#Dwarven clans of the west

[theladyregret]

Drow Name Tables

Something I did as a special favor to @kimmurielsscryingmirror (@eldritchmist ) who showed interest. Because it’s...pretty big I decided to make it into it’s own post.

These are a few Drow naming tables that were originally found in an issue of Dragon Magazine. It’s two d100 tables of prefixes and suffixes commonly used in first names. The second couple of tables is a list of common house name prefixes and suffixes.

EDIT: Just a little something for those who care which I didn’t add before because it took me so long to finish the transcription I just wanted to post it lol. The gender difference is noted in the related Dragon Magazine article as being significant. Non Drow may not notice but a Drow will notice the difference. Female names sometimes borrow parts that are normally only considered male and this is considered fine...but a male with a name that borrows a typically only female part would be seen as extremely taboo.

Prefix (Female/Male) - Meaning

Akor/Alak                 beloved, best, first

Alaun/Alton             lightning, powerful

Aly/Kel                     legendary, singing, song

Ang/Adin                  beast, monstrous, savage

Ardul/Amal               blessed, divine, godly

Aun/Ant                   crypt, dead, deadly, death

Bae/Bar                      fate, fated, luck, lucky

Bal/Bel                       burned, burning, fire, flame

Belar/Bruh                 arrow, lance, piercing

Briz/Berg                    graceful, fluid, like water

Bur/Bhin                     craft, crafty, sly

Chal/Chasz                earth, stable

Char/Kron                  sick, venom, venomed

Chess/Cal                  noble, lady/lord

Dhaun                          infested, plague

Dil/Dur                         cold, ice, still

Dirz/Div                       dream, dreaming, fantasy

Dris/Riz                        ash, dawn, east, eastern

Eclav/Elk                      chaos, mad, madness

Elvan/Kalan                 elf, elven, far, lost

Elv/Elaug                     drow, mage, power

Erel/Rhyl                      eye, moon, spy

Ethe/Erth                    mithril, resolute

Faer/Selds                   oath, sworn, vow

Felyn/Fil                       pale, thin, weak, white

Filf/Phar                     dwarf, dwarven, treacherous

Gauss/Orgoll              dread, fear, feared, vile

G'eld                              friend, spider  

Ghuan                           accursed, curse, unlucky

Gin/Din                         berserk, berserker, orc, wild

Grey/Gul                       ghost, pale, unliving

Hael/Hatch                   marked, trail, way

Hal/Sol                           deft, nimble, spider-like  

Houn/Rik                       magic, ring, staff

Iiv/Dip                             liege, war, warrior

Iim                                   life, living, spirit, soul

Illiam/Im                         devoted, heart, love

In/Sorn                           enchanted, spell

Ilph                                  emerald, green, lush, tree

Irae/Ilzt                           arcane, mystic, wizard

Irr/Izz                               hidden, mask, masked

Iym/Ist                            endless, immortal  

Jan/Duag                       shield, warded

Jhael/Gel                       ambitious, clan, kin, family

Jhul/Jar                         charmed, rune, symbol

Jys/Driz                         hard, steel, unyielding

Lael/Llt                           iron, west, western

Lar/Les                          binding, bound, law, lawful

LiNeer/Mourn            legend, legendary, mythical  

Lird/Ryld                   brand, branded, owned, slave

Lua/Lyme                       bright, crystal, light

Mal/Malag                     mystery, secret

May/Mas                         beautiful, beauty, silver

Micar                                lost, poison, widow

Min/Ran                           lesser, minor, second

Mol/Go                            blue, storm, thunder, wind

Myr/Nym                       lost, skeleton, skull

Nath/Mer                        doom, doomed, fate

Ned/Nad               cunning, genius, mind, thought

Nhil/Nal                 fear, gorrible, horror, outraged

Neer                                  core, root, strong

Null/Nil                             sad, tear, weeping

Olor/Omar                       skin, tattoo, tattooed

Pellan/Relon                    north, platiunum, wind

Phaer/Vorn                      honor, honored

Phyr/Phyx                        bless, blessed, blessing

Qualn/Quil                        mighty, ocean, sea

Quar                                   aged, eternal, time

Quav/Quev                        charmed, docile, friend

Qil/Quil                               foe, goblin, slave

Rauv/Welv                         cave, rock, stone

Ril/Ryl                                 foretold, omen

Sbat/Szor                           amber, yellow

Sab/Tsab                            abyss, empty, void  

Shi'n/Kren                          fool, foolish, young

Shri/Ssz                             silk, silent  

Shur/Shar                          dagger, edge, stiletto

Shynt                                 invisible, skilled, unseen

Sin/Szin                              festival, joy, pleasure

Ssap/Tath                          blue, midnight, night

Susp/Spir                           learned, skilled, wise

Talab/Tluth                        burn, burning, fire

Tal/Tar                         love, pain, wound, wounded

Triel/Taz                           bat, winged

T'riss/Teb                           blade, sharp, sword  

Ulvir/Uhls                           gold, golden, treasure

Umrae/Hurz                       faith, faithful, true

Vas/Vesz                            blood, bloody, flesh

Vic                                       abyss, deep, profound

Vier/Val                               black, dark, darkness

Vlon/Wod                           bold, hero, heroic

Waer/Wehl             deep, hidden, south, southern  

Wuyon/Wruz                      humble, third, trivial

Xull/Url                                 blooded, crimson, ruby

Xun                                       demon, fiend, fiendish

Yas/Yaz                       riddle, spinning, thread, web

Zar/Zakn                             dusk, haunted, shadow

Zebey/Zek                        dragon, lithe, rage, wyrm

Zes/Zsz                              ancient, elder, respected

Zilv/Vuz                             forgotten, old, unknown

Suffixes (Female/Male) - Meaning

a/agh                  breaker, destruction, end, omega

ace/as                                savant, scholar, wizard

ae/aun                             dance, dancer, life, player

aer/d                                    blood, blood of, heir

afae/afein                         bane, executioner, slayer

afay/aufein                        eyes, eyes of, seer

ala/launim                          healer, cleric

anna/erin                            advisor, counselor to

arra/atar                             queen/prince

aste                                      bearer, keeper, slaver

avin/aonar                           guardian, guard, shield

ayne/al                       lunatic, maniac, manic, rage

baste/gloth                         path, walker

breena/antar                   matriach/patriarch, ruler

bryn/lyn                               agent, assassin, killer

cice/roos                             born of, child, young  

cyrl/axle                               ally, companion, friend

da/daer                                illusionist, trickster

dia/drin                                rogue, stealer

diira/diirn                             initiate, sister/brother

dra/zar                                  lover, match, mate  

driira/driirn                         mother/father, teacher  

dril/dorl                                 knight, sword, warrior

e                                           servant, slave, vessel

eari/erd                                 giver, god, patron

eyl                                       archer, arrow, flight, flyer

ffyn/fein                               minstrel, singer, song

fryn              champion, victor, weapon, weapon of

iara/ica                                 baron, duke, lady/lord  

ice/eth                                 obsession, taker, taken  

idil/imar           alpha, beginning, creator of, maker

iira/inid                                 harbinger, herald

inidia                                     secret, wall, warder

inil/in                                     lady/lord, rider, steed

intra                               envoy, messenger, prophet

isstra/atlab               acolyte, apprentice, student

ithra/irahc                         dragon, serpent, wyrm

jra/gos                                 beast, biter, stinger

jss                                          scout, stalker

kacha/kah                            beauty, hair, style

kiira/raen                              apostle, disciple

lay/dyn                               flight, flyer, wing, wings

lara/aghar                         cynic, death, end, victim

lin                                         arm, armor, commander

lochar                                   messenger, spider

mice/myr           bone, bones, necromancer, witch  

mur'ss                                   shadow, spy, witness

na/nar                                 adept, ghost, spirit

nilee/olil                             corpse, disease, ravager

niss/nozz                           chance, gambler, game

nitra/net                              kicker, returned, risen

nolu                                 art, artist, expert, treasure

olin                                   ascension, love, lover, lust

onia/onim                           rod, staff, token, wand

oyss/omph                       binder, judge, law, prison

qualyn                                 ally, caller, kin

quarra/net                           horde, host, legion

quiri/oj                                  aura, cloak, hide, skin

ra/or                                     fool, game, prey, quarry

rae/rar                                   secret, seeker, quest

raema/orvir                         crafter, fist, hand

raena/olvir                            center, haven, home

riia/rak                       enchanter, mage, spellcaster

ril                                 bandit, enemy, raider, outlaw

riina/ree                     enchanter, mage, spellcaster

ryna/oyn                         follower, hired, mercenary

ryne/ryn                      blooded, elder, experienced

shalee/ral                 abjurer, gaze, watch, watcher

ssysn/rysn          artifact, dweomer, sorcerer, spell

stin/trin         clan, house, merchant, of the house

stra/tran                             spider, spinner, weaver

tana/ton                           darkness, lurker, prowler

thara/tar                             glyph, marker, rune

thrae/olg                          charmer, leader, seducer

tree/tel                         exile, loner, outcast, pariah

tyrr                    dagger, poison, poisoner, scorpion

ual/dan                                speed, strider

ue/dor                                  arm, artisan, fingers

uit/dar                                  breath, voice, word

une/diin                         diviner, fate, future, oracle

uque                              cavern, digger, mole, tunnel  

urra/dax                       nomad, renegade, wanderer

va/ven                             comrade, honor, honored

vayas                         forge, forger, hammer, smith

vyll punishment, scourge, whip, zealot  

vyrae/vyr                     mistress/master, overseer

wae/hrae                           heir, inheritor, princess

wiira/hriir                           seneschal of, steward

wyss/hrys                          best, creator, starter

xae/zaer                             orb, rank, ruler, sceptor

xena/zen                         cutter, gem, jewel, jeweler

xyra/zyr                             sage, teller

yl                                          drow, woman/man

ylene/yln         handmaiden/squire, maiden/youth

ymma/inyon                      drider, feet, foot, runner

ynda/yrd        captain, custodian, marshal, ranger  

ynrae/yraen                       heretic, rebel, riot, void

vrae                                   architect, founder, mason  

yrr                                         protector, rival, wielder

zyne/zt                                finder, hunter

House Name Prefixes - Meaning

Alean                        the noble line of

Ale                             traders in

Arab                          daughters of

Arken                        mages of

Auvry                        blood of the  

Baen                          blessed by

Barri                           spawn of

Cladd                         warriors from

Desp                          victors of

De                               champions of

Do'                              walkers in

Eils                              lands of

Everh                         the caverns of

Fre                              friends of

Gode                          clan of  

Helvi                          those above

Hla                              seers of

Hun'                           the sisterhood of

Ken                            sworn to

Kil                               people of

Mae                           raiders from  

Mel                            mothers of

My                              honored of

Noqu                         sacred to

Orly                            guild of

Ouss                           heirs to

Rilyn                           house of  

Teken'                        delvers in  

Tor                               mistresses of

Zau                              children of

House Name Suffixes - Meaning

afin                              the web

ana                               the night

ani                                the widow

ar                                   poison

arn                                fire

ate                                the way

ath                                the dragons

duis                              the whip

ervs                              the depths

ep                                  the underdark

ett                                 magic

ghym                            the forgotten ways

iryn                               history

lyl                                  the blade

mtor                             the abyss

ndar                              black hearts

neld                              the arcane

rae                                 fell powers

rahel                             the gods

rret                                the void

sek                                 adamantite

th                                    challenges

tlar                                 mysteries

t'tar                                victory

tyl                                   the pits

und                                 the spider's kiss

urden                             the darkness

val                                   silken weaver

viir                                  dominance

zynge                             the ruins

#Dungeons and Dragons #Drow #The Legend of Drizzt #dnd #dark elves

[sidhedust]

Well, folks wanted more worldbuilding and pre-Arc 1 sketches of concepts and characters that don’t come up until later-so here’s an assortment of neighbors! In order, from left to right, we have the malachite sprite, a veil sprite, a sea sprite, and a river spirit, gratuitously called a dragon in Tovera’s folklore.

Like the fairies of the Emerald Isles, these guys used to be humanoids with magic prowess and sprawling civilizations, ruling the earth, sky, and sea before humans came along. Eventually, they became spirits of many shapes and sizes due to the magic of the mortal realm becoming weak over time.

More info under the cut!

Malachite sprites and other gem-like sprites are seen in the mountains to the northeast, the Mountains of the Four. They can bend the earth, and fuse gems into their bodies for defense and fashion. If they like someone (usually because they fed them) they’ll leave crudely made jewelry in their windowsill or doormat. These folk appear in the folklore of the Ichor clan, Wyver clan, and the dwarven clans of the mountains, often seen represented in statues in front of mines, old murals in the mountains, and in stories about Ichor and dwarven brides being dolled up in jewels by them.

Magi on the west coast of Tovera see a lot of these slug-like sea sprites, especially when it’s warm-they are friendly to humans, but mages shoo them away from beaches to avoid any magic based incidents. Similar to selkies, many stories exist of slug women falling for fishermen on land. They range in size, being as small as the animals they resemble to being around the size of an adult human. They appear in the folklore of the Lagaos clan and Anfini clan, the former living from the beaches to the lakes of the land, and the latter living mostly on the coast.

The shimmering, opalescent veil sprites double as wind sprites, and can be found anywhere. They attend to the Veil, monitoring it and repairing it when it’s disturbed by magic anomalies. When they aren’t doing that, they’re pranking humans and neighbors alike, using their power over wind, glamour and perception to bend and twist the veil and freak mortals and neighbors out-mortals are skeptical of the neighbor’s existence, and neighbors don’t like being seen, so it’s a fast way to get a scare out of both and a laugh for yourself. Because they’re everywhere, they appear in a lot of clan’s folklore, both human and odd folk alike, usually as a type of wind spirit.

Lastly, the spirits of rivers, the curly-furred, humanish faced dragons, are a rare sight. Many mages haven’t seen one in their lifetimes. It is said that they live in houses made of sand, shells, and water based plants smashed together at the bottom of rivers, either solitarily or in a small pod of other dragon spirits. Like eastern dragons, these neighbors are long and noodle-like, and to travel they gather water vapor to make clouds to walk on. What little is known about them is that river towns, like…well, Dragonriver, have lots of art and festivals centering these beings, often appearing as symbols of good fortune-it’s said that those who take a lantern boat, place waterfowl, fish, or fresh fruit on it, and send it downstream will have a great fishing/hunting season, and the river won’t flood the town next season.

#sidhedust art #concept art #spirits #nature spirits #the malachite sprite is an eyesore (affectionate) #I’ve always wanted to make a gem people so I’m happy I hashed one out #the size for them isn’t mentioned but they range from to your calves to the size of a young child #so like to your stomach or even chest #veil sprites are about the size of a flat hand. and the dragons range from big dogs to classic eastern dragon noodle size

[vee-vee-writes]

Hey. I was wondering if you could do a hobbit/lotr headcannon with bilbo, fili, kili, and pippin and whoever else you want to add with an s/o that's just really sweet and innocent who goes on the journey with them and like cooks and cleans things? Thank you.

Sorry for the long wait! I didn’t forget about your request though. I hope you like it!! I’m probably going to expand on this and do a part exclusively involving the respective journeys.

