that encircles both the cities of their country and the very border of the nation itself. It also giver them the power to devastate an enemy with earthquakes and has the power to enrich their soil to provide plentiful food for the populace. The common folk of the nation are famous for their carefree joy of life and the unnatural productivity of their agriculture has given most of them plenty of free time to enjoy all the pleasures of life. The merchants have the great advantage of being positioned at a geographical crossroads but have proven far to lazy and scrupleous to have much success in the competition with foreigners.
10*(20pl:10ir), 10*(10pl:5ir), 10*(5pl:1ir)
Epic Spells of elemental earth:
Earthquake, Stone Shape, Enrich Soil.
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32) The Free Cities. 400PL. AL: NE, CE. Humans and Halflings (15th century Italy)
In the wake of the great wars that brought down the old Blessed Empire the people of the Sunset Coast turned to a form of civilized barbarism. Anything that could strengthen the individual or the cuttroath organization he was often a part of was considered good. Knowledge, regardless of how dark, was prized for the power that could be derived from it and your fellow man was only appreciated so far as you could exploit him. And thus, society prospered, for the people of the Sunset Coast practised capitalism in its purest form. New religions arose that understood and exploited this new climate and older religions that failed this died out.
It is the way of evil that the strong shall prey upon the weak, and as a consequence the levels of organization increased. It is the way of chaos to destroy organization, and thus the political order was constantly overthrown in everchanging alliances and betrayals. Eventually, though, the forces of chaos were weakened and the current order of cooperation slowly coalesced.
The primary ten cities of the coast divided the hinterland between themselves, trough war and bribery and assassination, during the second century after the fall of the Empire. The following decades they saw their neigbours growing stronger and more organized and gradually united into the current state of confederation to fend off those who would destroy their way of life. Internally the cities also grew more ordered as the external peace gave the lords time to strengthen their positions at home. The criminal organizations were brought under the control of the government, in the cities where they didn't already control it, and made into formidable tools of the law, but still remained criminal.
In all of the cities the law was merely a tool of power and greed and was therefore supremely pragmatic. Everything that didn't reduce the power of the Merchant Lords or reduced their competetiveness was legal. Slavery, necromancy, all kinds of prostitution and sexual practices, controlled piracy and smuggling, all perfectly legal and often means of the rulers to enrich or entertain themselves. Semilegal government organizations plays a constant game of ruthless intrigue in the other cities and abroad and many of the thieves guilds of the western world are under the control of one of the Free Cities.
The Merchant Lords are equally skilled in legal trade and ply the waters of the western ocean in competition and cooperation with each others. Lately, though, they have discovered a target too powerful to be taken on individually, but ripe and rich for the taking and even now they are readying a great fleet to take the orcish spice isles Kapey g'rak.
10*(20pl:10ir), 10*(10pl:5ir), 20*(5pl:1ir)
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33) Mahyar. 240PL. AL: N, CN, LN, NG. Humans. (Slavic)
The Mahjar people were but one of the many barbarian tribes that helped destroy the Blessed Empire but by an accident of history they grew into a nation while most of their kin were destroyed or assimilated. At the beginning of the great migration the Mahyar fled after failing to rebell against the nation that would eventually become the Sankei Caliphate. Desperate they fled west towards the Blessed Empire, where they hoped to find sanctuary. The armies of the Sankei in hot pursuit they approached the border and were stopped, the Blessed Empire would not allow a foreign army on its soil and trusted them not.
Trapped between two armies that could easily crush his people the Mahyar chieftain despaired and cried out to the heavens. No God answered his prayer, only a lone githzerai scout spying on the situation from the ethereal, trying to decide how the interhuman conflict would affect his people's planned attack against the infant illithid nation in the Grayheart Mountains. On a whim he appeared before the startled Mahyar chief and offered his advice; The north was still mostly clear of enemy forces and the mountains offered sanctuary. The chieftain saw no alternative but to follow his advice and headed north, guided by the Githzerai.
The Imperial commander watched the advance of the Sankei army with rising anger, the countries had fought many wars and their hatred for each others was great. Foolishly he assumed the Mahyar were a part of the Sankei Army (his scouts had all been myseriously killed and all scrying was blocked) and decided to attack the enemy before they had a chance to order their army for battle. The Mahyar barely managed to escape as the two armies clashed.
Trough the high passes of the Grayheart Mountains the Githzerai led the Mahyar into an Illithid ambush. When the Illithid and their servants massacred the Mahyar a Githzerai army descended upon them by planar travel and turned the ambushers into ambushees.
The decimated remnants of the Mahyar fled into the western lowlands, disgusted and terrified but with a secret weapon of great power. The Githzerai never conquered the artifact which was their reason for attacking the illithid, the Mahyar chieftain found it in the hands of a fallen enemy. By the power of that artifact they proceeded to cut out a kingdom for themselves out of the Blessed Empire.
The artifact awakened in them an alien kind of magic and many of them became wielders of the Illithids' strange powers. Psions and psionic warriors are plentiful and mighty among the Mahyar and are keeping the borders safe.
The Illithid exacted a terrible vengeance for the loss of their holy artifact and unleached a devastating plague upon the humans they blamed for their loss, since they knew the many clerics of the militant and powerful Gith could easily stop their plagues. The plague swept across the continent, but helped its intended targets more than it harmed them by causing chaos in the Blessed Empire.
10*(15pl:7ir), 10*(5pl:1ir), 20*(2pl:1ir)
Artifact: Orb of Penumbria. +2 to army attack/+2 to army defence by strengthening the psionic abilities of its owners or giving psionic abilities if they had none.
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34) The Blessed Empire of Hochrei. 325PL. AL: CN, N. Humans. (Holy Roman Empire)
500 years ago the Blessed Empire was a giant straddling the western world. From the borders of the Suel Imperium and Drakar in the south to Weganart in the north and far into Sankei and Ilaver in the east and north-east its great legions marched at will, maintaining an ancient peace. Since then, things have changed. Invasions from every direction caused too great strain on the empire's military when a devastating plauge of Illithid creation swept trough and killed fully one third of the human population. The Empire crumbled and fell while its generals desperately tried to combat both social disorder, invading enemies and each-others. Barbarian tribes filled the vacuum of the collapsing State and a darker age followed.
Eventually civilization returned the the shattered west, as nations built on their rediscovered heritage and reorganized politically and socially. One nation in particular picked up the lost traditions of old and clad itself in the trappings of an earlier age. The Blessed Empire of Hochrei was born, but not as a centralized extroverted Empire but as a divided feudal kingdom. As time progressed the lords and clergy became increasingly powerful, at the expense of central authority, and all that's keeping the country together now is the certain knowledge that they must stand together or fall alone against their mutual enemies to the north, south and east.