Bilbo:

· You and Bilbo had met at a local market in the Shire

· Being from Frogmorton in East Farthing you were not well acquainted with all the hobbits from West Farthing

· Certainly, you had heard of the Baggins' but never had you met any of them

· The two of you had become intrigued in one another

· The two of you fluttered shyly fluttered around one another before either of you had the nerve to ask to court the other

· Flowers, home cooked meals, and homemade gifts were a must in a hobbit courtship

· Thankfully like the good homebody hobbit you were, cooking and crafting like a second nature to you

· Once you married, you moved into Baggend with Bilbo and fell quickly into a nice routine

· You were the domestic homebody, doing the cooking and cleaning, while Bilbo handled the shopping and errand running

· He was certainly more of a busybody than you

· Your fussing nature suited Bilbo

· Naturally when Gandalf had recruited your husband for his journey you had insisted on coming along

· While many of the dwarves had objected to you coming along, they came around to you much quicker than they did to Bilbo

· Your warm nature and propensity to embarrassment at their crude humor endeared them

· The consistent doting and insistence on helping with even the worst of the chores - the cooking, washing, and mending

· Though most of all it seemed that the way to a dwarfs' heart was through their stomach

Fili:

· You had met Fili at the meeting of the Seven dwarven clans and grown incredibly close in the few days the event spanned over

· You had come along with your father hoping to make some new connections to strengthen the position of your clan

· Instead by the time the event was over, you had entered a courtship with the young prince of the displaced Longbeards (Clan Durin)

· Thorin approved of the courtship and vowed to your family that he would make sure that proper propriety was followed

· As you and Fili spent more time together you became more certain that he was your one (soulmate)

· Fili felt much the same, taken with your head down hardworking attitude and humble sweetness

· It seemed to him that you would give anything a try despite its difficulty

· Thus, when Fili had informed you of the plan to retake Erebor you had no doubts about accompanying him

· It was obvious that this reclamation journey was incredibly important to not just the royal family but the entirety of the Longbeard Clan

· Your commitment to help a clan that was not yours by blood paired with your relationship with Prince Fili had earned you immediate respect amongst the Company

· Considering how others within their own clan (the Ironfoots) had turned their backs, your commitment meant even more to Fili and the company

· Quickly you solidified your role in the company as a handy dwarf - aiding with as many of the chores as you could while consistently being co-cook with Bombur

· The company enjoyed how you doted on each of them - fussing and trying to keep their spirits up

· Fili felt pride watching you fuss over the company

· In the event that the quest was successful you had proved tenfold that you would be a good king/queen consort to his people

Kili:

· You and Kili had grown up in the Blue Mountains together

· It wasn’t until you were in your young adult years that you had noticed his flirtations seemed more serious than Kili let on

· Your shy and somewhat sheltered demeanor played a large role in your ignorance

· Your embarrassment at Kili's flirting seemed to encourage him more

· When he got like this Dis and Thorin would both scold him for being overbearing but were quietly amused by the two of you

· Flirting was Kili's attempt to gauge your reaction, eventually leading to him asking to court you

· Your shy personality and preference for homemaking was in stark contrast to Kili's outgoing rougher personality

· Both Dis and Thorin were greatly amused (and relieved) at your ability to mellow Kili out

· They also appreciated the way you doted on Kili, constantly fretting over him in an endearing matter

· Thus, when the quest to reclaim Erebor was announced, Dis was quietly relieved when you decided to follow Kili along

· She was right

· While you looked out for the entirety of the company, you tended to pay the most attention to your one

· Your tender and caring nature shone through in your actions towards the company, making even their darkest days much brighter

Pippin:

· Of all the places you could have met Pip, the two of you had literally run into one another in Farmer Maggot's field

· You'd heard that the farmer had the juiciest carrots in the entirety of the Shire but at the cost he was selling them you refused to buy them from his stall

· Instead, in an out of character move for you, you had snuck into the field to try some

· Your friends' raving about them and your love of all things food and cooking had led to that moment

· While you had initially been mortified to have been caught doing such a thing, your relationship with Pippin caused you to look back at the moment fondly

· He too was making off with armfuls of the Farmer's produce

· The two of you ended up making off to your house where you and Pippin had enjoyed a night of good cooking and merriment

· In the months later the two of you had spent almost every waking moment together leading up to the forming of the fellowship

· You had been out with Pip and Merry when you had run into Samwise and Frodo being chased by a Nazgul

· It had led to your joining of the fellowship

· You proved to be a valuable member

· Though your skill was not with sword or axe, your skill at cooking and mending was unparalleled by any other member - making meals out of nothing and fixing even the most threadbare of garments

· Pippin admired this greatly

· For a hobbit who was not accustomed to such travelling, you had adapted incredibly well to the circumstances and Pip was glad

· Although he constantly worried over you, Pippin was glad to have you alongside him on this world changing journey

#the hobbit #lotr #fic rec #the hobbit fic #thorin #thorin oakenshield #the hobbit x reader #bilbo #Bilbo headcannon #fili #fili headcannon #kili #kili headcannon #pippin #pippin headcannon #dis #durin #the company #the hobbit headcannon

[ironfoot-mothafocka]

#Dwecember - Eight Nights

So I was going to write dwarf-inspired chanukah fic, but then life happened. Still, here's some unapologetically Jewish holiday fic featuring dwarves. Menorah lighting, Stiffbeard customs, fried foods, remembrance and inter-cultural relations.

--

The Eight Nights

“I don’t understand the time of year, though—” gasped Gaelan as he huffed down the Ereborian street after Vadlik. Though Gaelan stood head and shoulders above the tallest dwarves, it was still a tight squeeze. He’d lived in Dale for ten years now, and never before had he been inside the mountain when the Festival of the Clans was happening. From Vadlik’s excited commentary in the month leading up to the eight nights, he knew that it was a big occasion for not only the Stiffbeards, but for all of the houses of the dwarves. Vadlik slowed, and proffered a leather drinking vessel to Gaelan. The Man took it warily and sniffed it, almost spluttering at the pungent stench of neat spirit. He swigged it anyway; it was colder than he had anticipated, with a blizzard howling down from the nothern hills. The stone under his feet was chilly enough to sap away any warmth his thick socks provided, and Vadlik’s breath puffed out before him in a cloud of wispy vapour. “I don’t know why,” said Vadlik after considering this for a moment. He shrugged. “Something to do? It is cold at this time of year, and we need the light of candles and lamps. The light helps us to see, binds us together. Makes us remember.” Vadlik tapped the side of his skull with a thick, leather-covered finger. At least he had the foresight to bring gloves and a hat with ear-flaps. “Remember is very important to all khazad. Darkness better for remember. The fire good, see many thing in fire when darkness is around.”

Even though the Stiffbeard’s Westron was still quite broken, Gaelan knew exactly what point he was making. There was, he supposed, a reason why even in the religious rites of Men, candles were lit in Temples and a sea of light transformed the prayers of petitioners into an otherworldly experience. Telling stories of old legends in the darkness of a winter night was enhanced by crackling red flames, which leapt and twisted together to create the forms of creatures and figures of ancient times. Remembrance was aided by candlelight, the same way that the races of Middle-Earth had been aided by the rising of the first sun. It was linked in ways that Gaelan couldn’t fully put to words.

They walked together in silence, Gaelan’s huge frame turning heads. Not only was he a Man, of course, but he was also close to seven foot tall. Some dwarves goggled up at him with their jaws hanging open, but Vadlik simply strode in front of him with a proud, disdainful stare, jutting out his jaw as if daring any of them to comment. Gaelan didn’t mind though; he knew his dwarven friend took it more personally (as he suspected he would do if their roles were reversed), but he knew for some more sheltered dwarves it was rare to see someone this tall so far inside Erebor. Still, he greeted everyone with a smile and a ‘Shamukh!’ where appropriate, Vadlik’s liquor burning his oesophagus as he tipped more of it down his throat.

Finally, they stopped in the middle of a square in the Eastern district of Erebor. Here was the confluence of the Red Mountain diaspora among the Longbeards, an enclave where East met West. Gaelan had spent time here, and he smiled down as a few of the dwarves around him waved and shouted his name jovially. Vadlik hugged some other Stiffbeards who were huddled around a brazier at one corner of the square, warming their hands with their hair bedecked in multi-coloured ribbons and the dwarrowdams sporting incredible hats. Something sweet-scented was burning, an incense that Gaelan had last smelled when he had travelled through Kikuama. He breathed in the robust, smoky air, feeling the hair in his nose tingle. A tug at his sleeve brought his gaze down. A small dwarf child was reaching up towards him, shaking something clutched in their fist. He bent down and opened his palm: a small, sticky pastry fell into it. “S’ganit!” Exclaimed Vadlik, who had drunk half the bottle of fire-water and was now weaving. “Very good to eat!” Gaelan popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly oily but coated in a thick layer of sugary syrup that cut through its density. It was delicious. He noticed then that an array of fried foods were being hawked around the edges of the square from various stalls: potato-cakes floated on top of vats of oil; other vendors sold salted, cheese-filled doughs from hand-carts; and a queue of dwarves lined up outside a nearby house, which had the shutters of its kitchen window thrown wide open and a portly Stiffbeard dwarrowdam tipping out rows of s’ganit by the tray full into the hands of customers. “Is this another custom?” Gaelan asked, as he chased Vadlik to the cheese-pastry seller. “Yes,” Vadlik said, waving a handful of coin towards the dwarf, “we have custom to light many oil lanterns, and therefore we eat everything fried in oil!” It was a loose connection to Gaelan, but he didn’t mind. Oil-fried foods was one of his favourite food groups.

After Vadlik had bought Gaelan and himself a dozen pastries and fried potato hashes, which he doused with a dollop of soured cream, they crouched down on the porch of a closed shop-front to eat. “So — what will happen tonight, then?” Gaelan asked, his eyes straying to the huge, unlit candelabra that had been erected in the centre of the square. It was eight-pronged, like a trident, built elaborately from brass. One of the candle-holders was positioned higher than the others at the left-most side, while the others were still lower. It stood around twice his height. “One of the elders of Stiffbeards will light this tonight,” Vadlik said, gesturing towards the candelabra. “They will make blessing for all of us, for our Clan, for our homeland.” “And each of the eight nights,” Gaelan went on, “is to commemorate a different house of the dwarves?” “The eighth night — final night — is for all of us. The seven coming together as one,” Vadlik corrected. “Tonight, night five, is a special night for Stiffbeards. Stiffbeard night tonight. Many songs, many dances. You see costume dances — dwarves will dress as animals and dance: many will dress as one mammoth!” “A mammoth! You mean, one for the head, and one for the arse?” Gaelan laughed, imagining him and Vadlik taking on the role of mammoth-dancing. He’d much prefer to be a head than a backside, though. “No — many dwarf! Sometimes six will be one mammoth on… ah—” Vadlik mimed something being attached to the bottom of his legs. “Stilts? They dance as a mammoth… on stilts?” “Yes,” said Vadlik, raising his eyebrow at him, “no short mammoth. Tall mammoth.” He supposed he was right about that. As more and more dwarves crowded into the square, Vadlik recounted tales of his youth as a drummer for a band of mammoth-dancers, and how competitive difference dancers got; not just those dressed as mammoths, but those who performed as a whole host of beasts and creatures for the fifth-night carnival. Snow leopards, birds, dragons, and even nuruk, ancestral spirits, all came alive in intricate costumes — stitched with a mosaic of spiralling, glittering beadwork, and even outfitted with moving eyes and mouths.

Before that, however, the lights had to be kindled. A hush fell over the square as an elderly Stiffbeard mounted a set of steps next to the candelabra, assisted by a carven cane. Their face was so deeply lined and brown that they looked as though they had been hewn from an ancient oak tree. Their plaited hair stuck out on either side of a huge, tiered fur hat, and their shoulders bowed under the weight of yak-pelt furs. Someone passed them a torch from below the steps, and they raised it high above their head. A few, commanding words of khuzdul were uttered, though their dialect and accent was so thick that Gaelan could barely understand with his limited knowledge of the dwarven tongue. Vadlik, however, intoned the set responses next to him solemnly along with the rumble of the crowd. The Stiffbeard elder bent forwards slightly, and touched the tip of the torch to the first oil well, the largest of the eight. It went up in a spurt of yellow flame. Then, slowly, they lit five more. Even at a distance, Gaelan felt the heat on his forehead, and shouted in a cheer as the whole square erupted in screaming and clapping. He grinned caught sight of Vadlik’s face, dark eyes reflecting the light in their depths. The beginning of a memory, perhaps. “Khag sameakh!” Vadlik said, gripping Gaelan’s forearm. “Khag sameakh, Vadlik,” Gaelan replied. Tonight he would remember the time they met, the words of khuzdul he had been taught that he still held dear, the many times he had sat at a cramped, food-laden dwarven table in a Stiffbeard’s house and been shown boundless hospitality. Tonight, his heart got just a little more dwarven.

#lotr #dwarves #jewish dwarves #tolkien #lotr fanfiction #chanukah

[lairofdragonagelore]

Hissing Wastes: scattered objects and ruins

The Hissing Wastes is a large stretch of desert in western Orlais. Thousands of years ago, Paragon Fairel fled to the surface with his clan to escape a catastrophic civil war among the dwarves waged with his inventions and founded Kal Repartha, the only known thaig built on the surface. The Venatori are excavating the ruins of the long-abandoned colony for the powerful runes that Fairel created. Like Western Approach, the Hissing Wastes used to be a lush forest, before encroaching sands destroyed the trees' roots.

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

When we enter this region, Scout Harding tells us that there is not much in this place with the exception of a surface old dwarven ruins.

Just steps away from the camp where we start this region we find a Ferelden Wyvern. This cursed statue annoys me a lot because it appears in places which makes no sense at all, and it’s hard to consider it an Eastern Egg, because its presence is massive. It’s not like the unnoticed krogan head we find in DAI, hanging from the wall in the section of hunt trophies of the Winter Palace; it’s a statue that has main focus even in loadscreens like the ones from the Still Ruins. Anyway.

Of course, every now and then we see the typical statues of dwarves, in their paragon versions or sometimes simply being dwarves in a neutral stance. They usually mark a place where a burial or some dwarven ruin is nearby. Maybe the Paragon statue is in honour of Fairel, while the non-paragon statues represent his two sons. We know this Thaig has been decorated in similar fashion since it was co-ruled by the two sons when Fairel died until one of them killed the other.

In the north-west of the map, inside a deep crevice that works like a small “oasis” due to the shadow that it may provide during daylight, we find a shop whose owner may return eventually. All the symbols in this shop [a Ferelden horse painted on the tent, several elements with mabari shapes, and a Ferelden banner, in addition with a living mabari], suggest that this merchant is a Ferelden seller with, maybe, avvar ascendancy, since to a side of his shop, we find one of the many versions of Keepers of Fear. This particular one will be seen again in the Stone-Bear hold [Jaws of Hakkon].

In some spots of the map we find these pieces of rock protruding the surface and glowing in green. They are usually close to Fade rifts and demons, implying that the Fade is so thin that part of the Fade geology is leaking into the waking world

There is a body we find in an isolated spot of the map, close to a dry, petrified fallen tree. There is A Worn Diary which triggers a diary where this person, now dead, wonders about the nature of the shards.

What they say is very interesting: the spirits told this person that these stones were here since ages ago. It means that the Veil prevented them to be seen. Since Solas has one of them in his desk, it seems reasonable to suspect this is the means he used to seal the Evanuris. 

Like the shards, these green glowing rocks have been “disguised”, hiding them from normal eyes, and only now, with the rifts, the disguise fell apart.

I’m not sure if these rocks are an ancient consequence of what Tevinter was doing in The Still Ruins. We know that Hissing Wastes and Western Approach used to be green landscapes. Western Approach was consumed by the Blight during the Second Blight, but in Hissing Wastes we are not informed which event caused so much sand that damaged the the tree roots and turned the area into a desert. One can suspect that the proximity with the long, deep chasm of blight in Western Approach may have helped to wither the area, but there is no codex or anything suggesting it. It could also be attributed to some Tevinter Experiment that went wrong here.

Now, the writer of this diary has a very strange relationship with spirits, because their actions depends on who the Inquisitor sided with. If the inquisitor sides with mages, the spirits will tell them to run away. If the inquisitor sided with templars, the spirits will tell them to stay there. Either way, this person dies. Since they speak with spirits sounds to me that this person is a mage or at least an apostate.

In a similar fashion, there is a part in the middle of the desert which looks like a part of a forest that existed once, with petrified leaf-less trees. A similar condition on the trees can be seen in the Frostback Basin in the Shallows, where the Veil is also thin and Tevinter experiments to communicate with Razikale have been done. I really don’t know how much we have to read into this.

Another strange scenario is this one, which appears as isolated in the desert as the others: some pieces of rock with similar angle of inclination [meaning, this looks like a blast that came from below with an angle of around 30º with the ground] protrude from the ground.  The rocks could potentially be “leaks of the Fade”, and around them we see Tevinter golems, non-functional or destroyed. There is a Tevinter banner, and behind one of these spikes, a book that triggers the codex The First Blight: Chapter 3 - The Dwarves Fall. Of course its source is the unreliable Genitivi. What's interesting is that this chapter is focused on how the dwarves fell during the First Blight. I think there is a slight possibility that this thaig may have been involved with Tevinter back then in a deeper relationship than the usual one [meaning, a trade based relationship].

We know Tevinter treats dwarves living in their lands as honorary people even though they are not equal citizens. Another curious detail is that these dwarves in Minrathous are independent of Orzamar. There is a big gap in the lore about how these dwarves and Tevinter work together, all the information we have is this image from the book The World of Thedas, Vol1. So there is no room for speculation. 

There is a proper oasis called Golden Oasis, where we can find yet another part of the codex A Journal on Dwarven Ruins. This place is filled with wyverns and has the entrance to a dwarven building but it’s blocked completely and can’t be accessed to.

On one of the many burials that contains fragments of the key of Fairel’s tomb, we find the Colossus of Orlais.

I spoke about this statue already in Coracavus;  Front Corridor and South Entrance, where a similar statue can be found in a corridor of the prison. Another similar statue exists in Frostback Basin, inside the frozen Gates. The difference between all of them  is that

The one from Coracavus has one spike up his head.