The armies of Hochrei are enormous, supported by and recruited from millions of toiling peasants. The Knights are numerous and battle-hardened, some of the finest warriors in the world. And the mages, while fiercely independent, are a potentially devastating force, having fully recovered the ancient lore of the old Empire. The powerlevel of Hochrei would be higher, if only it wasn't so divided against itself. The figurehead Emperor can never truly rely on his feudal armies, and the generals of the armies can never truly rely on the individual knights. Even worse; military strategy and tactics are considered cowardly and unchivalrous when used against humans (their Goblinoid enemies do not recieve this courtesy) and the armies are therefore often surprisingly inefficient.
40pl:10ir, 5*(20pl:5ir), 10*(10pl:2ir), 30*(2pl:1ir), 25*(1pl:0ir)
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35) "The Papal State"
"Rhialto Land"
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36) Visgoreth. 300PL. AL: LE, NE. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears.
300 years ago the Goblinoid tribes of the Ilaver forest were driven south into the decaying Blessed Empire by a powerful orcish horde from the north. The orcish horde and the great Empire it established soon fell apart while the Goblinoids prospered in their new and fertile homelands, feasting on a rich diet of Human flesh. Their numbers swiftly grew and inspired by the Human civilization they had encountered they gradually reorganized themselves. The Kingdom they had created soon divided itself because of cultural and religious differences but they are now, once again, growing closer, united by race and mutual enemies.
The Visgoreth nation is by far the most civilized of the two Kingdoms, millions of Goblinoids live off the wealth of the heavily farmed land and in the large cities tens of thousands of laborers and craftsmen create the hardware for their supremely organized armies. Even though they are at war with both their northern and southern neigbours their economy is flourishing. Their main weakness is a lack of spellcasters, their secularized culture produce few clerics and they lack a tradition of arcane magics, though they have partly compensated for this by hiring mercenary wizards from the Free Cities.
30*(10pl:3ir)
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37) The Archbishopric of Gath-Eremel. 260PL. LG, NG, Humans, Elves, Half-Elves (European 14th century)
Beautiful, wealthy and happy, the inhabitants of this pleasant country consider themselves richly blessed by their God and their saintly ruler. Large and plentiful convent-estates produce food enough to feed the (few) poor who exist in this society and provide enough surplus to support a considerable army of Paladins and Clerics and finance secular and religious schooling for the populace. The low taxes generate enough funds to pay for the other needs of the government. Quaint lovely little castles and villages dot the picturesque countryside and even the perfectly-planned cities are idyllic and pleasant.
The population of this country is generally the happiest in the world, their loving loyalty to their rulers is beyond compare. Only the truely evil suffer here, and they are few indeed. In this lies the greatest danger to the country. Happiness is not generally considered the mother of invention and contentment has made the people, and their leaders, unyieldingly conservative. Even the religion, the single most imporant part in the people's existance, adamantly preaches resistance to change. Already Gath-Eremel is falling behind its continental neigbours in military technology and strategy and they may soon learn first hand that not all nations are as benevolent, or merciful, as their own.
2*(30pl:6ir), 20*(10pl:2ir)
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38) Greyheart Mountains. 300PL. AL: LE. Illithid and their Duergar and Swirfneblin servitors.
Deep beneath this towering wall dwells a secretive nation of Mind Flayers. Few outsiders know of their existance and most of them are enthralled to their service as agents, gathering information and fermenting discord throughout the western and central parts of the continent. The sinsiter manipulations of the Illithid have been the primary cause for many of the conflicts and rebellions that have shaken the continent for the last several centuries.
Lately there has been a puzzling change in Illithid society. One of the most prominent seers have had fragmented visions of a distant realm, beyond the borders of our reality. In this tale of madness, crumbling suns and world-devouring darknesss, one name, one being has impressed the Illithid above all others; Anabstercorian. Religious fervor has whipped the normally cold and calculating Illithid into a frenzy and they seem to be preparing to abandon their covert manipulations in favour of open warfare. Vast thrall armies are gathering under the banners of Ilsensine and the Illithid are organising into powerful and mobile squadrons in imitation of the tactics of the Great One. For a while yet they may continue their cunning manipulations, but they have been given a thirst for bloodshed and an unquenchable hunger for the Experience of killing.
30*(10pl:3ir)
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39) Osgoreth. 220 PL. AL: LE, NE. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears.
300 years ago the Goblinoid tribes of the Ilaver forest were driven south into the decaying Blessed Empire by a powerful orcish horde from the north. The orcish horde and the great Empire it established soon fell apart while the Goblinoids prospered in their new and fertile homelands, feasting on a rich diet of Human flesh. Their numbers swiftly grew and inspired by the Human civilization they had encountered they gradually reorganized themselves. The Kingdom they had created soon divided itself because of cultural and religious differences but they are now, once again, growing closer, united by race and mutual enemies.
The Osgoreth tribes regard their western allies with envy, they consider them soft, weak and Godless. Nevertheless, they have long since realised thay their fates are the same, their survival dependent on the strength of their more populous neigbour. It is with some reluctance that they have taken steps to bring themselves closer to the Visgoreth. Though their army is smaller than the Western Goblins it is generally better trained and has better clerical support.
22*(10pl:3ir)
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40) Gorakaak. 200 PL. AL: N, NE, CE. Orcs, Half-orcs, Humans, Hags.
The latest incarnation in a long line of orcish attempted Empires, Gorakaak is no more successful than its predecessors. With the aid of their Hag allies from the Coven in the Ilaver Forest they are barely managing to hold their own against their goblinoid enemies to the south, but only the Goblin's enmity with the Blessed Empire to their south has saved it from being overrun. In exchange for their aid the Hags have recieved great priviliges in Gorakaak and are well on their way of establishing a solid control over the country.
10*(10pl:3ir), 30*(3pl:1ir), 10*(1pl:1ir)
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41) Weganart. 700 PL. AL: NG. Ice-Elves, Cold-Elementals, Ghosts and spirits.
By mastering the magics of elemental cold the Elves of Weganart created the strongest elven civilization on the planet and have preserved it for 3500 years. In the temperate forests and hills of their country they have erected massive, unmelting, fortifications of ice and snow, as beautiful as they are strong. The capital, Ja'i Tinell, is the largest city on the continent (even though its population barely exeeds 250'000), with crystalline towers reaching for miles into the sky and its great walls dwarfing anything built by human hands.
Fleets of Icebergs, equipped with large numbers of enormous trebuchets with far greater range than anything that could be mounted on a ship, are a potential threat to human shipping all the way south into tropical waters and west halfway to Rokugan. Their armies on land are even more formidable, bolstered by thousands of natural and unnatural entities. Both on land and sea they are masters of weather controll and are often able to defeat an enemy by turning the fury of the elements against them. Then their fleets and armies move in for the kill, immune to the effects of the cold they have created.