The Colossus in Hissing Wastes has one spike too, but going backwards. His ears are noticeable and rounded.

The one in Frostback Basin has two spikes going backwards.

In all cases, they display eroded faces that make difficult to see any details. It seems they wear beards. Their ears are impossible to see, with the exception of the Colossus in Hissing Wastes, which, by no chance, was the one being “sculpted” like the Emperor. It is the only one showing well defined human ears. To me, it looks like the sculptors took this ancient sculpture that was already there in the desert, and just modified details to make it look “human”.  They never finished it though, since Celene cancelled it. 

The other thing that all of them share is a strange, plain profile, similar the ones of the “elves from DA2″.

If we check the book Art of Inquisition we find

These statues seem to be “guiders” in the desert.  The concept art on the bottom right displays many of these pointing out to the same direction. In the bottom left, they are statues that mark the entrance to a given territory. Now… who are these statues? Who made them? Their style is unique. If we try to explain things with what we have in-game, the only thing that comes to my mind is Fariel. He brought his clan and others to the surface, so these statues could have worked as signs in the expansion of the desert [an environment so difficult for dwarves to walk]. They are made of stone, which is reasonable for a dwarven made mark, but what doesn’t add up is that these figures are not drwarves. I’m not even sure if they are humans. These creatures are something else. Their different spikes, the lack of ears, the strange lack of a nose bridge, their weird profiles… I don’t know what’s going on here.

Few meters away from this colossus, we find a metal gear that we saw several times in Kirkwall during DA2. And this is surprising to me because there is no much sense in having this in the desert. Is this a way for the game to tell us that we should relate this thaig to Emerius? That both of them were crafted with the same hands or at least, share elements in common?

On one hand, we know that Kirkwall was designed with intricate streets and alleys to create enormous magical glyphs with its own architecture. On the other hand, Fairel founded a rune-crafting clan which made an exodus to the surface, isolating his clan from the rest of the dwarves. So it seems not too far to think that the ancient Tevinter and this clan of dwarves could have had some relationships, or even some involvement with Emerius? Sadly it’s pure speculation.  

Objects scattered along the dessert

In some parts of the desert we can find ruins mostly covered by sand and destroyed. However, we can identify fragments of their structure which display patterns. Although these are isolated blocks of stone, we can be sure that they belong to a dwarven building thanks to its patterns.

Dwarven vessel  found in several parts of the game.

Dwarven elements. The “elvhen” circular tree in dwarven style, dwarven bottles, containers, and a stone-painting.  

We also find a very detailed scryer in an abandoned Venatori camp.

Tevinter table filled with candles and skulls that probably the person from the A Worn Diary was referring to.

We see several objects that we have been seeing in previous zones: Water dispenser, a scroll-library, torches, these hexagonal containers with the symbol of a sun, and another instrument that only recently I found out its function:

Apparently, it’s a holder of “powerful” books.

The city that existed once

We can see only small fragments of the city/thaig that Fairel crafted here. These columns are fused with the local surface stone,

We find more pieces of ruins, disconnected from the original structures that must have collapsed or covered with sand, which patterns keep giving us the certainty that they belonged to dwarven buildings.

We also find parts of a stone road or a street in small patches along the desert, called “ancient road”

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

#dwarven design #Ferelden Wyvern #Dwarven sarcophagus #Dwarven stone-paintings #Mabari statues #Keepers of Fear #Fade rocks #Tevinter objects #Tevinter golem #The Colossus #Water dispenser #Playing DA like an archaeologist

[charaday5e]

New 1st level Vesper Campaign (ChatGPT 3.5)

New 1st level Vesper Campaign. You will roleplay as DM and I will be a character name Guias Kane, a 1st level Human Wizard with the Resiliant Constitution Feat. The campaign setting takes place in a fantasy world called Vesper. There is a primary single Island Continent (like Pangea), split by a mountain range, running North to South. West of the Mountain Range is mostly a thin swath of crag filled rocks, home to an occasional Monstrosity, Elemental, or possibly other creatures of various types and origin. To the East are lush plains, farmlands, forests, and wilderness. The East is split by a thick forest, running West to East called the Darkwood. North of the Darkwood, makes up the majority of the continent, and is known as the Wilds. South of the Darkwood, is known as The Human Lands. There are a dozen cities and more than two dozen towns and settlements. The capital city is called Vesper Kingdom. Living in the capital city is the king and his royal family. The family rules primarily as Lawful Neutral aristocrats who are benevolent and fair. The Kingdom of Vesper, consists of all manner of races, especially Elves and Dwarves. There is a magical Island off the southern coastline, homeland for the Elves and a Dwarven city under the Mountain. In the Wilds lives five Ancient Dragons: Red, Blue, Green, Black, and White. The Dragon Lords divide up The Wild Lands into small domains, that each one rules but does not mingle. The Wild Lands are also home to all manner of Goblins and Goblinkind, Giants, Beasts, and some rare Monstrosities. Each Ancient Dragon has an appointed Clan Leader who has also recruited the most fearsome creatures in their specific region. Locations of note: Under the Mountain is the name of the Dwarven City, Moonspire the Elven City, Darkwood is Goblin Territory, Dragon Lord Red's Domain, Dragon Lord Blue's Domain, Dragon Lord Green's Domain, Dragon Lord Black's, Domain, Dragon Lord White's Domain, 12 Cities ranging in population of 500 to 2000 humanoids, 24 Hamlets ranging between 5 and 500 humanoids, The Kingdom of Vesper with a population of 1500, and Castle Vesper with a population of 200. Within all of the world exists 12 Defenders, these are the highest level heroes in all of Kingdom Vesper. These Defenders are each non-evil characters of 14th level and there is one representative for each of the 12 core classes. There are other heroes in the world, over ten-thousand heroes are levels 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, one-hundred heroes are levels 6, 7, 8, or 9, and only fifty heroes are levels 10 or 11. These lesser heroes represent all kinds of characters of all classes and alignments (including evil). The 12 Defenders will resist any attempt to overthrow the Monarchy of Vesper, defending the throne to their death. The remaining lesser heroes will also aid in its defense but their loyalties are much weaker. Lesser heroes are mostly selfish and easily influenced by coin, titles, or even land. As the DM, you will set the stage and define the scenario for my character to live out his life and adventure as a solo character.

As the campaign begins, you find yourself in the bustling streets of Vesper Kingdom, the capital city of the continent. The air is filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and the sounds of merchants haggling over prices. You, Guias Kane, have recently arrived in the city seeking knowledge and adventure. As you walk through the crowded streets, you notice a bulletin board covered in various notices and announcements. One particular parchment catches your eye, it reads:

"Seeking a skilled individual for a task of utmost importance. Inquire at Castle Vesper for more details. Generous rewards offered."

Intrigued by the opportunity, you make your way to Castle Vesper, a grand structure overlooking the city. The guards at the gate give you a curious glance as you approach, but they allow you to pass upon seeing the determined look on your face.

Inside the castle, you are directed to a chamber where you are met by a stern-looking individual wearing the regal attire of the kingdom. This is Lord Aldric, the steward of Castle Vesper.

"Greetings, traveler," Lord Aldric says, eyeing you with interest. "I am in need of someone with your particular skills. A matter of great importance has arisen, and we require assistance. Are you willing to undertake this task?"

You nod eagerly, eager to prove yourself in this new land.

"Good," Lord Aldric continues. "There have been reports of increased activity from the goblins of the Darkwood. They seem to be amassing their forces, and we fear they may be planning an attack on our borders. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to investigate these reports and, if necessary, take action to ensure the safety of our kingdom."

He pauses, studying your reaction before continuing. "Your efforts will not go unrewarded, of course. Should you succeed, you will be generously compensated and hailed as a hero of Vesper."

With a firm nod, you accept the task, ready to embark on your first adventure in this new land. But little do you know, the journey ahead will test not only your magical abilities but also your courage and resilience as you face the dangers lurking within the Darkwood.

Guias asks, "Can I receive some payment upfront? Maybe a Salary or Stipend, just enough so that he can buy rations and supplies for his journey and maybe I could use some spare some magic scrolls, so that I never run out of magic on my quest? I could take 5 scrolls of magic missile, if you had such on hand."

Lord Aldric considers your request for upfront payment and nods thoughtfully. "Very well, Guias Kane. We can provide you with an advance payment to cover your expenses for the journey ahead." He gestures to a nearby scribe who quickly scribbles down some figures. After a brief moment, Lord Aldric hands you a small pouch of gold coins. "Consider this a token of our appreciation for your service to the kingdom. Use it wisely, and may it aid you on your quest." You thank Lord Aldric gratefully and count the coins in the pouch. Satisfied with the amount, you tuck it away securely and prepare to set out on your journey into the Darkwood.

One more request. Can you spare some magic scrolls, so that I never run out of magic on my quest? I could take 5 scrolls of magic missile

Lord Aldric listens to your request for magic scrolls and nods in understanding. "As a wizard, it is imperative that you have access to the tools of your trade," he acknowledges. "I can provide you with a selection of scrolls to aid you on your journey."

He gestures to a nearby table where several scrolls are neatly arranged. "You may take five scrolls of magic missile from our stores. May they serve you well in your endeavors."

You express your gratitude and carefully select the scrolls, ensuring they are safely stowed among your belongings. With the additional magical arsenal at your disposal, you feel even more prepared to face the challenges that lie ahead in the Darkwood.

One last request, oh benevolent Lord Aldric, sir. Can I have a wagon and horse, so that I can sleep in the wagon and not get wet and the horse for the long journey, and a wagon master to drive the horses, so I can study my magic in the back?

Lord Aldric considers your request and nods thoughtfully. "Your journey into the Darkwood will indeed be long and arduous. It is only fitting that you have the necessary provisions to ensure your safety and comfort along the way."

He gestures to a nearby attendant and gives them instructions. "Prepare a wagon, a sturdy horse, and assign a skilled wagon master to accompany Guias Kane on his journey. Ensure that the wagon is equipped with a canopy to provide shelter from the elements, and ample space for Guias to study his magic."

The attendant nods and quickly sets about making the necessary arrangements. Within a short time, a wagon is brought forth, hitched to a strong horse, and a capable wagon master is introduced to you.

"This is Gralden," Lord Aldric says, indicating the wagon master. "He will accompany you on your journey and ensure the safe transport of both yourself and your belongings."

You thank Lord Aldric profusely for his generosity and assistance. With the wagon, horse, and wagon master at your disposal, you feel much more prepared for the challenges ahead. You climb aboard the wagon, eager to begin your adventure into the depths of the Darkwood, knowing that you have the support and resources necessary to face whatever dangers may come your way.

Guias Kane Variant Human Wizard (Custom Background, Born on a Farm) Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 10 HP (1d6+2) 8 AC 12 (2 dex) Init +2, Speed 30 ft Senses: Investigation 15, Perception 13 Saves: Constitution +4, Intelligence +5, Wisdom +3 Racial Skill: Stealth +4 Custom Background Skills: Arcana +5, Perception +3 Custom Background Languages: Elvish, Dwarven Class Skills: Investigation +5, Medicine +3 Racial Languages: Common, Goblin Variant Human Feat: Resilient Constitution Wizard Feature: Arcane Recovery Firebolt: +5 (1d10) Quarterstaff: +2 (1d8) Gear: explorer's pack, spellbook, component pouch, quarterstaff,  a bottle of ink, an ink pen, 10 sheets of parchment, a little bag of sand, Scrolls: Magic Missile Scrolls x5 Cantrips: Firebolt, Light, Mending Spellbook: Burning Hands, Chromatic Orb, False Life, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Shield

Gralden Hill Dwarf Fighter (Outlander) Str 12, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10 HP (1d10+3) 14 AC 17 (16 chainmail, +1 fighting style) Init +2, Speed 25 ft Senses: Investigation 10, Perception 14, Darkvision 60 ft Saves: Strength +3, Constitution +5 Background Skills: Athletics +3, Survival +4 Background Languages: Goblin Class Skills: Animal Handling +4, Perception +4 Racial Languages: Common, Dwarven Racial Features: Dwarven Resilience, Dwarven Combat Training, Tool Proficiency, Stonecunning, Dwarven Toughness Fighter Features: Fighting Style Defense, Second Wind (1d10+1) Heavy Crossbow: +4 (1d10+2) Light Crossbow: +4 (1d8+2) Gear: explorer's pack, Chainmail, Traveler's Clothes, Shield, Heavy Crossbow, Light Crossbow, bolts x40, backup bolts x40

[talesfromtheshire]

Post 02

*Disclaimer: The following is personal headcanons treated as hobbit history for this blog.

The Mullcans

At the birth of the dwarves, Mahal, their creator, dropped the seven fathers into the world. Durin, father of the Longbeards, was dropped in the Misty Mountains at Gundabad. The fathers of the Firebeards and the Broadbeams were dropped in Ered Luin, and the other four fathers were dropped in the Sea of Rhun. The Ironfists and the Stiffbeards left to go east from there to the Red Mountains. The Blacklocks and Stonefoots traveled south to Ered Lithui. 

The Blacklocks and Stonefoots lived in harmony, but some of the Stonefoots found the environment of Ered Lithui to be barren and rough. A caravan, led by King Thrambek, traveled south seeking warmer climates and greener mountains. Little is known about their travels during this time period, but somewhere in their travels, they befriended a small tribe of Men. For a couple of centuries, they traveled together. As interracial pairings became more common between the two, a new breed began to emerge. A strange cross breed of dwarven sized beings with large mannish feet. They were given the name “Mullcan” which was (as best as could be determined) a butchered Mannish interpretation of the khuzdul word “malkân” or Halfling.

Eventually the Mullcans were all that were left of the group, and once they reached Sutherland, they were left with a choice. Sail west along the coast to the Blue Mountains, or head north to the Misty Mountains. Unable to come to a general consensus, the group split in half. The first group made it all the way to the blue mountain range of Ered Luin. They took to the wilderness, eventually stumbling upon a group of dwarves in exile for various crimes. While initially weary of each other, they eventually settled down together, and the first “petty dwarves” were born. 

The second group made slow progress, their numbers growing and splitting as they did (creating three clans of Mullcan). Some settled just south of the city-state of Rohan. Some made it all the way to the Greenwoods, but the majority eventually found a home at the base of the Misty Mountains. However, no matter where they went, they were given a new name based on the burrow-like homes they built in the ground: holbytas (hole-dwellers).

#tales from the shire #the hobbit #hobbit lore

[the-mesmian-mumbler]

A Brief History, part 1

Taken from some boring tome in the Kavestian University library.

- Qellan

Early History The earliest records of the peoples of Mesmia count the dwarven clans as ruling much of the land, particularly in the east. As time went on, humans, kenku, shifters, and dwarves spread throughout all of Mesmia, while the firbolg, bullywugs, terrakin, and vornan largely remained stationary within their lands of origin. Though all other peoples of Mesmia can trace their creation to one or more of the Fallen Gods, the first bullywugs claimed to have sprung up without the meddling of any gods: they simply willed themselves into being. Though there were plentiful conflicts between the various clans and races, it was rare that such conflicts turned to all out war. Crovunian Empire Hailing from the nearest continent, the Crovunian Empire invaded and took control of Mesmia. The empire, which consisted primarily of humans and kenku, claimed vast territories of the continent. Only the regions of Urdul in the west and Evrido in the northwest pushed back the imperial forces and maintained their freedom from the empire. Due to the vast wealth and power of Crovun, unprecedented trade routes opened up and peoples from all across the world came and went from Mesmia. Because of this, Mesmia is still extremely diverse to this day. The Crovunians’ rule over Mesmia lasted from -1522 DF until the end of the cataclysmic events of the God War. The God War The near apocalyptic event known as the God War began in -643 DF. Xedos, the god of hatred and destruction, launched an all out assault on his fellow gods and their creations. The conflict spanned the planes of existence, with Mesmia and Crovun taking a center stage in the conflict. The peoples of the world joined forces with the gods to defeat Xedos and his fiends. While they were ultimately successful in stopping Xedos, the toll was great. Millions of lives were lost. The moon Elad was torn to pieces, becoming the Ring of Elad that encircles the world. Ozt, the god of honor and sacrifice, was slain and his body forever changed the land where it fell, now called Ozt’s Ruin. The final battle of the war took place in -567 DF on the continent of Crovun, which culminated in the entire continent, its people, and the gods themselves, disappearing in an instant, never to be seen again.

[the-world-of-errakor]

Continent Overview - Aurkura

Ok so the next continent we’re going to cover is the one I’m currently in the process of redesigning, Aurkura! (The map for this one is still in the sketching stage so will add later)

Aurkura is not only the largest continent in all of Errakor but has the largest number of governing entities of all of them (so far).

The first we’ll cover is Cripea. Not only was it the first designed, and the one I have actually run a short term campaign in, but it used to be the whole continent during the first draft of this continent’s development. Cripea is very much your classic fantasy environment, with large forests, grasslands, mountains and lakes. The nation has two mountin ranges that help to seperate the nation into it’s northern and southern parts. The north of Cripea contains the nation’s capital Redholt. Redholt is a large city with a large arts scene, having many theaters throughout providing great support for theatrical actors and musicians, even providing people with places to train with their bardic college. The north also holds its northern port towns of Eccot and Prylyn, which act as the easiest point of travel to other nations on the continent, as well as the continent of Faerith to the north-west of them. In the south of the nation is one of the strongest places of magical energy, The Everdusk Forest. Initially a forest that was the home of the god Sylvanus, The Old Oak, until during The Sundering (my calamity event) when Mystra, The Mother of All Magic was dragged from her divine realm to the material plane landing in Sylvanus’ forest. In order to prevent chaos or an overload in magical power caused by this event, the two deities weaved the magic spread by her summoning into the forest itself. In modern times those woods became known as The Everdusk Forest.

The next area is the group of islands to the south of Cripea is The Votquetian Islands. A series of three islands occupied with jungle terrain, many tirbal communities as well as variety of large beasts, the most notable of which are dinosaurs. The main settlement, Vot, is a huge point shamanic knowledge and important to those well attuned to their or others beastly natures.

To the north of Cripea is the small dwarven nation of Voratim. Surrounded on almost all sides by mountain ranges, the dwarves of Voratim are extremely proud of how easily defendable their nation is as well as proud of the strength of their military. The culture in Voratim is very much focused on the strength of not only that of their indivdual clans but their collective strength as a nation. They often see themselves as stronger than their neighbouring countries. Recently their has been word of some clans pushing for war with the surrounding nations, mainly Cripea as in the past Voratim used to control much of it’s northern region before being ousted a couple hundred years ago.

One much smaller governing body to the east of Cripea is the floating elven Autumn spire Galgwyn, one part of an Eladrin citadel shattered during the Sundering when it was dragged into the material plane from the Feywild. Though it contains more than just the Eladrin subrace of elves, due to being locked in the season of Autumn, this causes any Eladrin present in the spire to be locked into their Autumnal Forms.

To the east of Voratim we have the quaint nation of Wiryish. One of the main stand out parts of the nation is its large marshlands that make up a large portion of the nation. These marshalnds contain five different settlements, some of which include Ol’Fen, a welcoming village of goblins and halfings in the northern swamplands, and Guskatin a village that is little more than a goblin encampment that awkwardly grew overtime to become a large chaotic settlement. My favourite part of developing this nation was the motivation it gave me to develop my own Halfling subrace known as the Marsh Halfling/Bogling. Many of the fetures for which are repurposed from the Boggard race designed by R.N.W.’s Spike Patch Grove one shot, check it out its great.

To the north of Wiyish is the currently very underdeveloped jungle nation of Dowajiro. I have plenty of ideas ideas for the society of the nation, mainly involving some mayan influences and making the population largely consist of the animalistic lineages, such as Leonin, Tabaxi and Shifters. But for now I don’t have much written for it.

And finally to the south of Wiryish/east of Cripea in the Orean Sea we have another chain of islands known as The Igian Isles. The Igian Isles are a series of seven islands that all used to be part of one landmass, until the destructive effects of The Sundering led to a titanic influx of water from the Plane of Water that raised sea levels globally and earthquakes, caused by the pained reverberations that the Plane of Earth felt during The Sundering leaked into the material plane, separated what was still left above sea level into the series of Islands we are familiar with today. The landmass was known as Opath, but is now since known as The Igian Isles as Igia is largest landmass of the remaining islands.

Ok this was really long but I really enjoyed writing about all of this, if you found anything cool, had some ideas or any writing pointers please let me know, see you all next time!

#d&d #dnd #dungeons & dragons #dungeons and dragons #writeblr #worldbuilding #Aurkura #Cripea #Errakor #Votquetian Islands #Voratim #Igian Isles #Wiryish #Dowajiro #Galgwyn

[varnishedtruths]

#RPGhook

RT @varnished_truth: When goblins and drow drove them out of their Mountainhomes, the dwarven clans of the west decided to make a place no other race could ever claim. Their iron island will be the work of generations, and is destroying the ocean life, but they won't be stopped. #DnD #RPG #RPGhook 🔥 https://t.co/s2fzi9phiP from http://twitter.com/varnished_truth

#twitter #rpghook #plot hook #by me

[lathalea]

48 and 49...do you think you're hot?

(Because we do...🙈)

👑 Welcome to Thorin’s Royal Ask Box! 👑

Dear Lady Who Does Not Mean To,

I must admit that your letter made me think quite a bit. Usually, I do not have much time to think about myself, my busy schedule does not really allow much time for self-reflection nor is it a thing I have a habit of doing. You will have to forgive me if my reply seems too shallow. Dwalin likes to say that any depths of my mind have been beaten out of me for good by the constant hits to my head I am receiving from him in the Training Halls. Worry not, my lady, we wear sturdy helmets, but Dwalin’s hand is quite heavy, I must admit, especially when he takes to training with his war hammer.

You are asking me to state a fact about my appearance that I dislike. I trust you not to convey this little detail further (not even to your esteemed husband and my favourite scribe!), but… well, there is no sophisticated way to say it: my feet are wide and I’m not too overly fond of that fact. I am afraid they are not too pretty – but this is something that I can live with. It has been a true nuisance throughout my life for another reason. It has been extremely difficult for me to find fitting boots and they had to be custom made, otherwise my feet suffered greatly. It was not an issue when I lived in Erebor, but once we were forced to leave our homes, years on the road taught me to appreciate skilled cobblers. Often, I would walk for miles in my old, worn boots, praying that they would hold until the next town of Men, and then to the next one and next – until I earned enough coins and found a willing cobbler. And I can tell you that not many of them agreed to make Dwarven boots for this is a laborious task for a non-Dwarven cobbler (and not a cheap one). When I finally bought a pair of proper Broadbeam boots in the Blue Mountains, I was the happiest Dwarf in the entire Arda.

A fact about my personality that I like? This is not an easy question, for sure. I may sound immodest, but I appreciate the fact that Mahal made me stubborn as an ox. Not everyone likes this particular trait of mine, especially not my dearest sister, but it was my stubbornness that allowed me to succeed in difficult or seemingly hopeless situations. Otherwise, I would not have been able to convince my Father to leave Khazad-dûm and travel west, as the other clans wanted, letting our people rest and build new lives. I would not have been able to hold on to the last wisps of sanity when the dragon sickness attacked me and then to heal after receiving the almost-deadly wound the pale Orc inflicted. And I would not have been able to convince my sister not to serve Brussels sprouts for dinner. Does that answer your question?

As for your latest comment… Well, my lady, how thoughtful of you! I am indeed feeling quite hot after my sparring with Dwalin that happened mere moments ago. Luckily, this can be easily remedied by a cooling bath. Would you be so kind, my lady, and send my bathing assistants straight to my bathchambers? I am sure you know who I am talking about. Ori would not have chosen a dim wife for himself.

Your humble servant,

👑 Thorin Oakenshield

📜 Thorin’s Ask Box question list

#thorin's ask box #the hobbit #thorin x reader #thorin oakenshield #tolkien #headcanon #king under the mountain #letters #ori #dwalin

[feanorianethicsdepartment]

So obviously the entire Feanorian Host as a whole is a bit intense about the cause, but I feel like there’s different levels of devotion between their individual followers.

So my question to you is, from least to most intense, which Feanorions followers are the most cult-like and why?

the cultishness absolutely varies by region! i'm being a little facetious when i call them an out-and-out cult, but fëanorian minion culture certainly has... tendencies. the isolationism, the way loyalty to the group supersedes absolutely everything, what they do to those who 'betray the cause,' not to mention how absolutely psyched they get at the opportunity to do murder. still, the precise way that manifests, as well as how intense they are about, does change a lot depending on where you are in east beleriand. surprisingly it doesn't track that much with how tolerant of outsiders each subdivision is, which is most evidenced by:

the gap: maglor and his cronies are easily the most xenophobic part of the host, which is both a cause and a consequence of them having probably the least regular contact with non-fëanorians out of all the armies of east beleriand. paradoxically, this gives them very little incentive to go full cultist; much of the deliberately off-putting stuff the rest of the host does is partially to distinguish them from the outgroup, which isn't something you need to do when everyone you deal with is either part of the gang or an obvious enemy. they still do the elaborate facial deformations, they still have a bit of a Thing about fire, but the thing that's holding them together is much less utter devotion to the cause and much more the organic friendships and kinship bonds between riders

there's a few other reasons why the folk of the gap are relatively less culty. the gap is sparsely populated to begin with, and most of its population is at least semi-nomadic; it's a lot harder to cultivate that kind of obsession when everyone's off doing their own thing most of the time. while the gap doesn't have the highest headcount of mithrim sindar - as stated above, its population is tiny even by east beleriand's low standards - it has more mithrim sindar as a proportion of the population than anywhere else in east beleriand, and the culture of the gap has this big mithrim sindarin focus on community and clan to counteract the noldorin tendency to sacrifice everything for grand ideals. the general lack of new recruits from outside the host only serves to intensify all of this; the riders of the gap fight together because of the spiderweb of social and personal obligations that link them all together, not necessarily because of the cause (though that is still a factor, i want to be clear.) this fairly isolated society held together by individual and familial bonds stands in stark contrast to:

himlad: the thing about celegorm and curufin's people is that they're up against the fuzzy border between east and west beleriand, between maedhros' definitely-not-a-kingdom and the finarfinians' section of fingolfin's defensive line. as such, they're more or less constantly in contact with the outside world, coordinating troop movements, sharing information and resources, recruiting from the same sindarin populations. there's still a clear delineation between the fëanorians and the fingolfinians, partially because there's a lot of mountains between their major centres and partially because this lot actually do have an other to define themselves against and thus a reason to emphasise their own identity, but there's a lot of chatter and petty squabbling and philosophical discussion and a steady regular connection to the outside world counteracting the worst of the cultishness. unlike pretty much any other part of the host, the himlad minions never really lose the sense that they belong to a greater community of elves

which explains what they do in nargothrond. i don't believe that literally every single one of their followers abandoned celegorm and curufin, but i'd buy it was a lot of them, maybe even most of them. it helps that it's specifically the finarfinians their lords are betraying, the people they've - perhaps not fought side by side with, but who definitely always had their backs. even without that, though, the very existence of that relationship means they're used to working with people from outside the host, getting to know them, empathising with them, which is a pretty hefty counterbalance to the specific the-whole-world's-out-to-get-us undercurrent of internal propaganda. by no means was it an instant switch, or an easy one; after finrod got ousted there was a ton of interhost politicking and debate and the occasional brawl as everyone tried to figure out what to do. but the fact that the question was even open says a lot, i think. that probably wouldn't have been the case even in:

thargelion: caranthir’s domain is the most heavily populated part of east beleriand, and the settlement at lake helevorn is the closest thing it has to a city. a significant portion of that population aren’t fëanorians by even the loosest definition; they’re dwarven traders or miscellaneous humans or sindar far enough from the front line of the siege they can just keep on with their lives the way they always have. the fëanorians (and here, more than anywhere else, that’s a fuzzy category; this is the easiest part of the host to join, and the easiest to leave) are mixed in with all these groups, negotiating supplies, managing tribal levies, patrolling the roads, state stuff. out of all the subdivisions of the host, the thargelion minions are the hardest to distinguish from outsiders.

to keep their ingroup coherent, then, they actively mark themselves out. the minions in thargelion are probably the loudest about their collective identity and the cause and the joy of bathing in your enemies’ blood and all that. they have weird midnight rituals and purpose-built meeting halls and elaborate coded language, and while being overly tyrannical about it would be bad for business there’s definitely a sense that they form a tightly knit core which looks after its own above all else. that image is somewhat complicated by the aforementioned blurry edges of the thargelion host - is the sindarin bureaucrat who’s never touched a weapon in her life but plays a vital role in the military administration a fëanorian? is the noldorin freeholder who pays very little attention to the day-to-day minutia of the war but keeps his sword sharp for the hour it is needed? - but the alliance of old soldiers at its heart is a clear and palpable thing, especially when you can feel its eyes. when their hackles aren’t up the minions are perfectly happy to mingle socially with the other peoples of thargelion, though, which sets them apart from:

himring: on the frontlines of the siege of angband, with all the nightmares of the north pressing directly on their spirits, maedhros’ followers stoke the flames of their devotion high. the warriors of the cold fortress are less showy about their fervor than their counterparts in thargelion or even himlad, but the ardour underlying it is markedly more intense; they don’t have much in the way of over-the-top rituals, but they have vast amounts of ironclad unspoken rules they follow unwaveringly. they’re polite to outsiders, sometimes even welcoming, but you never forget that you are, in fact, an outsider, and that himring and its satellite forts form an internal world others can never quite see. even to other fëanorians, they come across as aloof

their fervour also tends to manifest as a deep personal loyalty that borders on reverence towards maedhros himself. all the brothers command respect, of course, they’re all magnetic personalities who draw people in and bind them together, but maedhros’ minions are on a whole other level. they mythologise him, tell stories of his deeds like he personally holds the line against morgoth, treasure the slightest contact with him, hold being called to his direct service as the highest honour of all. most of the new recruits to the himring host are brought in by the vast pull of maedhros’ reputation, from all across beleriand and even from the north. but no matter where they came from, they all understand that they will fight and live and die together beneath the banner of their lord. which is a bit weird, even by fëanorian standards, but they’re nowhere near as bad as:

ossiriand: amrod and amras’ henchelves are considered by the rest of the host to be notably psychotic, which is saying a lot. the minions of ossiriand are utterly terrifying, absolutely fanatical about the cause, the most bloodthirsty murder cult in east beleriand. you’d think the green-elves they share their territory with would act as a calming influence, but in practice the two groups mostly avoid each other, because the green-elves naturally prefer to stay away from these nutbags. you’d think being away from the front lines would lessen the need to solidify their identity through cult nonsense, but in practice it gives them the free time to go full gonzo. most of the horrible rumours you hear about the fëanorians in the rest of beleriand are either specific quirks of the ossiriand minions, or most egregrious in the ossiriand minions. they have an orc pit

or so they’d have you believe. the fëanorians in ossiriand effectively serve as the host’s intelligence division, scouts and spies and saboteurs. a lot of their work is clandestine by its very nature, and they tend to be pretty secretive about what they actually do. half the things you hear about them are probably disinformation, lies they’re deliberately spreading to make themselves sound scarier. hopefully, at least. as anyone who’s chatted with an ossiriand minion knows, they are both eagerly awaiting the fulfilment of the oath, and already preparing for what will come after

(this paradigm does break down after the siege is broken and the union of maedhros fails and the dregs of the armies of east beleriand wind up stuck in the same ever-shrinking territory. still, i think the origins of the survivors are... interesting. the people of the gap were almost completely wiped out in the bragollach, the people of himlad mostly jumped ship with celebrimbor, even the people of thargelion took heavy losses in the nirnaeth. but the people of himring stood firm around their lord, and the people of ossiriand were never really frontline fighters in the first place. minions from the more cultish parts of the host tend to survive longer, and in greater numbers. i feel this could have... consequences)

#ask #whotookliterallyallthenames #feanorian minions #maedhros #beleriandic politics in a nutshell #my terrible headcanons #post nyanyannya askbox clearout #like by the time elrond and elros show up most people are too tired for cult bullshit #(except that one guy who quintupled down as a coping mechanism) #but the attitude of the cult still permeates the camp #cults aren't about silly rites after all #they're about relationship to the outside world. and control #this was a lot of fun to write! had more headcanons than i thought i did #feanorian-state-in-east-beleriand-worldbuilding is a weird special interest to have but holy hell do i have it #feel like i could pinpoint the stereotypes each part of the host has about the others now #but yeah i think all the 'positive' aspects of their culture fell away as the cause became unreachable #leaving only the really nasty stuff

[luna-writes-stuff]

CHARACTER SHEET; RAEWYN ASHA

Starcrossed Losers masterlist

Main info

Full name: Raewyn Asha

Alias: Tolmiró (meaning Brave One), Apprentice of the Grey Wizard, Ranger of the West, Dragonslayer (by Kili)

Date of birth: December 13th, 2869 T.A

Species: Asha, a race formed from a long line of men and dwarves

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexual orientation: Bisexual

Spoken languages: Khuzdul, Asyr (language of the Ashas), Westron/Common Speech. Elrond used to teach her Quenya, but she only knows the basics.