Fortunately this civilization is reletively benign. Because of the low rate of population growth of elves it's near-impossible for them to replace the inevitable casualties that a major war would cause. As long as they are not provoked they are unlikely to go to war against their neigbours.
2*(100pl:10ir), 5*(20pl:10ir), 40(*10pl:1ir)
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42) The Sankei Caliphate. 800 PL. AL: N, CN, LN, NG. Humans, Half-elves, Elves, (Baghdad Caliphate late 800s)
The second greatest empire of the main continent and far more cosmopolitical than Rokugan, The Sankei is a powerful cultural and economical influence on the central and western areas of the continent. Their merchants can be seen in any of the major cities from the icy shores of the Weganart to the mountain halls of the Niebelungen Dwarves and their culture is making itself known in all the courts of the west, copied or combatted, but never ignored. The many and diverse peoples of the Caliphate are, mostly, coexisting peacefully, held together by strong commercial and military bonds. The society is surprisingly secular and tolerant of different religions, though one monotheistic faith is by far the most dominant.
Four powerful armies guard the borders (75 PL), directed by the intrige-ridden Council of the Sorcerers (75 PL) in the capital city of Laramun.
Even though the caliphate is tremendously powerful there are an increasing number of signs that it may well be past its peak and heading towards a rapid decline. Recent incursions by the halflings of the Southern Sands and their demonic allies have put a great strain on the military supply structure in the south east and though the raids should have been easily defeated stopping them was both difficult and expensive. The society shows increasing tendencies of decadence and indifference both in the ruling classes and the general populace.
5*(75pl:10ir), 10*(20pl:10ir), 45*(5pl:1ir)
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43 The Undying Empire. 9000 PL. AL: LN, LE. Undead
Ancient beyond mortal comprehension is this Empire, powerful beyond mortal dreams, trancending the boundaries of flesh, death and life, yet time still shrouds it and everything touched by time will pass. Already it is decaying. For mortal beings are not meant for eternal life and immortal minds can still break while the stuff that holds them endures. They know this and despair, for though they do not take pleasure in life their fear of loosing it is deeper than any dread that any being of life can feel. And yet they have surrendered to that which is unavoidable and thus made it so.
They were not always like this. Once their unlife was glorious, thousands of liches made billions of lesser servitors, their palace-cities pierced the clouds and sprawled for hundreds of miles, beautiful and wealthy. Millions of mortals dwelt among them, living like kings, being honed for their eternal unlife to come. Their magic bent heaven and earth to their will and if they had desired dominion of the world they could easily have taken it. But they desired nothing in the world that they did not already have, and then they came to desire nothing. The eldest among them grew bored and slaughtered the living, ending the rejuvenation of their society, securing its stagnation and the doom still to come.
Their power is still vast, their knowledge is still deep, though most is forgotten, and they could still take the world if they should so desire. Perhaps they could be strirred to action once again, fiends have tried to in the past, but though they will defend themselves if attacked it would take extraordinary circumstances to provoke them to aggression. Perhaps if they saw some power threaten their superiority and made them fear defeat and eradication, perhaps... I do not know. I do know that they will not share their lore and will not trade for any price. Ships passing within a hundred miles of their coasts are never seen again.
9000:0
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The Map is also finished, but we are going to need some space on a website somewhere to post it since it's too big for me to post directly to the boards. I think several people were willing to provide that when it was discussed previously, but things may have changed. So... Anyone?
The World of Rokugan has been created.
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1) Dragonspine Mountains. 80 PL, AL: N, NE, CE. Monsters and beasts
A massive formation of mountains and plateaus extending from the borders of Rokugan to the vast glaciers of the North Pole, the Dragonspine Mountains are cold and desolate. Few intelligent beings inhabit these forbidding peaks, except for Yetis and the occasional Ice Elemental.
This area lacks any internal organization or rule but if it was to be attacked the aggressor would be faced by 80 PLs (1 IR) scattered over the mountains.
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2) Hjavallinda. 110 + 50 PL, Al: CE, NE, N. Frost Giants (Bloodthirsty Vikings)
The tundra of the subarctic extend south into this cold land, meeting the warmer taiga in the west and south. Hjavallinda is a chaotic and unstabile country, ruled by Frost Giants and their orcish servitors. A richer land than the Dragonspine Mountains, it supports an impressive population of cold-loving monsters. Twelve tribes compete for dominance, but will usually unite to face outside threats. Their PL and IR is as follows: 25:7, 16:4, 12:8, 10:3, 10:2, 8:3, 6:4, 5:2, 5:1, 5:1, 5:1, 3:1.
The untamed monsters account for another 50 PL (1 IR), but will not fight lest attacked or hungry.
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3) Red Sands. 60 PL, AL: N, LN, LE, NG. Human (Mongol-like culture)
The smows of winter seldom reaches this dry, warm land, that is constantly raided from the north and the south, but its people have learned to cope with the rough conditions. A loose confederation of warlike Human tribes eke out a living here. Most monsters, and foreigners, have been killed or driven out.
10*(6 PL : 3 IR)
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4) Burning Sands.
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5) Kacheri(talevianteru)'s Empire. 40 PL, AL: CE, NE, LE. Dragons and Kobolds (not making nice).
Between desert and taiga lies this land af grassy hills. Despite its pastoral appearence it is not a pleasant place. An insane but extremely powerful Red Dragon and his decendant Wyrms and Half-Dragon-Kobolds rule the Kobolds of this land with an Iron-Fist.
5PL:- , 5*(3PL
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6) Shivering Desert. 18 PL, AL: LG, LN, NG, CG. Elves
A small but fierce nation of elves, this cold and dry country is rapidly loosing land to its larger neigbours, having lost 70% of its territory in 12 years. Despite the inhabitant's skill with magic and arrow this realm seems doomed.
8:1, 5:1, 5:0
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7) Noveradu 120 PL. AL: N, LN, NG. Humans (Samarkand with chinese cultural influences)
A civilized country, by Gajin standards, Noveradu has adapted quite much of Rokugani culture, but is under greater cultural influence by the powerful Sankei Caliphate to the south. Noveradu is somewhat well known in the region for its skilled merchants and its advanced and complicated financial institutions, but the majority of the population is farming the temperate lands by the inner sea.
30:15, 10:12, 3*(10:10), 7*(5:5), 5*(3:2)
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8) Southern Sands, 70 PL, Al: CE, NE. Halflings (Cannibalistic Athas-style halflings)
Seven allied tribes of bandits and raiders inhabit these dusty plains and deserts. The surrounding nations view these people with hatred and fear and that sentiment is returned with interest. The only exception to this is the relation of the tribes to the Tana'ri of the Darkspire Mountains, who are their main ally and trading partner. Demon-worshipping cults are the main religion here and half-fiends are quite common and respected.
20:10, 3*(10:5), 4*(5:4)
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9) The Darkspire Mountains. 675 PL, AL: CE, NE. Demons and half-fiends of many races
The Darkspire Mountains have long been touched by the taint of the Shadowlands to the north and shows many similarities to that twisted land. It was the corruptive influence of the Shadowlands that allowed a small horde of Tana'ri to use an unusual planar conjunction to rip open a temporary portal to Rokuworld 500 years ago. Since then they have expanded their power greatly and are now in a position to threaten much of the South-Central continent. The internal divisions of the past have been narrowed by a new, dreadful ruler, a Marilith of awesome power and cunning.
The Darkspire Demons have a strong, and growing influence in Southern Sands, Goorwood and the Fetid Swamp and collect much of their breeding-material from those areas. They have large armies of half-fiend monsters, quite a few of which are trolls, that they usually send as a first wave of attack against their enemies in battle. Their primary enemies are the Sankei Caliphate to the North-West and the ISA to the south.
100:60, 75:50, 6*(50:30), 10*(20:5)
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10) Goorwood. 300 PL, Al: CE, NE, N. Monsters of many kinds
The Goorwood is a hellish, stinking and deadly tropical rainforest. The northen reaches have been heavily fouled by the taint and all of the forest has long been tormented by the Darkspire Demons and their obcene experiments. Many beasts of the forest have been tied and twisted into the service of the fiends from the mountains. An order of militant NE elven druids (PL 20) are fighting a loosing battle, against both demon and monster, to rebuild the natural order to suit their own desires. Nevertheless, the demons are able to mobilize up to 200 PL of monsters against their enemies.
200:1 (Demon-controlled), 80:1 (Untamed), 20:1 (Druids)
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11) The Fetid Swamp. 200 PL, Al: CE. Monsters, Trolls, Lizardfolk, Troglodytes
The Fetid Swamp is, if possible, an even viler place than the Goorwood. The taint has touched this land deeply and the demons roam as freely here as in the western woods. The monsters here are every bit as dangerous, if not more so. A mighty nation of Trolls is rumoured to have existed here millennia ago and they are still the main species of the swamp, though there is no trace of civilisation in them today. A small, and failing, nation of Troglodytes are competing with the stronger Lizardfolk for dominance by the coast, while the trolls are stronger in the drier east. They all greet the demons as their lords, though. The Druid order was strong here once, now it's completely wiped out.
80:1 (Demon-controlled monsters), 30:1 (Untamed), 60:1 (Trolls), 20:1 (Lizardfolk), 10:1 (Trog.)
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12) Solrek. 50 PL, Al: LG, NG. Gnomes (Thai)
Adversity has been hard on this beautiful country and the people have suffered long under attack by the awesome power of the Darkspire, but the people have endured and grewn stronger in their love and solidarity for one an other. Without the alliance of their mighty dwarwen neigbours all their valour and strength would long ago have been for naught. However, they rue the day when the enemy is defeated, for surely then there will be nothing to stop the dwarven nation from devouring their small and war-torn land.
10:4, 7*(5:1), 5*(1:1)
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13) Debek. 70 PL. AL: GC, CN. Gnomes (Angkor)
Richer and traditionally more sheltered than its northern neigbour, Debek has until recently enjoyed a life of easy pleasures and good-natured decadence. All that changed when the powerful Dwarven empire to the west and south moved a great army to the border and made their ultimatum to either join them against the Demons of Darkspire or be treated as their ally and be destroyed. Terrified, both of Dwarf and Demon, Debek made the only possible choice and marched north with the Dwarves. Though there has been much resentment and outright rebellion against the Dwarven dominance all rebellion has been crushed and the majority of the population now support the war.
20:10, 5*(5:4), 10*(2:1), 5*(1:1)
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14) The Dwarven People's Republic. 750 PL. AL: LN, LE. Nibelungen Dwarves. 7th rank manufacturing, 5th rank engineering, 5th rank geography, 4th rank physics. Year 1710 technology.
400 years ago a great cataclysm devastated the traditional dwarven clans of the Darkspire mountains, probably instigated by the fledgling demonic empire of that region. This caused the deaths of thousands of dwarves and wiped out the entire leadership of the dwarven clans. The society was shattered and the people were forced to flee from the Tana'ri into the lowlands to the south where they were assaulted by the native Humans. Their losses were catastrofic but they eventually managed to rebuild and reorganize their social structure. They fought back and after many years of battle they were victorious. The wars of the exile had changed and darkened the spirit of the Dwarven people, however, and the pressures of those great conflicts strengthened their lawful nature. They had become completely selfless as individuals, sacrificing all for the race and for the new and united government they had elected, allowing nothing to stand in the way of their collective quest for greatness and revenge.
The ancient magical lore of this race was saved and they rebuilt their population by using a strange kind of polymorphing magic to convert Human prisoners to Dwarves and using them as breeding stock. The result of that breeding was 100% dwarven, though not as powerful as their Nibelungen parent. Combining numbers and flawless organization they swept trough and conquered their Human neigbours, their confidence and strength growing with every victory. The wars sparked in them a greater desire for knowledge and power and they started to advance in the field of technology. Slowly this new knowledge spread into the outside world, even to distant Rokugan.
Their hatred for the Demons of Darkspire continued to grow and as the power of the DPR increased it hardened into an unshakable resolve to eradicate them. They forceibly conscripted the neigbouring gnomish nations and the Avariel nation of Eliseraferem into their International Security Alliance (ISA) and are offering heavy resistance to the recent powerful demonic offensive.
3*(100:50), 30*(10:10), 30*(5:7)
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15) Slauhthorn Peninsula. 35 PL. AL: N, CN, CG. Human (Iron-age tribes, asian Indians)
Defeated tribal remnants of the once powerful nations that were driven south by the inexorable advance of the DPR. Repeatedly crushed and broken they are now too insignificant for the Dwarves to bother enslaving and are, for the moment, safe to pursue their own petty interior conflicts.
5*(7:0)
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16) Eliseraferem. 10 PL. AL: LG. Avariel Elves
No people has been worse damaged by the Demonwars than the Avariel. They once had a strong precence in the Darkspire mountains, but are now nothing but a remnant of their former power. The only thing that protects their continued existance is the strong Dwarven legions stationed in the mountain fortresses of their land. The Elves are now completely subserviant to their Nibelungen overlords.