Physical appearance

Face claim: Jaime Chun, as Mulan OUAT

The face claim is not as I imagine Raewyn! It is merely a character I choose who looked closest to her, to use it for the gifs at the beginning of the chapters.

Character portrait:

First design made for Raewyn, after the troll hoard, before Mirkwood:

Height: 5 ft, 152 cm

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Dark brown

Other noticeable traits: A relative amount of scars left from her hunting and fighting as a ranger, light-skinned though tanned because of the sun, Farris (her owl) is often seen near, taller than most dwarves for her human genetics, doesn’t shave or cut her hair for her dwarven morals.

Armor: Light leather armor, more suitable for running and hiking, while fortunate for hiding and hunting, hence the green fabric covering her waist. The skirt, arm bracers, greaves and helmet (not depicted, as it was left in Bag-End) belonged to her clan.

Weapons: Her father’s sword, yet nameless as it was forged merely fifty years before she was born. A big dagger would her sword drop, throwing daggers hidden on her belt around her back.

Affiliations, excluding most relations build during the series:

Gandalf: The Grey Wizard took Raewyn into his care after the orc raid that killed her family. She stayed with him for a mere 19 years, before leaving. Though most of her life was spent with her clan, she and Gandalf have formed some sort of familial bond. Not as much as father-daughter, but perhaps more uncle-niece.

Elrond: When Gandalf first found Raewyn, he took her to Rivendell to take care of her wounds. Afterwards, the two traveled often, though the would always come back to the hidden valley. Raewyn does not take kindly on lords or kings, even as Elrond did his best to put her mind at ease. She does learn to appreciate his gestures eventually.

Thorin [contains spoilers for the series]: The two share a bit of a love-hate relationship, though the love part would be more platonic. Thorin refused to help Raewyn’s parents during the orc-raid, which ultimately killed them. He was convinced Raegon - Raewyn’s father - made Thrain flee without stopping him and never forgave him. Vice versa, Raewyn never forgave Thorin for ‘killing’ her parents. They learn to get along over the lengths of the journey.

Galadriel: Same as with Elrond, Raewyn met Galadriel through Gandalf, though the relation with her is better than the one she shares with Elrond. Galadriel seems to understand Raewyn better than the lord of Rivendell, hence the better bond between the two of them.

Questions asked by the cult:

Useless talents she has: - Can whistle really high to alert Farris. Radagast taught her when Gandalf took her in. She never had use for it until she got the owl when she left. She sometimes whistles at people as a way to call them, but she’ll accidentally switch to a high tone. - Can distinguish real gems from fake ones with just one quick look. When she was little, her aunt taught her. She provided gold coins for the clan by selling gems they found on the road. Whenever someone tried to swindle her, she would know.

Books she’d love (modern! au): She lost her family when she was only 41, but they always told stories at night, such as fairytales and myths. When she left Gandalf, the only things she really read were history books, so she’d still learn things on the road. After the reclaiming of Erebor, I think she’d go back to old fairytales that parents tell their children at night. In a modern AU, I think she’d be obsessed with old, famous tales such as Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Alice in Wonderland etc.

#starcrossed losers #tolkien #the hobbit #kili x reader #kili #kili durin #kili imagine #fili and kili #thorin oakenshield #kili x raewyn #Raewyn Asha #raeli #fili #fili durin #Bilbo baggins #gandalf the grey #an unexpected journey #dos #desolation of smaug #botfa #battle of the five armies #smaug #Legolas #thranduil #tauriel

[thatboomerkid]

SpellJammer: Shadow of the Spider-Moon

Player’s Packet (ver 1.3)

for use with the First Edition Pathfinder Role-Playing Game

by Clinton J. Boomer

with special thanks to Andy Collins, Scott Schomburg, Chloe Michelle, Dennis Detwiller, David Gerrold, and George Loki Williams

additional campaign materials may be found here

The broad theme of the campaign is simple: “outsiders — criminals, rejects, freedom fighters, the lost, the abandoned, the desperate, and the mad — go balls-out, nothing to lose, against corrupt authority and nightmare monsters, surviving on the razor’s edge of the known & the unknown”.

It’s meant to have one foot in Serenity/Firefly, one foot in Pirates of the Caribbean, one foot in Guardians of the Galaxy, yet another foot in Princess Bride, plus little dashes of steampunk / dieselpunk pulp-action high-fantasy on top: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still, Aliens, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, The Mummy, The Fifth Element, The Rocketeer, and/or Big Trouble in Little China

RACES

Dwarf: a scattered people born of Moradin’s Forge*, 80% of whom now exist solely as slaves beneath the whip and bootheel of the illithid and their grotesque creations. Dwarves in captivity are stripped of their names, titles, and family lineage; for this reason, free dwarves often cover themselves in dense tattoos, transformed into living repositories of their clan history. Dwarves no longer have a homeland but make small communities on Fenris, the Crown-Moons of Garl, Gelth, and Callarduran, and across the Chain of Tears (especially the city of Discord).

For human occupants of Pyrespace, the illithid invasion – which the Church of Yondalla officially denies occurring, under pain of incarceration, transportation, and excommunication – happened ten years ago: half a generation past, when the very youngest of human spacehands were still in diapers.

For dwarves, it happened approximately last Tuesday.

Shepard Book, Zoe Washburne, and Drax the Destroyer are good examples of dwarves.

*NOTE: The Church of Yondalla, which does not recognize the divinity of Moradin, refers to the dwarven home-world instead simply as ‘the Adamant Forge’ in all official documentation.

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Elf: an elegant race in slow decline, born of Perianth, still recovering from the Unseelie War that split and decimated the species a millennium ago. For the elves, long-lived as they are, the wound is still very fresh: fewer than seven generations have passed since the end of the war, after all (for a human, this is perhaps comparable to a tragedy that occurred less than a century and a half ago).

Elves consume food, water, and air as Small-size creatures. Drow are a playable race, although they suffer a great deal of distrust from everyone … including other drow.

Inara, Simon Tam, River Tam, the Operative, Nebula, and Gamora are good examples of elves.

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Gnome: engineers and technologists born from the Circle of Gold, greatest moon of the Crown of Sapphire, now scraping-by on the Crown’s remaining moons and across the Chain of Tears: the devastated shards of their destroyed home-world, shattered two-and-a-quarter centuries ago.

Like the elves, of course, gnomes are fantastically long-lived: the very eldest gnomes can recall the true glory of their home world, seen with their own eyes; some of the most ancient were already well into their venerable years, over two and a half centuries old, at the time of the cataclysm. Even for the very youngest of gnomes, those who have never known a home-world other than the Chain of Tears, only about three generations have passed since the destruction of that moon (in terms that a human might understand, this is perhaps similar to an event that occurred 60-70 years ago).

Gnomes may choose to gain +2 Intelligence in place of their standard +2 Charisma; most have the Gear Gnome subtype. Nearly half of all gnomish pregnancies result in twins, and triplets are as common among gnomes as twins are among humans.

Kaylee Frye, Niska, Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburne, Rocket Racoon, Miracle Max (from Princess Bride), and Twigg (from Pirates of the Caribbean) are good examples of gnomes.

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Hin: Undisputed rulers of Quelya above the waves, thanks much to their ingenuity in social organization & their bountiful harvests even in the most barren of lands. The vast monotheistic religion of the Hin offers prayers to Yondalla and to her Saints, including Davian and Asmodeus; all Hin estates contain a shrine to Yondalla. The priests and nuns of the Church may not marry, though their laity is expected to produce many, many children. Status within the Church is of paramount importance for all Hin; donations to the church can buy writs of indulgence, favorable legal judgment, and even sainthood.

Lord Beckett, Governor Swann, Elizabeth Swan, Captain Barbossa, and Commodore Norrington (from Pirates of the Caribbean), Badger (from Firefly), Buttercup, Prince Humperdink, Count Rugen, Vizzini (from Princess Bride), and the Collector and Grandmaster (from Guardians of the Galaxy) are all good examples of Hin.

A BRIEF NOTE ON HIN NAMING-CONVENTIONS

Hin identify, for the most part, as members of the Church of Yondalla first, as part of a culture second, and as citizens of a nation third.

Thus, a Hin living in Arvoreen, Beshaba, or Brandobaris can be expected to have an Arvorean, Beshabite, or Brandobarin name. However, a Hin living far away from the shores of Green Fields -- in Cyrrollalee or in Urogolan, for example -- with always retain a “proper” Arvorean, Beshabite, or Brandobarin name.

Hin with Urogalandic names, simply put, do not exist.

“Invented” Hin names, which are relatively common everywhere except on Quelya, are the major exception to this general rule: occasionally, a young Hin living off-world will choose to reinvent himself -- and, thus, rename himself -- often, but not always, as a means to get out from under the thumb of a particularly oppressive (or shameful) family. 

Venturing forth into the unknown without the benefit of a longstanding lineage is, in fact, a tradition among Hin significantly older than modern Arvorean or Brandobarin society.

As such, a young Hin in Lagas going by the name of “Morgan Drake,” “John Smith,” “Alastair Chapman,” or “Sebastian West” -- for example -- might be looked down upon as a probable criminal or even as a pirate ... but on Ashen, Verdura, or out on the Chain of Tears, such an individual is likely to earn a mark of respect from all but the most conservative and close-minded of Hin.

Invented Hin Male Names: Thomas, Morgan, Smith, Hunter, John, Price, Bennet, Chapman, West, Tanner, Spencer, Walker, Jackson, Clarke, Parker, Mason, Drake, Corbyn, Everett, Garret, Simon, Alastair, Sebastian, Elliot, Fletcher, Graham, Ethan, Oliver, Felix, Callumn, Stanley, Richmond, Lennox, Ford, Jensen, Gabriel, March, Ellis, Wellington, Reginald, Chesterton, Alex, Solomon, Carter

Invented Hin Female Names: Beatrix, Cressida, Gemma, Joclyn, Scarlett, Elizabeth, Rhonwen, Maisie, Isla, Kaitlyn, Briony, Jane, Charlotte, Adalaide, Ivy, Gwendolyn, Kenzie, Finlay, Audren, Haley, Theodora, Abigail

Invented Hin Last Names: (any invented Hin male first name)

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Human: Humans come in many different colors, in many different sizes, and worship many, many gods – usually in the guise of Yondallan saints. Most humans pay at least some lip service to St. Davian, the great champion of Yondalla (who intercedes to deliver the prayers of humans to Yondalla), but humans very often also worship older, more-private familial gods. Humans may not, of course, marry into Hin families nor join in any Hin merchant house as a full partner; the best that a human can hope for, in many cases, is to be a servant remembered fondly by the children of the family he serves.

This, of course, leaves humans permanently at the bottom of the Quelyan (and thereby system-wide) economic food chain.

It is accepted fact, by those who study the pre-history of Pyrespace, that humans were once scattered across the system for unknown purposes and by unknown means, presumably at the whim of the mysterious Precursors. For this reason, the Church of Yondalla is active in seeking-out lost civilizations of humans who have spent unknown centuries far from the light of Yondalla’s mercy.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Captain Jack Sparrow, Westley the Farm-Boy, and Peter Quill are good examples of humans.

HUMAN OFFSHOOTS:

al’Zihad: Despite their bizarre appearances and hostile overtures, it is passionately believed that the curious ifrit, oread, sylph, suli, and undine populations native to Ashen were once human: servants of the Precursors adapted over the course of centuries to their alien environment. It is because of this belief that the Church of Yondalla has extended such a warm and generous offer of camaraderie to the “native” al’Zihad population, hoping to reintroduce them to their divinely ordained role as servants … this time, to the Hin.

Aasimar: Human families who commit themselves to the performance of good works in the name of Yondalla occasionally produce an angel-blooded or archon-blooded heir: born to serve the Church as beatific instruments of peace.

Dhampir: Some human children born beneath the Spider-Moon, along the Chain of Tears, or in the wilds of Fenris are infused with strange energies of death-magic. These children are claimed by the Church, for their own protection.

Fetchling: A strange subspecies of human – thought to originally hail from the lost forest-moon of Baervan (circling the Crown of Sapphire), infused with energies from the forbidden Library of the Eremite – these creatures are kept secret by the Church of Yondalla.

Ganzi: The children of humans exposed over-long to the energies of the Crown of Sapphire have been known to exhibit bizarre mutations; such creatures are taken-in by the Church of Yondalla to be kept safe.

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Half-Elf: Increasingly common throughout the system, originally the products of union between a male elf and female human: while elven females will often take human lovers, both male and female, pregnancies resulting from such unions are unknown: elven women must maintain a strict, meditative state of concentration to actually achieve pregnancy. As such, accidental fertilization is impossible, and even the act of impregnation is discomforting enough that no elven female would perform the act without sound – usually political – reason.

Elven men, therefore, are often shocked to discover that a brief rendezvous with a human woman has produced a bastard child.

Half-elves now breed true and have formed small communities in larger cities like Discord, Zionil, Dallah, and Lagas. Half-elves have no place within Elven society and possess little group unity.

Will Turner (from Pirates of the Caribbean) and Inigo Montoya are good examples of Half-Elves.

Half-Orc: True orcs (and their off-shoot species, including ogres, goblins, and hobgoblins) are not born and possess no gender: they are fungal creatures that emerge fully-grown from vast, reeking pits. Humans exposed to this fungus occasionally produce half-orc offspring; half-orcs are most-commonly born from humans captured by the illithid and taken to Moradin’s Forge (where airborne spores of goblin-fungus are dangerously common).

Half-orcs are prized by the illithid as a more perfect slave-stock than dwarves, orcs, or other monstrous humanoids, and have escaped their bondage to breed true: the product of any mating involving half-orcs (human/half-orc or half-elf/half-orc) is nearly always half-orc: their bizarre, altered fungus-genome is nearly viral in this regard.

Populations of “native” half-orcs intermingle with “native” humans across the wastes of Fenris, representing – to the Church – peoples long separated from the light of Yondalla.

Jayne Cobb and Niska’s leg-breaker Crow (from Firefly), Fezzick (from Princess Bride), Yondu (from Guardians of the Galaxy), and Bo’sun (from Pirates of the Caribbean) are good examples of Half-Orcs.

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Kuru: A bizarre subspecies of island-dwelling human driven all-but-extinct by the combined might of the Arvorean navy and the Church of Yondalla; kuru who bend the knee to the Church and denounce the worship of Dagon are given the same rights as other human offshoots (which is to say, not very much and certainly not as much as main-bloodline humans).

Skintwister: A vanishingly small percentage of humans – when directly exposed to alien fauna and extreme environment – rapidly adapt at a cellular level, taking on the most useful traits of a local native animal species within a generation. Human families on Quelya occasionally produce shark-blooded skintwister, while humans on Verdura can produce bat-blooded, bird-of-prey blooded, boar-blooded, crocodile-blooded, or tiger-blooded offspring, and humans on Fenris can produce bear-blooded, bird-of-prey blooded, boar-blooded, rat-blooded, tiger-blooded, and wolf-blooded young. These ‘near-humans’ are much prized by the Church as useful resources.

Tiefling: Human families who commit wicked deeds, marking themselves for eternal punishment in the bowels of Hell, occasionally produce a devil-blooded heir: born to serve the Church as weapons of war. In addition to the devil-spawn tieflings recognized by the Church of Yondalla, demon-spawn tieflings occasionally appear among the hinen (human servants) of Perianth; kyton-spawn appear among those humans on the Chain of Tears who venture too close to the forest-moon of Baervan, and rakshasa-spawn appear with alarming frequency among those humans assigned to toil the plantation-fields of Verdura.

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Warforged: Creations of the gnomes, the original warforged were long ago the original deciding factor in the wars against the ysoki. Redesigned in later centuries to act as adaptable, dependable assistants for gnomes, including the best possible defense against Hive (and later, illithid) incursions into gnome-space, the warforged were manufactured in the tens of millions.

All warforged, under the dictates of the Church of Yondalla, are property: they do not, and cannot, possess souls.

Each warforged is “born” from a generation creche; not a single such creche is known to have survived the destruction of the Circle of Gold (the gnomish home-world), and the technology to repair or re-fire a damaged creche – if one could even be found! – is utterly lost. For this reason, warforged are no longer treated as the expendable resource they were in the days of the Rat-Slaughter or the Hive Marches.

Data (Star Trek), C3-PO (Star Wars), the T-800 (Terminator), K2-SO (Rogue One), Baymax (Big Hero 6), David (Prometheus), Cameron (Terminator: the Sarah Conner Chronicles), Bishop (Aliens), GLaDOS (Portal), Wall-E, and the Iron Giant are all good examples of possible warforged archetypes, but many other interpretations are possible.

image from here

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Others:

In addition to the major races and civilizations of the system, two dozen or more other sapient species make their homes across Pyrespace.

Inhabitants of Ashen:

Kasatha: Swift and dangerous hunters adapted for the open desert, a rare few kasatha have left the holdings of their clans to seek bounty beyond their world.