10:1
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17) Ilaver Forest. 550 PL. Al: All, mostly chaotic. Elves, Seelie, Unseelie, Goblins, Humans, Hags, Monsters.
This temperate and sub-arctical forest is the largest woodland in the world, covering almost three times as much land as Rokugan. Even though it is sparcely populated this vast forest still provide a huge number of species and individuals with a home. The terrain is unsuited for large empires and with a few exceptions the people here live in tiny, isolated tribes and villages without much, or any, government above the local chieftain or village-council.
Two neigbouring Seelie and Unseelie countries (55pl:10ir / 50pl:8ir) are locked together in an ancient but relatively unbloody war. Constantly shifting alliances with Elves, Humans, Goblins, other Humans and Hags makes the situation impossibly chaotic for outside observers.
Some 200 000 elves (40PL) live in the impressive Suerovlinan Fortress and its surrounding lands at the mouth of the Iceflow River (the large river flowing into the inner sea on the map). United for mutual protection and the preservation of the forest they have repeatedly blocked attempts from the civilizations to the south of exploiting the forest, though that has greatly strained their resources and cost then casualties they can ill afford in the face of increasing raids from savage Humans and Goblinoids
A powerful group of Hags of high level, calling themselves The Coven (99PL), cast their dark shadow over the western parts of the forest. All beings not bonded to them have their dreams haunted by nightmares if they sleep within 200 miles of the Hags' terrible fortress, a disgusting Palace of Sculpted Flesh capable of attacking any enemy of the Coven who enter it (it is 50PL and fights at +2/+2, its obcene pseudopods have a considerable range). Four times a year, on every solstice, the Hags sacrifice a particularly powerful or good enemy to the fortress, adding his flesh and soul (and PL) to the terrible construct.
Elves are also affected by the nightmares during their reverie and even the seelie are not unaffected, all beings except Undead, Demons and CE Oni find themselves unable of memorizing (or eqv.) spells within 150 miles of the place. The nightmares are increasingly severe the closer one travel to the fortress and also get worse every night one spends within the nightmare forest. Every night spent within the zone one must succeed a Will save, the DC based on time and distance, or go irreversibly insane.
4pl, 12*2pl (the Thirteen Sisters), 50PL (the Palace), 15pl:15ir (the junior sisters), 6pl:6ir (slaves and constructs)
The remaining inhabitants of the forest are disorganized and weak. 50pl:5ir (The Goblin tribes), 15pl:3ir (the Human tribes (Siberian and iron-age Finnish)), 20pl:3ir (The Free Seelie), 30pl:5ir (The Free Unseelie), 11pl:2ir (The Free Elves), 180pl:18ir (misc. monsters)
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18) Poison Isles. 200PL. AL: LE. Gold Elves, polynesian Humans. 5th Rank Biology and Medicine
The home of 412 kinds of venomous serpents, 593 kinds of venomous spiders, 15 kinds of venomous insects, 57 kinds of poisonous plants, 5 kinds of venomous birds, 39 kinds of venomous lizards, 14 kinds of poisonous mammals and a countless amount of poisonous lies makes these islands into an assassins candystore. Not even the Goorwood is the source of this many potent toxins.
These islands have long supplied the armies and assassins of the eastern half of the continent with agents of chemical warfare, and though the majority of the population are farmers and fishermen the poisons are the source of the nation's wealth. The hierarchy of their society is quite simple, the population is divided by racial and familial lines into a number of castes with a rigid set of responsibilities. The lower castes, labourers of all kinds working and living under the harchest possible conditions, are all composed of Humans (except for the occasional elf who is demoted as punishment for a capital crime, prevented by magic from commiting suicide). The elves are the educated classes. They are the managers, engineers, soldiers, mages, government officials and the all-important alchemists, refining natural poisons and enhancing their potency with magic.
20*(10:2)
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19) Kapey g'rak. 170PL. AL: CE, NE, N. Orcs.
Also known as the Pirate Isles, Kapey g'rak is infamous amongst the merchants of the southern seas, but their reputation is worse than the truth. A powerful fleet patrol the waters between the isles and the mainland, intercepting and capturing any vessel that seems worth the effort but most of the population is peaceful farmers, minding their own business trying to survive in a hostile world. The islands have a rich, volcanic soil but the bountiful harvests have led to an ever increasing population and gradually the spice-plantations have been converted to food-production to prevent starvation. This have decreased the production of spices, the islands main source of income and since the islands are the main producer of spices in the world this will have severe repercussions for Kapey g'rak.
Whilst millions of poor and starving orcs are desperately trying to survive by any means, causing widespread rioting and looting that's increasingly difficult to contain or control, distant eyes have set their sights on the islands. Spices are of immense value to the merchant princes of the far west and the islands will have to be dealt with in any case because of the piracy and the heretical nature of the Orcs. Though the orcs don't realise it, their situation might soon be a lot worse.
50pl:0ir (pirate fleet), 12*(10pl:1ir)
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25) The Ivory Kingdoms. 300 PL. AL: N, CN, CE. Humans, Ogres, (West Indies, West Africa)
Fertile plantations, ricefields and orchards line the tropical coastline, long ago having replaced the ancient tropical rainforest that once grew here on what is probably the most productive farmland in the world. The ebony humans of these tiny countries are quite wealthy, relying on domesticated ogres and awakened trees to perform most of the heavy labour in the fields. Druidism is the most prominent form of magic here, but the druids here place less importance on serving nature than having nature serve them. The terror spread by the undead spirits of the razed jungle have caused a large part of the population to turn to a dark kind of woodoo, narcotics and human sacrifice.
A vast savanna occupies the northern highlands of the confederated countries and continues all the way to the western foothills of the darkspire mountains. The warlike tribes in this region supplies a huge amount of elefant- and monster- ivory to the traders from the south.
10*(30:10)
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26) Yabany. 50 PL. AL: N, CN. Humans (early Iron-age Japan)
Warlike tribes who spend most of the time fighting against each others occasionally raid across the border into the northern lands of the Phoenix. Even though they are often at war amongst themselves they have enough cultural bonds and loyalties to unite against an invading enemy.
5*(10:1)
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27) Kanogor Savanna. 100 PL. AL: N. Humans (African plainsmen, Turk nomads), Monsters.
This geographical region serves as a buffer-zone between the Ivory Kingdoms in the south and the Sankei Caliphate in the north and as such is under heavy pressure from two very different and advanced cultures. Merchants and armies have marched into this region from all directions, the merchants have passed, the armies have not. The Humans of the savanna are organised into tribes, clans and city- or rather village-states. For centuries they have honed their skill with weapons and tactics against each others and the dangerous beasts and monsters of the savanna and grown into highly effective warparties. However, the lack of unity between the tribes makes sure that they are little more than a nuisance for the surrounding nations.
12*(5pl:1ir) (humans), 40pl:0ir (monsters)
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28) Drakar. 500 PL. AL: N, LN, CN. Gem Dragons.
In the beginning there were Dragons... Then the lesser races were created... And the Metal and the Chromatic went to war... We were pulled in, on both sides, and we died while the bipeds prospered... We died, but we were mercenaries... The opposite aligned, they had passion... Passion burned and they burned... They are ashes... We still live.
There are still dragons in the world, Oriental Dragons, Occidental Dragons, Dragons of all colours, but they are but insignificant remnants of what they once were. The only nation of Dragons remaining in the world, except the pathetic Kacheri(talevianteru)'s Empire, is this and even mighty Drakar is fading, dying. The Dragons of Drakar were cursed by the last breath of the last Queen of the Gold Wyrms and the last Queen of the Red Wyrms as they died biting one anothers throaths, both blaiming the neutral Gem Dragons for their defeat, and ever since then they have been infertile. The Dragons of Drakar can not afford a single death, for every casualty brings them closer to oblivion, so they spend their long lives carefully protecting their great hoards, and though they will not admit it they are afraid.
Nevertheless, their power is unquestionable and few would dare to challenge them, so their country is secure. Occasionally a group of powerful adventurers seeking to make themselves rich and famous will attempt to penetrate the border defences and travel into the mazelike trapped lairs of the Great Wyrms (because of their age they are all ancient Great Wyrms). Most of them will perish but sometimes they are successful and the number of Dragons is reduced again, irreversibly. Every few decades or centuries a Dragon, of CN or N alignment, will go abroad in frustration or boredom, and eventually they too will perish.
Effectively, Drakar serves as a buffer-zone between the Ivory Kingdoms and the Suel Empire. They are unlikely to ever involve themselves in the outside world to any significant degree.
500pl:0ir
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29) The Suel Empire.
Mr. Draco-Land...
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30) Suhrypt. 60PL. AL: N, LG. Humans and Mummies (Ancient Egypt).
This small dusty plain is all that remain of the once mighty Suhrypt. Driven from their lush river-plain centuries ago these people subsist mostly by hearding camels and goats under the watchful and benevolent eyes of their long dead mummy pharaos.
10*(6pl:2ir)
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31) Cetesef. 350PL. AL: LG, N, NG. Humans (Babylonian)
When the old Blessed Empire collapsed it left behind chaos and death, as barbarians and imperial generals turned warlords competed with each others for power. All over the broken Empire civilians suffered and died to an unprecedented extent. That was also the case in Cetesef, but to a lesser degree, for Cetesef was older and far more civilized than the Empire that it was once conquered by and when the Empire fell the priests of the old religion declared Cetesef reborn as an independent nation. The people united behind the powerful symbols of their nationality and, under the banners of the priests, expelled barbarians and imperial generals both. In a famous battle the land itself came to life and swallowed a large imperial legion at the guidance of clerical magics. Since then Cetesef has been mostly left in peace by its neigbours.
The Clerics and their Priest-King of Cetesef rule the country in the name of their God of Earth. Their control over that element is astounding and provides military protection trough enormous stoneshaped walls that encircles both the cities of their country and the very border of the nation itself. It also giver them the power to devastate an enemy with earthquakes and has the power to enrich their soil to provide plentiful food for the populace. The common folk of the nation are famous for their carefree joy of life and the unnatural productivity of their agriculture has given most of them plenty of free time to enjoy all the pleasures of life. The merchants have the great advantage of being positioned at a geographical crossroads but have proven far to lazy and scrupleous to have much success in the competition with foreigners.
10*(20pl:10ir), 10*(10pl:5ir), 10*(5pl:1ir)
Epic Spells of elemental earth:
Earthquake, Stone Shape, Enrich Soil.
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32) The Free Cities. 400PL. AL: NE, CE. Humans and Halflings (15th century Italy)
In the wake of the great wars that brought down the old Blessed Empire the people of the Sunset Coast turned to a form of civilized barbarism. Anything that could strengthen the individual or the cuttroath organization he was often a part of was considered good. Knowledge, regardless of how dark, was prized for the power that could be derived from it and your fellow man was only appreciated so far as you could exploit him. And thus, society prospered, for the people of the Sunset Coast practised capitalism in its purest form. New religions arose that understood and exploited this new climate and older religions that failed this died out.
It is the way of evil that the strong shall prey upon the weak, and as a consequence the levels of organization increased. It is the way of chaos to destroy organization, and thus the political order was constantly overthrown in everchanging alliances and betrayals. Eventually, though, the forces of chaos were weakened and the current order of cooperation slowly coalesced.
The primary ten cities of the coast divided the hinterland between themselves, trough war and bribery and assassination, during the second century after the fall of the Empire. The following decades they saw their neigbours growing stronger and more organized and gradually united into the current state of confederation to fend off those who would destroy their way of life. Internally the cities also grew more ordered as the external peace gave the lords time to strengthen their positions at home. The criminal organizations were brought under the control of the government, in the cities where they didn't already control it, and made into formidable tools of the law, but still remained criminal.
In all of the cities the law was merely a tool of power and greed and was therefore supremely pragmatic. Everything that didn't reduce the power of the Merchant Lords or reduced their competetiveness was legal. Slavery, necromancy, all kinds of prostitution and sexual practices, controlled piracy and smuggling, all perfectly legal and often means of the rulers to enrich or entertain themselves. Semilegal government organizations plays a constant game of ruthless intrigue in the other cities and abroad and many of the thieves guilds of the western world are under the control of one of the Free Cities.
The Merchant Lords are equally skilled in legal trade and ply the waters of the western ocean in competition and cooperation with each others. Lately, though, they have discovered a target too powerful to be taken on individually, but ripe and rich for the taking and even now they are readying a great fleet to take the orcish spice isles Kapey g'rak.
10*(20pl:10ir), 10*(10pl:5ir), 20*(5pl:1ir)
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33) Mahyar. 240PL. AL: N, CN, LN, NG. Humans. (Slavic)
The Mahjar people were but one of the many barbarian tribes that helped destroy the Blessed Empire but by an accident of history they grew into a nation while most of their kin were destroyed or assimilated. At the beginning of the great migration the Mahyar fled after failing to rebell against the nation that would eventually become the Sankei Caliphate. Desperate they fled west towards the Blessed Empire, where they hoped to find sanctuary. The armies of the Sankei in hot pursuit they approached the border and were stopped, the Blessed Empire would not allow a foreign army on its soil and trusted them not.