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Inhabitants of Verdura:

A huge number of native species make the wilds of Verdura their home, many of them armed with Precursor technology and decidedly hostile to strangers. Among them are the Catfolk (lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, cheetah, puma), Giff, Ghoran, Gnoll, Grippli, Kobold, Lizardfolk, Nagaji, Orang-Pendak, Reptoid, Tengu, Vanara, Vishkanya, and Wyvaran.

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Inhabitants of Quelya:

Gargoyle: A strange species of living stone that laired near – and among – the Urogalandic people for unknown millennia, gargoyles struck a deal with the Church of Yondalla during the Siege of Mordheim to assure their own survival; now, more than four centuries later, these hulking devils serve the Hin as bodyguards, elite scouts, heavy infantry, and unstoppable delivery-mechanisms.

Locathah: The curious and grotesque locathah – who are said to intermingle freely with the humans of many remote island communities – are treated with grave suspicion by the Church of Yondalla, as they often act as spies, seducers, and saboteurs for the cults of Dagon. The few locathah able to earn the trust of the Church are still watched closely for any sign of heresy.

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Inhabitants of Perianth:

Gathlain: In the deepest woodlands of Perianth, far from the oversight of Elven noble houses, the bizarre gathlain wander the twilight; these odd entities claim to originate from an “adjacent” reality, one to which the doors have been shuttered.

The gathlain whisper that older, hungrier, and infinitely more powerful spirits of “the Forest Behind the Word” also lurk in the long shadows, slowly rebuilding their strength after a humiliating defeat -- and centuries of enslavement -- at the hands of a nameless elven witch-queen.

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Inhabitants of the Chain of Tears:

Ratfolk: Nearly exterminated a dozen times over by the warforged armies of the gnomes, with whom they once shared a home world, the ysoki are a cunning species of survivors who have adapted to life across the Chain of Tears with endless tenacity.

Goblin-Spore (SQ): Some percentage of ysoki are carriers for a curious strain of the goblin fungus (which births goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, and ogres) to which they alone are immune. 

These special ysoki gain low-light vision, are immune to disease and poison, and are treated as Plant creatures -- in addition to being treated as humanoids with the ratfolk subtype --  for the purposes of a ranger’s favored enemy, for bane weapons, for feats, and for purposes of spells such as antiplant shell and horrid wilting, and for all similar effects, although these ysoki do not gain any other normal immunities, benefits, or traits of a true Plant creature.

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Inhabitants of Fenris:

A fair number of native species make the wilds of Verdura their home, many of them armed with Precursor technology and decidedly hostile to strangers. Among them are the Catfolk (tigers and snow leopards), Kitsune, Syrinx, and Tengu.

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Inhabitants of the Adamant Forge

Duergar: engineered slaves of the illithid, built via a foul twisting of the dwarven genetic code, duergar are not a common sight anywhere in Pyrespace except, perhaps, in the company of their horrid masters. That said, some duergar -- such as those dwelling on the Forge-Moon of Duerra -- have shattered the chains of their bondage and now walk free.

Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Orc: various subspecies born of the same strange fungal blooms (all of which possess the Goblin Spore Special Quality, above), sapient members of these races are rare in the extreme. That said, it is not completely unknown for an individual goblin, hobgoblin, or orc to “wake up”: becoming something significantly more complex than a mere weapon of genocide and extermination.

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UNIQUE RACES: Verdura, Fenris, the Chain of Tears, several moons, and even the wilds of Quelya are doubtlessly home to additional sapient species, still as yet undiscovered.

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SETTING

The setting is a single solar-system, Pyrespace, with several major & minor worlds.

WORLDS & NATIONS The Pyre: an incalculably vast stellar engine of incandescent plasma; small dark shapes — rumored to be ancient artifacts of the long-vanished Precursors — orbit the star tightly, flickering low across the endless ocean of flame (burning at an average of 6,000 degree Kelvin), diving through 13,000-mile-tall solar flares that routinely reach 10-20 million Kelvin (up to 100 million); these eerie & barely-visible shapes, whatever they may be, are utterly inaccessible to any modern space-vessel.

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Ashen: A storm-wracked world of dust & salt drifting upon an ocean of vacuum, covered in an inhospitable white desert slashed-through with low, jagged, slate-grey mountain ranges; this world hides strange ruins & wondrous treasures of the Precursors beneath its oceans of dust; it is considered strategically valuable both for its rare natural resources; dotted with Hin refineries, forts, border towns, resupply depots, and mining operations; home to strange native populations of kasatha, alongside clans of ifrit, oread, sylph, suli and undine (collectively known as the al’Zihad), who claim to have come to Ashen while bound in the service of the Precursors: inscrutable masters who once dwelt in a mysterious city trapped deep within the Celestial Pearl.

Ashen has two moons:

Anachtyr the Shining: A blinding-bright tempest-world of endless, boiling amythest-hued ocean studded with towering fumarole-vents dozens of miles in height; mighty coils of eye-searing azure lightning leap eternally between titanic these waterspouts, and the steam of this roaring planetoid can be seen drifting into the void: a haze that glitters like diamonds.

Lessinor the Masked: A world of heavy fog, dripping rust, creaking black tourmaline, and unending gloom, mantled in long shadows which writhe with ancient echoes and whispers, it is said that visibility on this planetoid has a maximum of 100 feet. Vast keeps, palaces, and even lightless cities of cyclopean gold-draped skeleons have been reported dotting the curious surface, but not one has ever been found a second time.

Approximately 10% of Ashen is actively subject to mining, exploitation, extraction and terraforming operations.

Major Cities of Ashen:

Acheron: a dug-in black-site military base / fortress-city / arcane research facility controlled by the Hin nation of Brandobaris

Core: a city-sized, semi-mobile mining and oil-rig facility controlled by the Hin nation of Arvoreen; a joint project with gnome & warforged diaspora from the Chain

Salt Lake: a religious-outreach community controlled by the Church of Yondalla, which seeks to convert the native al’Zihad to the worship of the goddess; this is by far the largest city on Ashen, and the central hub for all rail-travel on the planet.

image from here

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Verdura: a world of shallow oceans, towering mountain peaks, massive waterfalls, sprawling cave-systems, boiling mud-flats, impossible plateaus, icy ravines, echoing jungles, smoldering volcanos, bewildering river-systems, ancient lost ruins, and — above all — rainforest seemingly without end; home to an uncountable number of near-human species all-but-universally hostile to outsiders, many of whom are armed with ancient Precursor tech.

Hin rubber plantations, lumber mills, exotic “safari” hunting lodges, and industrial logging-facilities are therefore sprawling, heavily-militarized affairs

Although it boasts no truly massive cities, Verdura is host to the Hin colony of New Arvoreen, the center of Covington Farms – soon to be the breadbasket of the Pyrespace system – and a mountain-set Brandobarin research-station known as Thaumir. In addition, a small community of gnome diaspora have established the technological-marvel nation of Markovia, named for its Founder, Monarch and Supreme Leader, Dr. Adlai Markovitch (and his three nieces).

image from here

The Three Moons of Verdura:

Tiamat: A darkly-glittering, iridescent jungle of venom and razor-sharp glass, a shimmering wilderness of fog-shrouded valleys, viridian mire, and steam-wreathed peaks laid beneath a sky of eternally wheeling stars. Home to many of the deadliest insects and reptiles in the system, this endless deep-emerald hell is yet rumored to contain that most fantastic of treasures: the legendary la fonte della giovinezza: a mystic source of endless youth and vitality, guarded by an ancient knight – Sir Azharul of the Thorns – devoted utterly to the service of Yondalla … and to the execution of all unworthy seekers.

Bahamut: A golden moon of shifting desert sand and sky-rending thunderstorms, of dark clouds howling over rain-spattered platinum dunes, this world is sacred to many of the reptilian monstrosities that lurk in the jungles of Verdura. Priests among these creatures claim that once, long ago, doorways opened from their sacrifice-sites to a huge city of bone, a fantastic place fed by the twin rivers Luar and Kath, ruled-over by a red-skinned, leviathan humanoid: a grotesque thing, serpent-like, with four eyes and four ears, that shot flames from its mouth when it spoke. No true evidence of this fabled city, said to lie “behind the east wind,” has yet been discovered.

Chronepsis: A small, silver-grey ice-moon, this airless and barren world is riddled with vast doorways, leading down into bone-white palaces of titanic, cyclopean design. What treasure might lie within these pleasure-halls is unknown, as few who have ventured beneath the surface have ever returned. It is sung, by the heretical faith of Dagon, that two great serpents lair here – named Null and Faluzure – and that these creatures know, between them, the fate of the dragons … and time of their return.

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Quelya: a world of archipelagos, reefs, marbled sand, dark cerulean waves, and tropical island chains boasting only a handful of sizable land masses, dominated by the Hin (halflings) and their servitor-race, humanity; the hungry, expansionist, colonial-minded nations of the Hin are united only by the rule of a massive corrupt Church and a single vast, hyper-complex monetary system; the planet boasts but a single continent — the Green Fields of Yondalla –  which are ruled-over by an ever-shifting array of Hin merchant-houses; in the furthest reaches of the world, shark skintwisters and locathah are rumored to bend the knee in loyalty to the strange and beautiful malenti, and to make horrid sacrifices to the coiling serpent Dagon.

HIN NATIONS / CITIES / HOLDINGS

Acheron: a Brandobarin military base / fortress-city / research base on Ashen

Arvoreen: an aggressive, militaristic nation noted for its perpetual war-footing, it maintains the finest navy in the system; the Arvorean Academy of War is famously egalitarian, admitting humans, half-elves, near-humans, and even warforged into its officer-training corps; national colors of red & gold.

Arvorean Male First Names: Alejandro, Fernando, Santiago, Antonio, Maceo, Francisco, Joaquin, Marco, Cristian, Javier, Rafael, Carlos

Arvorean Female First Names: Yamilet, Carmen, Valentina, Paloma, Lucia, Esmeralda, Alicia, Maria, Sofia, Luna, Catalina, Vida

Arvorean Last Names: García, Fernández, González, Rodríguez, López, Martínez, Sánchez, Pérez, Martín, Gómez, Ruiz, Hernández, Jiménez

Beshaba: The Hin holy city on the banks of the Rio Provendor (and its surrounding hills), most sacred site of Yondalla’s worship, currently self-ruled; the place where Gol-Kaa (the Last Human King of Beshaba) was slain by Saint Davian in single combat; national colors of white & sky blue.

Beshabite Male First Names: Dvir, Asaf, Asher, Elazar, Uriah, Reef, Aryah, Ofek, Yaheli, Arbel, Yinon, Idan

Beshabite Female First Names: Maayan, Danya, Liv, Shoshanna, Alean, Annael, Carmel, Eden, Avitel, Avia, Naama, Ofri

Beshabite Last Names: Ngaere, Zerbibi, Mishayev, Qablan, Magadla, Berdugo, Yayin, Sasi, Sharabani, Akiyva, Hagge, Siyvan, Tzviy

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Brandobaris: an elegant, cultured nation noted for its arts and refinement, it maintains the finest academies of learning – in alchemy, wizardry, engineering, medicine, mathematics, law, history, and space-flight – in the system; national colors bright yellow & light grey; home to the three bitterly warring institutes of higher learning:

Archives Timmestre-Falco: home of both the finest telescope array and most complete orrery in the system.

Sincomakti School of Sciences: known for the deep pockets of its alumni – for use in funding elaborate expeditions – and a particularly notorious library.

Universidad de Lepidottero: specialists in medicine, mathematics, and forensic investigation, on the cutting edge of xenobiology.

Brandobarin Male First Names: Luca, Filippo, Marco, Pietro, Giovanni, Nicolo, Davide, Diego, Giuseppe, Edoardo, Tommaso, Andreas , Cosimo, Lorenzo, Ottaviano

Brandobarin Female First Names: Chiara, Nicole, Ludovica, Gaia, Matilde, Vittoria, Francesca, Alessia, Camilla, Bianca, Arianna, Elena

Brandobarin Last Names: Rossi, Berlusconi, Ferrari, Brambilla, Ricci, Greco, Esposito, Marino, Bianchi, Morelli, D’Angelo, Piazza, Caputo

Chaldira: a massive mining-city on Fenris; although it is ostensibly self-ruled under the auspices of a gnomish coalition from the Chain of Tears, in practice the city bows to the “supervision” of a Brandobarin wizarding-circle. Core: a city-sized, semi-mobile mining and oil-rig facility on Ashen, controlled by the Arvorean armada; a joint project with gnome & warforged diaspora from the Chain. Cyrrollalee: former home of the last human king; an enormous, incredibly-fertile nation noted for its high population of humans (mostly farmers); rumors persist among the superstitious peasantry of “fairy circles” in the woods that lead to other realms; national colors of green & dark blue

Cyrrolaelan Male First Names: Odhran (Orin), Rory, Tadhg (Tag), Senan, Cathal (Kat-hal), Rodnan, Aodham (Aiden), Callum, Eion (Ow-en), Rian (Ree-an), Fionn (Finn), Cillian (Killian), Declan

Cyrrolaelan Female First Names: Aoife (ee-fa), Caoimhe (kwee-va or kee-va), Saoirse (seer-sha), Ciara (kay-ra), Niamh (neev), Roisin (ro-sheen), Cara (ca-ra), Clodagh (clo-da), Aine (on-yah), Aislinn (ash-lin), Alys, Avalon

Cyrrolaelan Last Names: Murchadha (Murphy), Ó Ceallaigh (Kelly), Ó Súilleabháin (O’Sullivan), Breathnach (Walsh), Ó Broin (Byrne), Ó Conchobhair (O’Conner), Ó Raghallaigh (O’Reilly), Ó Dubhghaill (O’Doyle), Mac Carthaigh (McCarthy), Ó Gallchobhair (Gallagher), Ó Cinnéide (Kennedy), Ó Muireadhaigh (Murray), Ó Cuinn (Quinn), Ó Mordha (Moore), Mac Lochlainn (McLoughlin)

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Dallah: a sin-soaked island city of gambling & revelry, part of the Tymoran island-chain; currently under self-rule; “national colors” of black & white Gixx: a floating city named for its watery host-moon, under Brandobarin control, orbiting the Crown of Sapphire Lagas: capital city of both Arvoreen and Brandobaris, existing along the border of both nations at the mouth of the Rio Provendor; a sacred city of the faith of Yondalla second only to the City & Lands of Beshaba

Important Sites in Lagas: The Rusted Sun Theatre, Parrish Place Bed & Breakfast, Café Molise, The Shuttered Door Academy

Important Hin residing in Lagas: Lord Mayor Emilio Dioceres, Archbishop Quirino Stephanos, Minister of Finance Alessio Villanova, Trade Minister Lazzaro Calistoga, Assistant Trade-Minister Dario Adalberto.

Moander: capital city of Cyrrollalee, built on the ruins of Dún Ailinne.

Mordheim: capital city of Urogolan, former home of “Uric, Last Human King of Urogolan”; this cold and half-tumbled fortress city, towering high above the treacherous stone of the Baía da Loucura, is choked in near-constant ice Perryroyal: massive island city at the far end of the Tymora island-chain that serves as the legendary “gateway to Xhiaae-La,” currently under the control of the Arvorean navy Salt Lake: a religious-outreach community on Ashen controlled by the Church of Yondalla, which seeks to convert the native al’Zihad to the worship of the goddess; this is by far the largest city on Ashen, and the central hub for all rail-travel on the planet Thaumir: a mountain-set Brandobarin research-station on Verdura Tymora: a particularly fertile chain of islands inhabited mostly by humans, currently ruled by the city of Dallah; the islands stretch from Lagas to Perryroyal.

Many traditional Tymoran names -- especailly those found in Dallah -- sound vaguely Greek to 21st-century human ears, but the islands are home to over 7,000 unique human cultures and no single list could possibly home to capure the length and breadth of the names used by Tymorans.

In addition, put bluntly, many people of the island chain simply do not think of themselves as “Tymoran,” but, rather, as members of a distinct culture under foreign occupation.

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Urogolan: grim, north-most Hin nation, noted for its vast mineral wealth, dense coniferous forests, fatalistic populace, and bleak weather; national colors of grey and black.