Trapped between two armies that could easily crush his people the Mahyar chieftain despaired and cried out to the heavens. No God answered his prayer, only a lone githzerai scout spying on the situation from the ethereal, trying to decide how the interhuman conflict would affect his people's planned attack against the infant illithid nation in the Grayheart Mountains. On a whim he appeared before the startled Mahyar chief and offered his advice; The north was still mostly clear of enemy forces and the mountains offered sanctuary. The chieftain saw no alternative but to follow his advice and headed north, guided by the Githzerai.
The Imperial commander watched the advance of the Sankei army with rising anger, the countries had fought many wars and their hatred for each others was great. Foolishly he assumed the Mahyar were a part of the Sankei Army (his scouts had all been myseriously killed and all scrying was blocked) and decided to attack the enemy before they had a chance to order their army for battle. The Mahyar barely managed to escape as the two armies clashed.
Trough the high passes of the Grayheart Mountains the Githzerai led the Mahyar into an Illithid ambush. When the Illithid and their servants massacred the Mahyar a Githzerai army descended upon them by planar travel and turned the ambushers into ambushees.
The decimated remnants of the Mahyar fled into the western lowlands, disgusted and terrified but with a secret weapon of great power. The Githzerai never conquered the artifact which was their reason for attacking the illithid, the Mahyar chieftain found it in the hands of a fallen enemy. By the power of that artifact they proceeded to cut out a kingdom for themselves out of the Blessed Empire.
The artifact awakened in them an alien kind of magic and many of them became wielders of the Illithids' strange powers. Psions and psionic warriors are plentiful and mighty among the Mahyar and are keeping the borders safe.
The Illithid exacted a terrible vengeance for the loss of their holy artifact and unleached a devastating plague upon the humans they blamed for their loss, since they knew the many clerics of the militant and powerful Gith could easily stop their plagues. The plague swept across the continent, but helped its intended targets more than it harmed them by causing chaos in the Blessed Empire.
10*(15pl:7ir), 10*(5pl:1ir), 20*(2pl:1ir)
Artifact: Orb of Penumbria. +2 to army attack/+2 to army defence by strengthening the psionic abilities of its owners or giving psionic abilities if they had none.
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34) The Blessed Empire of Hochrei. 325PL. AL: CN, N. Humans. (Holy Roman Empire)
500 years ago the Blessed Empire was a giant straddling the western world. From the borders of the Suel Imperium and Drakar in the south to Weganart in the north and far into Sankei and Ilaver in the east and north-east its great legions marched at will, maintaining an ancient peace. Since then, things have changed. Invasions from every direction caused too great strain on the empire's military when a devastating plauge of Illithid creation swept trough and killed fully one third of the human population. The Empire crumbled and fell while its generals desperately tried to combat both social disorder, invading enemies and each-others. Barbarian tribes filled the vacuum of the collapsing State and a darker age followed.
Eventually civilization returned the the shattered west, as nations built on their rediscovered heritage and reorganized politically and socially. One nation in particular picked up the lost traditions of old and clad itself in the trappings of an earlier age. The Blessed Empire of Hochrei was born, but not as a centralized extroverted Empire but as a divided feudal kingdom. As time progressed the lords and clergy became increasingly powerful, at the expense of central authority, and all that's keeping the country together now is the certain knowledge that they must stand together or fall alone against their mutual enemies to the north, south and east.
The armies of Hochrei are enormous, supported by and recruited from millions of toiling peasants. The Knights are numerous and battle-hardened, some of the finest warriors in the world. And the mages, while fiercely independent, are a potentially devastating force, having fully recovered the ancient lore of the old Empire. The powerlevel of Hochrei would be higher, if only it wasn't so divided against itself. The figurehead Emperor can never truly rely on his feudal armies, and the generals of the armies can never truly rely on the individual knights. Even worse; military strategy and tactics are considered cowardly and unchivalrous when used against humans (their Goblinoid enemies do not recieve this courtesy) and the armies are therefore often surprisingly inefficient.
40pl:10ir, 5*(20pl:5ir), 10*(10pl:2ir), 30*(2pl:1ir), 25*(1pl:0ir)
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35) "The Papal State"
"Rhialto Land"
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36) Visgoreth. 300PL. AL: LE, NE. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears.
300 years ago the Goblinoid tribes of the Ilaver forest were driven south into the decaying Blessed Empire by a powerful orcish horde from the north. The orcish horde and the great Empire it established soon fell apart while the Goblinoids prospered in their new and fertile homelands, feasting on a rich diet of Human flesh. Their numbers swiftly grew and inspired by the Human civilization they had encountered they gradually reorganized themselves. The Kingdom they had created soon divided itself because of cultural and religious differences but they are now, once again, growing closer, united by race and mutual enemies.
The Visgoreth nation is by far the most civilized of the two Kingdoms, millions of Goblinoids live off the wealth of the heavily farmed land and in the large cities tens of thousands of laborers and craftsmen create the hardware for their supremely organized armies. Even though they are at war with both their northern and southern neigbours their economy is flourishing. Their main weakness is a lack of spellcasters, their secularized culture produce few clerics and they lack a tradition of arcane magics, though they have partly compensated for this by hiring mercenary wizards from the Free Cities.
30*(10pl:3ir)
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37) The Archbishopric of Gath-Eremel. 260PL. LG, NG, Humans, Elves, Half-Elves (European 14th century)
Beautiful, wealthy and happy, the inhabitants of this pleasant country consider themselves richly blessed by their God and their saintly ruler. Large and plentiful convent-estates produce food enough to feed the (few) poor who exist in this society and provide enough surplus to support a considerable army of Paladins and Clerics and finance secular and religious schooling for the populace. The low taxes generate enough funds to pay for the other needs of the government. Quaint lovely little castles and villages dot the picturesque countryside and even the perfectly-planned cities are idyllic and pleasant.
The population of this country is generally the happiest in the world, their loving loyalty to their rulers is beyond compare. Only the truely evil suffer here, and they are few indeed. In this lies the greatest danger to the country. Happiness is not generally considered the mother of invention and contentment has made the people, and their leaders, unyieldingly conservative. Even the religion, the single most imporant part in the people's existance, adamantly preaches resistance to change. Already Gath-Eremel is falling behind its continental neigbours in military technology and strategy and they may soon learn first hand that not all nations are as benevolent, or merciful, as their own.
2*(30pl:6ir), 20*(10pl:2ir)
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38) Greyheart Mountains. 300PL. AL: LE. Illithid and their Duergar and Swirfneblin servitors.
Deep beneath this towering wall dwells a secretive nation of Mind Flayers. Few outsiders know of their existance and most of them are enthralled to their service as agents, gathering information and fermenting discord throughout the western and central parts of the continent. The sinsiter manipulations of the Illithid have been the primary cause for many of the conflicts and rebellions that have shaken the continent for the last several centuries.
Lately there has been a puzzling change in Illithid society. One of the most prominent seers have had fragmented visions of a distant realm, beyond the borders of our reality. In this tale of madness, crumbling suns and world-devouring darknesss, one name, one being has impressed the Illithid above all others; Anabstercorian. Religious fervor has whipped the normally cold and calculating Illithid into a frenzy and they seem to be preparing to abandon their covert manipulations in favour of open warfare. Vast thrall armies are gathering under the banners of Ilsensine and the Illithid are organising into powerful and mobile squadrons in imitation of the tactics of the Great One. For a while yet they may continue their cunning manipulations, but they have been given a thirst for bloodshed and an unquenchable hunger for the Experience of killing.
30*(10pl:3ir)
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39) Osgoreth. 220 PL. AL: LE, NE. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears.
300 years ago the Goblinoid tribes of the Ilaver forest were driven south into the decaying Blessed Empire by a powerful orcish horde from the north. The orcish horde and the great Empire it established soon fell apart while the Goblinoids prospered in their new and fertile homelands, feasting on a rich diet of Human flesh. Their numbers swiftly grew and inspired by the Human civilization they had encountered they gradually reorganized themselves. The Kingdom they had created soon divided itself because of cultural and religious differences but they are now, once again, growing closer, united by race and mutual enemies.
The Osgoreth tribes regard their western allies with envy, they consider them soft, weak and Godless. Nevertheless, they have long since realised thay their fates are the same, their survival dependent on the strength of their more populous neigbour. It is with some reluctance that they have taken steps to bring themselves closer to the Visgoreth. Though their army is smaller than the Western Goblins it is generally better trained and has better clerical support.
22*(10pl:3ir)
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40) Gorakaak. 200 PL. AL: N, NE, CE. Orcs, Half-orcs, Humans, Hags.
The latest incarnation in a long line of orcish attempted Empires, Gorakaak is no more successful than its predecessors. With the aid of their Hag allies from the Coven in the Ilaver Forest they are barely managing to hold their own against their goblinoid enemies to the south, but only the Goblin's enmity with the Blessed Empire to their south has saved it from being overrun. In exchange for their aid the Hags have recieved great priviliges in Gorakaak and are well on their way of establishing a solid control over the country.
10*(10pl:3ir), 30*(3pl:1ir), 10*(1pl:1ir)
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41) Weganart. 700 PL. AL: NG. Ice-Elves, Cold-Elementals, Ghosts and spirits.
By mastering the magics of elemental cold the Elves of Weganart created the strongest elven civilization on the planet and have preserved it for 3500 years. In the temperate forests and hills of their country they have erected massive, unmelting, fortifications of ice and snow, as beautiful as they are strong. The capital, Ja'i Tinell, is the largest city on the continent (even though its population barely exeeds 250'000), with crystalline towers reaching for miles into the sky and its great walls dwarfing anything built by human hands.
Fleets of Icebergs, equipped with large numbers of enormous trebuchets with far greater range than anything that could be mounted on a ship, are a potential threat to human shipping all the way south into tropical waters and west halfway to Rokugan. Their armies on land are even more formidable, bolstered by thousands of natural and unnatural entities. Both on land and sea they are masters of weather controll and are often able to defeat an enemy by turning the fury of the elements against them. Then their fleets and armies move in for the kill, immune to the effects of the cold they have created.
Fortunately this civilization is reletively benign. Because of the low rate of population growth of elves it's near-impossible for them to replace the inevitable casualties that a major war would cause. As long as they are not provoked they are unlikely to go to war against their neigbours.
2*(100pl:10ir), 5*(20pl:10ir), 40(*10pl:1ir)
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42) The Sankei Caliphate. 800 PL. AL: N, CN, LN, NG. Humans, Half-elves, Elves, (Baghdad Caliphate late 800s)
The second greatest empire of the main continent and far more cosmopolitical than Rokugan, The Sankei is a powerful cultural and economical influence on the central and western areas of the continent. Their merchants can be seen in any of the major cities from the icy shores of the Weganart to the mountain halls of the Niebelungen Dwarves and their culture is making itself known in all the courts of the west, copied or combatted, but never ignored. The many and diverse peoples of the Caliphate are, mostly, coexisting peacefully, held together by strong commercial and military bonds. The society is surprisingly secular and tolerant of different religions, though one monotheistic faith is by far the most dominant.
Four powerful armies guard the borders (75 PL), directed by the intrige-ridden Council of the Sorcerers (75 PL) in the capital city of Laramun.
Even though the caliphate is tremendously powerful there are an increasing number of signs that it may well be past its peak and heading towards a rapid decline. Recent incursions by the halflings of the Southern Sands and their demonic allies have put a great strain on the military supply structure in the south east and though the raids should have been easily defeated stopping them was both difficult and expensive. The society shows increasing tendencies of decadence and indifference both in the ruling classes and the general populace.
5*(75pl:10ir), 10*(20pl:10ir), 45*(5pl:1ir)
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43 The Undying Empire. 9000 PL. AL: LN, LE. Undead
Ancient beyond mortal comprehension is this Empire, powerful beyond mortal dreams, trancending the boundaries of flesh, death and life, yet time still shrouds it and everything touched by time will pass. Already it is decaying. For mortal beings are not meant for eternal life and immortal minds can still break while the stuff that holds them endures. They know this and despair, for though they do not take pleasure in life their fear of loosing it is deeper than any dread that any being of life can feel. And yet they have surrendered to that which is unavoidable and thus made it so.
They were not always like this. Once their unlife was glorious, thousands of liches made billions of lesser servitors, their palace-cities pierced the clouds and sprawled for hundreds of miles, beautiful and wealthy. Millions of mortals dwelt among them, living like kings, being honed for their eternal unlife to come. Their magic bent heaven and earth to their will and if they had desired dominion of the world they could easily have taken it. But they desired nothing in the world that they did not already have, and then they came to desire nothing. The eldest among them grew bored and slaughtered the living, ending the rejuvenation of their society, securing its stagnation and the doom still to come.
Their power is still vast, their knowledge is still deep, though most is forgotten, and they could still take the world if they should so desire. Perhaps they could be strirred to action once again, fiends have tried to in the past, but though they will defend themselves if attacked it would take extraordinary circumstances to provoke them to aggression. Perhaps if they saw some power threaten their superiority and made them fear defeat and eradication, perhaps... I do not know. I do know that they will not share their lore and will not trade for any price. Ships passing within a hundred miles of their coasts are never seen again.
9000:0
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The Map is also finished, but we are going to need some space on a website somewhere to post it since it's too big for me to post directly to the boards. I think several people were willing to provide that when it was discussed previously, but things may have changed. So... Anyone?
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