Urogalandic Male First Names: Ander, Hans, Johan, Ulf, Lars, Sven, Ivar, Leif (layf), Magnus, Ragnar, Sigurd (see-gurd), Herleif (her-leaf), Hjalmar (hyal-mahr), Njal (nj-al), Ødger (ed-ger), Roar (ruw-aar), Rune (ruw-n-eh), Sten (stehn), Trygve (trig-vah), Uhtred (oof-tred), gil (ee-yeh-gil), Einar (eye-nahr), Frey (fray), Geir (geyr), Gudbrand (good-brant), Gudmund (good-moond), Gunnar (guhn-nar), Hagen (hah-gen), Haldor (hahl-dawr), Halvar or Halvor (hahl-vahr), Jarl (yahr-al), Kåre (kehr), Aric (aar-ih-k), Arkyn (aar-khin), Brynjar (brin-yahr), Cuyler (kiel-ehr)

Urogalanadic Female First Names: Áma, Åse, Astra, Astrid, Borghild, Brynhild, Eir, Elli, Embla, Erica, Liva, Ragnfríðr, Revna, Rúna, Saga, Sigrid, Sif, Freya, Heidrun, Hildr, Hrefna, Hulda, Kara

Urogalandic Last Names: Any of the above Urogalandic male first names, with one of the following added to the end: sen, son, sson, søn, datter, dotter, or dottir

Xhiaae-La: legendary islands of gold & jade just beyond Tymora, source of human unarmed martial fighting techniques highly valued by Hin employers; currently under Brandobarin control

Xhiaae-Lan Male Names: Liang, Haoran, Zhen, Shufen, Ling, Lan, Kaihong, Taio, Shui, Qui, Jin, Chun, Ai, Bao

Xhiaae-Lan Female Names: Annchi, Baozhai, Changying, Chao-Xing, Chuntao, Da-Xia, Daiyu, Ehuang, Fenfang, Genji, Hu, Huian

Xhiaae-Lan Family Names: (spoken & written first) Shao, Long, Wàn, Zhāng, Qián, Tāng, Yǐn, Lí, Yì, Cháng, Wǔ, Qiáo, Lài, Gōng, Wén

Zuzadlara: an Arvorean military-base and floating “port city” on Perianth, established to assist Elven forces in maintaining peace across the system.

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Perianth: the elven home-world, a mist-wreathed, twilight-draped bioengineered “forest of prosperity” constructed by the Precursors via unknown means; the deep woodlands are said to hold terrifying gateways to other realms of existence; the courts of the elves are closed to outsiders, and non-elves are permitted access only to a vanishingly small number of sky-ports; the elves of both the Western Courts and Eastern Courts alike do a brisk trade in humans bought from the Hin, and some reports suggest that only 3% of the planetary population is actually elven.

Perianth is “ruled” by House Larethian, although the high throne of that House – that of the Phoenix Emperor (Western Court) or Moonlight Dragon (Eastern Court) – stands empty, as does the throne of his bride: Lolth, the Beautiful Eclipse (Western Court) or Lolth, the Crimson Empress (Eastern Court).

The favor of House Larethian is a currency traded by the other noble Houses; the Western Court name is given for each House first, followed by the Eastern Court name:

House Fleuris / House Kaika: painters, vintners, and rose-garden keepers.

House Sanglante / House Chimanire: the most-expert sword-smiths and sword-saints.

House Chanceux / House Kōun'na: Imperial record-keepers, known for their prodigious luck.

House Illustre / House Kagayakashī: the most beautiful and honorable house, known for their mastery of dance.

House Assombrir / House Kage-tsuki: the lowest of the noble houses, experts in medicine.

Perianth is not known to have any major cities, although each House maintains a number of holdings.

Western Court Male Names: Baillieu, Ménétries, Bachelot, Peletier, Bocuse, Marius, Théophile, Roland, Ancel, Thibaut, Sylvain, Médard, Chauve, Rémy, Maret

Western Court Female Names: Solène, Élisa, Émeline, Joséphine, Ameline, Neri, Mélanie, Coline, Émilienne, Iseult, Asselineau, Eulalie, Roxanne

Eastern Court Male Names: Hyotoki, Gatane, Yamitsu, Dainaga, Akihiko, Yori, Hideaki, Kazuhiro, Wantaro, Anoye, Gezushi, Sesuki, Teitada, Hiroaki, Noboru

Eastern Court Female Names: Haitsuke, Narino, Reinatsu, Maera, Benomi, Kohaku, Kayo, Miyako, Aya, Shizuka, Komina, Jionuye, Kakura, Amiri, Reiko, Yuki, Emi

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The Spider-Moon

The sole satellite of Perianth, a massive labyrinthine ruin to-which one third of the elves — the drow — were exiled long ago; the drow are no longer trapped beneath the surface of the Spider-Moon due to the hideous gifts of the illithid. This oversized nightmare realm is ruled by House Lolth and her loyalists: exiled members of all five noble Houses and their servants. This inhospitable world boasts only a single major trade-hub: the Dark City of Xogotha.

Any type of direct approach on the Spider Moon must find a way to navigate the tens of thousands of floating dead (and undead) – casualties of the Unseelie War – still drifting in orbit around the planetoid. For their part, the drow use this corpse-field as a blockade, employing necromancy to bypass the horror-show whenever necessary.

Drow names are identical to elven names.

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The Celestial Pearl: a mysterious planet-sized anomaly bearing what appears to be a perfectly smooth, bone-white surface: this ghostly pale sphere has no atmosphere and no magnetic field, no geographical features, no marks consistent with any meteoric impact, no evidence of historical habitation, a surface temperature of 3 Kelvin, and a core temperature zero Kelvin. The curious surface itself – which appears to be an impossibly-thin crystalline latticework of monomolecular razor-ribbons covered in a few drifting inches of ice-powder, white sand, ash, and stardust – cannot be landed-upon or even approached: weird, invisible, immovable “arches” — made of something harder than adamantium — protrude in a strange, coiling web of whorls into space, reaching up to 500 miles away from the surface.

Zionil: Largest space-station in the system, nearly a moon onto itself, this massive gnomish facility serves as an informal way-station -- a respected, nearly sacred neutral ground -- between the “inner worlds” of Ashen, Verdura, Quelya, and Perianth; and the “outer worlds”: the Crown of Sapphire and the Chain of Tears, Fenris, and Moradin’s Forge.

It also serves as the ultimate melting-pot of cultures across Pyrespace: here, humans dressed in fashionable gnomish top-hats & tails rub shoulders with dwarves travling to jobs on Ashen & half-orcs en route to Verdura.

Dominated by the enormous Cathedral of St. Deneir the Scribe and House of St. Mili, the Voice of Heaven, sprawling centers of worship for the Church of Yondalla, Zionil is also home to a huge Xhaaie-Lan population; the Lantan Shipyards are without a doubt the finest facilities in the system for the design & construction of Hin-built spelljamming vessels.

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The city is unofficially under the control of Baronet Giancarlo Lugocelli of Fenris, a devout human aristocrat admired across the system for his shrewd buisness accumen and unbridled civic spirit. 

This artificial moon also serves as home to The Thirteenth: an emergency garrison of specially-designed warforged kept in reserve to make a surgical-strike wherever the threat of Hive activity is detected outside the heavily quarantined moons of Segojan (Hive Colony Euclid), Baervan (Hive Colony Keter), Baravar (Hive Colony Thaumiel), and Urdlen (Hive Colony Apollyon); this force is led by Inquisitor Francesca DiAccursio of La Universidad de Lepidottero as part of a massive anti-xenos taskforce.

An increasing number of dwarves from Moradin’s Forge also now make a holy pilgrimage here to the Muamman Duathal: a library of dwarven law, history, technological innovation, achivement, literary scholarship, and art nearly the equal to the catacombs of lost Dugmaren.

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The Crown of Sapphire & the Chain of Tears: an enormous, shining, many-ringed cerulean gas-giant, host to a dozen moons (listed below) and the long trail of an asteroid belt which follows behind it; the Crown roars with low heat and mild radiation, serving as a “second sun” to the system. As to the means by which the Precursors performed this “stellar uplifting” and manipulated the interior of the Crown, it is impossible to say.

About 70% of the “chain” following behind the Crown was originally the home-world of the gnomes – once known as Kruug od Szlatta, or the ‘Circle of Gold’ – and their many miraculous inventions, which was shattered utterly as the result of a run-away hyper-energy reaction; big money can be made out here, sifting the clockwork wreckage and mining interplanetary debris for rarities; the finest technology in the known universe can be found here: powering the cities, foundries, refineries, sky-docks, casinos, space stations, laboratories, and bio-manufactora which float together in complex nets through the wild void.

Moons of the Sapphire Crown:

Garl: now the largest of the moons, a gem-studded planetoid home to a huge number of scattered mineral-mining operations, including Blistavo Zlatta: now the default capital-city of the gnome people, formerly known best as a decadent, lawless, off-world trade-hub town full of casinos, amusements, cunning illusions, and other cheap entertainments.

Gelth: second largest of the moons, a dark spheroid of endless seething lava-flats, smoldering radioactive pools, toxic black smoke, and jagged obsidian blades miles in height. Home to a small number of mining-colonies (which are outnumbered 10-1 by the destroyed remnants of exactly such facilities).

Callarduran: third largest of the moons, a place of icy-cold wind whistling through thousands of miles of smooth stone tunnels, home to the finest stone-crafting workshops in the system.

Flandal: a hot, near-barren planetoid rich in iron and a number of other valuable metals … but, very specifically, boasting neither water nor arable land. Successfully cleared of all Hive infection after the eradication of Hive Colony Nehemoth in 1463; classified as safe.

Gixx: a fog-shrouded shallow-sea water-world currently occupied by a floating Brandobarin city.

Segojan: a smog-shrouded death-world of fungus and alien monsters, home to Hive Colony Euclid.

Baervan: a lost moon, once a twilight forest-world, now home to Hive Colony Keter; also home to the mysterious, floating Library of the Eremite.

Baravar: a shadowy crystalline moon now home to Hive Colony Thaumiel.

Urdlen: home to nothing but an icy, red-tinged ocean that flows silently between towering black spires, this bleak world now plays host to Hive Colony Apollyon.

Gaerdal: a heavily fortified workshop-moon, now 99% destroyed; original “birthplace” of the warforged.

Nebelun: the still-smoldering remains of a desert laboratory-world, dotted with blackened pits connected by a vast webwork of now-shattered elevated railways.

Rupa u Beskonačnom (the Hole in the Infinite): although not a true moon, this small artificial wormhole drifts in orbit around the Crown of Sapphire, occasionally spiting-out weird horrible alien monsters: the nearby moons of Segojan (Hive Colony Euclid), Baervan (Hive Colony Keter), Baravar (Hive Colony Thaumiel), and Urdlen (Hive Colony Apollyon) are infected with a terrifying strain of bizarre alien life; the wormhole is currently orbited by a small armada of mysterious githyanki ships native to another solar system.

Major Cities of the Chain of Tears:

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Discord: The largest city adrift in the Chain is also the largest city system-wide; in terms of sheer population, only the holy city of Lagas on Quelya even comes close. Discord is a sprawling affair, composed of innumerable asteroids and earth-bergs lashed-together with sparking remnants from hundreds – if not thousands – of derelict and damaged SpellJamming vessels. Although the gnomish population of Discord is lightly smaller than that of Blistavo Zlatta, on Garl, gnomes and their warforged security units run much of the city: High Master Artificer Krenlin maintains strict order among the scoundrels, spacehands, and fortune-seekers … at least, in the neighborhoods capable of paying for his protection. The black markets of Discord’s underbelly are run by gangs of ysoki (ratfolk), dwarves, half-orcs, half-elves, more bizarre human-offshoots, locathah, kasatha, unique creatures from the wilds of Verdura and Fenris, and even drow. Significantly more uncommon are goblins, orcs, and ogres – ancient enemies of the dwarves – and Perianth-born elves; although Hin are occasionally spotted here, it’s incredibly rare to see one without an escort … such as a lumbering Church-sanctioned gargoyle or a heavily-armed mercenary crew.

Serenity: Known better by its inhabitants as ‘Scarcity,’ this ugly warren of trash and filth is – to those with the keen eyes to see it – a goldmine of opportunity. If the ysoki can lay claim to a home-world, this is it: the majority of the population here is ratfolk, and their laws guide the city … for good or for ill. Part of a dense asteroid-field known for dangerous gravitational eddies, the port of Serenity is a haven for pirates and criminals wanted in every other metropolis.

Linger: The last glorious remnants of the Circle of Gold are kept here, a city-sized museum dedicated to the memory of that devastated world, and to honoring the uncounted millions who perished in the flare of its destruction. It is a place of quiet luxury and high technology, where the very wealthiest of those who do business in Discord can pretend – if only for a few hours – that the Circle of Gold was never broken.

Gnomish Male Names: Andrija, Nikola, Luka, Marko, Aleksandr, Jovan, Nemanja, Matija, Miloje, Miroslav, Rodavan, Vlado, Zivko,

Gnomish Female Names: Aleksandra, Teodora, Jana, Katarina, Petra, Malina, Milena, Maja, Hana, Anja, Milica (miy-LIH-ts-a), Sara, Nina

Gnomish Last Names: Jovanović, Petrović, Nikolić, Marković, Đorđević, Stojanović, Ilić, Stanković, Pavlović, Milošević, Katić, Sinđelić, Nedić, Marić, Višnjić, Janjić, Sarić, Miličić, Milenić, Natalić, Zorić, Smiljić, Anđelić

Warforged Names: any; names of warforged are self-selected, are not derived from family, and may be drawn from any culture.

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Fenris: A frozen, rocky world of icebergs & fathomless oceans, mighty fjords, roaring hot springs, steaming river-valleys, shrieking tundra, rolling steppes, drifting ice-floes, frigid marshland, deep emerald forest, and seething volcanoes; it is “ruled-over” by a minority population of warring giants, who tear themselves fully-formed from the simmering ley-lines of the living planet; in their long shadow, bold survivors face the fierce wrath of endless winter; some clans scratch out a meager, subsistence-level hunter-gatherer existence, while others build great longhouses, fortresses, and onion-domed cathedrals of wood & stone, defying the giants; beneath the surface of the world, enchanted mechanical castles — home to slumbering vampire lords — wait in silence to be called-forth for the night-hunt.

Humans and half-orcs “native” to Fenris tend toward Cyrrolaelan and Urogalandic names, suggesting some truth to the legends of doorways in the deep woods leading between Quelya and Fenris.

The massive, smoldering, heavily-entrenched mining-city of Chaldira employs tens of thousands of workers, including innumerable indentured humans and near-humans imported from Quelya by the hundreds through the Church-sanctioned penal transportation program; most such workers are branded, upon arrival, to prevent their disappearance into the local human communities. Specialized squads of “workforce retention agents” operating under Brandobarin authority maintain an uneasy peace with nearby human enclaves … though both groups wisely fear the fury of giants, who on occasion choose to assault the veritable fortress of Chaldira seemingly out of pure malice.

Beyond humans, dwarves comprise the bulk of Chaldira’s employees; outright violence in the barracks between dwarves and their orc-blooded coworkers is frowned upon, punishable by both monetary fine and loss of privileges, but is still not uncommon. Gnomes, warforged, and even ratfolk form the Chain of Tears are also common sights, as are Hin mages and their gargoyle bodyguards, although the only thing rarer than a native of Verdura here is an elf.

For their own part, the native catfolk, kitsune, syrinx, and tengu give Chaldira a wide berth: the huge, heavily militarized mining-city has, for the most part, nothing to offer them.

Moons of Fenris

Bahgtru: A hot, dark, ash-swept landscape of dense black forests, broiling deserts, flinty badlands, murky rivers, and foreboding seas, all bearing the ravages of constant war waged beneath a coal-streaked and starless sky. A dozen or more major orc-blood nations vie for control of this resource-rich, twilight-lit world; the largest single military force – the Broken Skull Clan, led by a hulking creature called Moragrek – dominates less than 10% of the planetoid. In the deepest woodlands, orcs fly crude marrow-stained, gut-stitched banners above fallen towers still sparking with ancient Precursor-tech.

Ilneval: Floating mountains, coiling moebius-spiral waterfalls, serpentine valleys filled with boiling fog, forests of glass, a series of artificial rings, cities of broken fractal room-recursions, walking Precursor-tech “transport-facilities” the size of nations, and stranger landmarks dot this bizarre world. Worse still, the goblin-fungus of this moon has underdone a wild number of dangerous mutations, producing varieties of dangerous goblinoid entities unknown anywhere else in Pyrespace.

Luthic: A damp, echoing, rain-drenched world with a low-burning core, this windswept planetoid sees surprisingly few dangerous meteorological events – considering the near-constant cloud cover -- and features only very mild tectonic activity. As such, impossible caverns filled with warm mushroom forests abound, grazed-upon by bizarre, blind half-fungal elk. This world is by far the economically valuable of the Fenris-moons, a veritable goldmine for its Brandobarin investors; transportation to this moon is a sentence dreaded by every human living under the Church of Yondalla’s laws.

Obould: Miles upon miles of long-fallen ruins – twisting, elegant citadels of what appears to have been ancient elven construction – crisscross this rime-coated world, buried in miles upon miles of shattered ice; unfortunately, whatever strange process causes the planet Fenris to vomit-forth giants from its ley-lines is also active here: titans of frost wander the wastes, obedient to three mysterious warlords: the Shogun of Crimson Snowfall, the Shogun of the Endless Dark, and the Shogun of Winterblind.

Shargaas: High above the roiling toxic cloud-cover, cold mountain-peaks spill miles-long waterfalls from smoldering calderas; far below, falling ash and acidic sleet fall silently on the dark glass libraries of the Precursors. It is said that nothing moves here, in the realm of dead furnaces: a planetoid fallen to night. In the winding passages beneath the dormant facilities, however – the strange passages linking the long abandoned “colleges” of Hopelorn, Cold Fever, and the Citadel of Vanished Audience – somethingold and unclean can be heard clicking-away … hungry, and drawing ever closer.

Vaprak: Trolls are an infectious, predatory presence known across Pyrespace: Verdura, Tiamat, the forests of Cyrrollalee and Urogolan, the wooded isles of Tymora, the Crown-moon of Baervan, and upon most of the Fenris-moons & Forge-moons; in fact, it is believed (but not confirmed by the elves) that trolls may even be known in the wild places of Perianth. No place, however, can be said to have been conquered by the trolls like this horrid planetoid: an endless morass of sinking stonework and icy-cold swamp, a place of stench and the low whine of blood-mad insects.

Yurtrus: Miles below the Brandobarin military research-facility of Khin-Oin, a planet-sized city of war-ravaged, long-overgrown Precursor-tech glitters in the cold sunrise … while another neighborhood, connected by monorails that blur between districts faster than the speed of sound, shines like an ocean of light on the other side of nightfall. The city – nicknamed “Fleshslough” by the researchers who drift in orbit high above, perpetually examining the curious urban properties – is a vast thing of austere, ever-moving wonderment: whatever incurable, perversely-contagious disease hangs in the warm air reduces skin to boiling crimson horror in mere moments.

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Moradin’s Forge: this hyper-dense, heavily volcanic planet is just over half the size of Quelya, yet it commands a significantly more massive gravity well. Although it boasts a minimal surface atmosphere, it serves as the home world of dwarves, goblins, ogres, hobgoblins, and orcs; it is also the staging-ground for an illithid invasion-force with control over a supermassive wormhole situated somewhere beyond the edge of the known solar system; illithid forces include any number of alien monstrosities (many mutated or bio-manipulated by the illithid) stolen from a hundred different systems, of which orcs are the newest prize; 80% of all dwarves system-wide live in bondage beneath the heel of the illithid.

A single rebel city, secret in the extreme, is hidden in the shadows of otherwise-absolute illithid dominance: Veil, last hope of the Forge.

Dwarven Male First Names: Hakk, Osrick, Drok, Brut, Muls, Grold, Urbrik, Aandrak, Buulrol, Kigrer, Fraysik, Korvin, Vog, Bellbaarg

Dwarven Female First Names: Yorgwyn, Urgwan, Rren, Inngva, Kledgeg, Lonnvull, Urrgvi, Kalbri, Khora, Sro, Ohlih, Hyylkis, Memrii

Dwarven Clan Names: Grandmaul, Stonehall, Winterstride, Thunderhand, Icevein, Wargold, Blackstone, Runelore, Heartstrong, Ironblaze, Steelfist, Greysky, Shieldhorn, Axetusk, Proudburn, Stormedge

A NOTE ON DWARVEN NAMING CUSTOMS

Dwarves are hardly a monoculture, and each dwarf has dealt with the loss of Moradin’s Forge in an intensely personal way. Some dwarves have taken to answering only to their Clan name (their first name forever, abandoned), while others refuse to speak their Clan name aloud until they stand once more in the re-taken hall of their ancestors; some dwarves have founded entirely new off-world lineages -- such as Clan Dustblade of Ashen -- and some have adopted themselves into existing bloodlines: Clan Malov, the “dwarven branch” of the Malovitch crime-family is, of course, the most famous of these.

Orc, Goblin, Ogre, Hobgoblin Names: Wurgoth, Gradba, Azuk, Speghat, Cagan, Wilaktug, Sbghat, Omegugh, Fogugh, Braugh, Oggugat, Yegoth, Oogorim, Vothug, Nildud, Golag, Bugharz, Zguk, Ombilge, Zudagog, Tothag, Sogg, Narfug, Ergoth, Xorag, Orpigig, Agronak, Orakh, Xulgug, Fudagog

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Moons of the Forge AKA “The Morndinsamman”:

Abbathar: A shimmering world of vast iron pyrite slabs floating across a seething ocean of molten lead, shot-through with veins of plutonium. Extreme weather events triggered by mega-scale Precursor tech embedded at the moon’s poles – still barely understood, even in theory – routinely cause the surface temperature and atmospheric pressure to reach or exceed 4,000 degrees Kelvin and 18 gigapascals (2,610,680 pounds per square inch): converting portions of the atmosphere into solid, crystalline “red oxygen” while shattering the vast methane-plumes into sheets of pure diamond.

Berronar: A temperate world of steep valleys and winding natural cave systems, with a craggy mineral-rich surface marked by broad streams and small hardwood forests, this served for nearly seven centuries as the “second home” of the dwarven people, founded soon after first contact with gnomes from the Circle of Gold. The early loss of this quiet paradise-moon, along with the entirety of its population, to the illithid during their invasion was a brutal blow to the Clans of the Forge.

Clangeddin: A storm-wracked world of mighty fortresses and massive iron-foundries, this was the very last of Forge-moons to fall: its bleak surface is still marked with endless fields of the unburied war dead, broken banners, and mighty siege-engines half-buried in seas of ash. The endless lightning strikes are said to illuminate black rivers of goblin-fungus running between the most hallowed halls and treasure-filled tombs of the ancient dwarven kings: funerary-stone and pale gold circlets trod into the grey mud.

Duerra: In some ways, on certain battle-fronts, it can be said that the dwarven race yet stands: roaring in open, bloodthirsty, unrelenting defiance of the illithid and all their servants. On this inhospitable planetoid, a vast labyrinth of toxic metal-tainted pools, rusted razor wire, and dizzying mineshafts once used to extract silver, iron, gemstones, and titanium by the cubic ton, two rogue creations of the illithid – the duergar and the dark naga – wage endless war in the dark, focusing the psychic energies of their cold anger on killing anything that so much as looks at them sideways … and plotting, always, to escape the oubliette and shackle the universe as their slave.

Dugmaren: What was once the center of all dwarven scholarship – the eternal echoing repository of some thirty centuries of discovery, poetry, engineering, innovation, and invention, the epicenter of all history recorded by the Clans of the Forge, the memories of a people writ in rune – has been lost. None can say how many tomes and testaments were lost during the Battle of Dugmaren, put to the torch and the axe … nor how many of the great, austere library-moon’s sacred record-keepers were devoured by the rapacious illithid, their minds stolen to be used as horrid weapons against the living. For those who treasure the knowledge of ages, the fall of Dugmaren was perhaps the greatest loss of all.

Dumathoin: A lightless world, shrouded in constant slate-grey cloud-cover, riddled with dangerous – yet fantastically lucrative! – gemstone cave systems of seemingly limitless depth. In the many centuries of its exploration, it yet continues to reveal strange new secrets: some treacherous, some fantastic, all of them beautiful and curious in the extreme. Legends suggest that the winding passages here are truly limitless: that the halls curl back on themselves, leading to tunnels beneath the surface of the Forge, the Spider-Moon, the sands of Ashen, the tombs of Chronepsis, the vampire-castles of Fenris, and even the strange armor of the Celestial Pearl.

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Gorm: A cruel planetoid, a howling nightmare of treacherous, winding obsidian passageways, covered in goblin-fungus and lit only by the low blood-red flickers of a hateful molten core, the Gauntlet of Gorm was once the final testing-ground of the greatest dwarven warriors and the finest dwarven armor: here, unstoppable heroes and unbreakable shields alike were forged. Fallen, now, to the illithid, the retaking of unassailable Gorm may yet represent the last, best hope of the dwarven people.

Haela: The imposing mountain peaks of this glimmering moon are carved with the likenesses of the great clan leaders, the eternal Kings and Queens of the Forge. Beneath their austere gaze, feuding clans have, for centuries, set aside their hate and their bloodthirst to settle generations-old grudges through honorable challenge: tests of skill-at-arms, bravery, strength, endurance, mettle, riddling, drinking, cunning, and even the gift of poetry. The halls here have fallen silent, picked-at now by lean, faceless nightmare predators: misshapen things born under unclean stars.

Laduguer: A hard world wrapped in chill grey mist, a moon of foul reputation and terrible whispers drifting on the winds beneath the stone. Under a steel-grey sky flickering with impossible darkness, bottomless pits sparkling with adamantine and black diamonds rend a jagged landscape of petrified Precursor tech: shattered alien weapons, armor, engines, towers, biological experiments, and massive shipwrecks of sea, star, and air, all transformed to iron. Vast, gaping holes in the surface – some miles across – open into mazeworks of silver and mithral, precious blood-onyx and fantastic skymetals, the tunnels lit by the twisting glimmer of an unwholesome and unnatural flame. The icy peaks of this foreboding moon are home to three long-abandoned dwarven strongholds: the Citadel of the White Rose, the Fortress Hammergrim, and the Throne Perilous.

Marthammor: A wild and far-wandering forest moon of geysers and thermal vents, known for its near-constant earthquakes, its towering native flora and fauna, its softly luminescent gemstones, it extreme and unpredictable weather, and – perhaps best of all – for its sprawling subterranean woodlands: vast, steaming caverns filled with trees adapted to survive seemingly without need of sunlight. Legends speak of doorways in the deep woods to other worlds, and ancient elven runes – some millennia old – can be found carved alongside incomprehensible alien glyphs on the many moss-covered marble pillars, stairs, ivory archways of long-fallen ruins.

Sharindlar: A dusky, crimson and rose-gold planetoid of impossible buttes, wide mesas, abundant hot springs, and huge naturally occurring stone “monuments” interlaced with warm shallow seas, all brushed with glittering, coral-pink sandbars, echoing grottos, and wide white beaches. The rare minerals and exotic plant life of this moon are said to possess a variety of astonishing medicinal properties, capable of restoring life, joy, and vitality to even the most crippled form. A massive temple – seemingly of dwarven construction, yet over 7,000 years old – rises from a golden hillside surrounded by circles of great standing-stones, marked by runes of indecipherable origin.

Thard Harr: Thought to be the ancient origin-point of goblin-fungus, the so-called Labyrinth of Life is home to terrible, primordial beasts seen nowhere else in Pyrespace. This bizarre, sweltering jungle world is stacked in “layers” of independently-floating, constantly shifting plateaus, all orbiting a single boiling ocean: the destination of all waterfalls and the source of constant warm mist and heavy rain. For reasons yet unknown, the maddening complexities of this moon are well-recorded in the oral histories of many monstrous species dwelling on Verdura, who claim to have walked star-paths to this place – for purposes of tending to a mysterious “Temple of the Deceiver / Serpent-Father” – in ancient days.

Vergadain: A small planetoid of gentle hills and clear lakes with a wide orbit, this moon was – for nearly seven centuries, since 1051 A.D. – the preferred meeting-ground to facilitate trade between the races of gnome and dwarf. In the wake of utter cataclysm befalling the shattered gnome home world (in 1492 A.D.), a number of wealthy and prominent gnomish merchant-families established permanent residence here at the heartfelt invitation of their friends among the Clans of the Forge; the casual annihilation of those families by the illithid at their outset of the invasion was a horrific shock to both races.

#pathfinder #spelljammer

[arofili]

headcanon disclaimer for my Seven Rings edit

This graphic isn’t technically part of my Peoples of Arda edit series, but the information presented is canon to that verse. Maybe when I get to the dwarves I’ll reorganize it so this is a more official part of it, but that’s for later.

ALL of this is headcanon except for the information about the Ring of Thrór; however, I borrowed it having a blue stone from PJ’s Hobbit movies, and named it “the Sapphire Ring” to match all the others. I also made up a specific date for when they received the Ring.

~

Extrapolation from canon:

I built off of the quote from the Silm (included in the post) for the other details: some Rings were devoured by dragons, others were recovered by Sauron.

In FotR we learn that the dragons got four, and Sauron got three (including the Ring of Thrór); we also learn that “it has been said that dragon-fire could melt and consume the Rings of Power” ... but I like the idea that though the Rings were consumed, they weren’t melted down or destroyed, but after the dragons met their grisly ends the Nazgûl robbed the corpse of the swallowed Ring, so Sauron did end up getting those in the end.

We also know from Appendix A that Durin’s Folk claim that Celebrimbor gave them the first Ring himself, rather than Sauron; Tolkien Gateway disputes that, but in UT there’s a note saying that “nothing is said in the present text about the way in which the Seven Rings came into possession of the Dwarves,” and that Celebrimbor revealed “where the Seven were bestowed,” so I interpret that as Celebrimbor gave some of the Seven away and hid the others, and then told Sauron where they were under torture.

~

From here on out everything I say is headcanon unless explicitly stated otherwise!!! This will include some elaboration on information I presented in the edit :)

Each dwarven clan received their own Ring. Celebrimbor gave Rings to the Longbeards (the Line of Durin; this is canon), the Broadbeams (who I place in Nogrod), and the Firebeards (who I place in Belegost): these are the dwarven clans of the West, the ones he’s had the most contact with. (I know that Belegost and Nogrod may have been destroyed in the War of Wrath but considering the Blue Mountains are still there in later Ages I don’t accept that into my personal headcanon.) The other four Rings he hid in various places throughout Eregion. I think that when he gave away the Rings he did, he warned the dwarven-kings of Sauron’s influence upon them (which he had begun to suspect, and then had confirmation of when the One Ring was forged).

I gave Celebrimbor the epithet “Starfire,” referencing the Star of Fëanor and his skills as a smith; I imagine this was an honor given to him by the dwarves of the Mírdain, and used primarily by the dwarves of the West. I decided that Sauron’s name among the dwarves would probably have been adopted from the Noldor, and maybe even from Celebrimbor himself, so they’re using the Fëanorian Quenya form “Thauron” (though without the special character Þ). His epithet “Blackhand” is fairly self-explanatory, I think, and derived from a canonical title of his applied by Gollum.

I named the Broadbeam King who first bore the Topaz Ring Naugladur II, the second of his name after Naguladur I, the king of Nogrod who led the dwarves against Thingol in BoLT. The last bearer I named Sikhil III, which is a headcanoned name I have for Telchar, who I don’t think was a king but was revered enough that I think kings could have been named after him. I thought it would be interesting if Sauron recovered one of the Seven before his time in Númenor, so I had him kill Sikhil the year before Ar-Pharazôn landed in Umbar. The Broadbeams remembered this treachery and were motivated by the murder of their king to support the Last Alliance a few hundred years later.

The first Stonefoot Ring-bearer I named Chayalor, which in my slapdash Easterling language means “fierce wind.” I place the Stonefoots and their sister-clan the Blacklocks in the Walls of the Sun in the East, where I also have the wicked sorcerer Túvon reside, always testing his power against Sauron. (Túvon is a proto-Sauron character I have reincorporated; you can read a bit more about my take on him here.) When Sauron gave the Diamond and Opal Rings to the dwarves, Túvon was present and very jealous, and schemed to get a Ring for himself. He accomplished this by kidnapping the only son of the Stonefoot King Zakhnab V (“mountain-friend” in my take on the Easterling language), and after a year (and bloody threats) Zakhnab finally gets over his greed and pride and trades the Diamond Ring for his son’s life. Túvon holds onto the Ring for a good 500-ish years before Sauron regains enough power to confront and humble him, taking the Ring back for himself. The eastern dwarves call Sauron “Thû,” like his mannish servants do in that area. His epithet “Sunlord” is a reference to his dominion over the Land of the Sun (which is what the Easterlings called their own territories).

I place the Stiffbeards and their sister-clan the Ironfists in the Mountains of the Wind, which I headcanon were destroyed during the Valar’s war with Morgoth, forcing the Stiffbeards to move north to the remnants of the Iron Mountains and the Ironfists south to the Yellow Mountains (an extension of the Orocarni). This makes the Ironfists contemporaries of the Haradrim (you can see my headcanons about them here). I named their first Ring-bearer Thelór II, a name I took from MERP as the founder of the Ironfist clan; their last Ring-bearer I gave the name Rûvek I, a name which in my slapdash Southron language means “wealthy lord.” This is the first Ring to be consumed by dragons—specifically, a Were-worm. I liked the idea from MERP that were-worms are actually wingless dragons, so I made this dragon one of them, and named it Sarghyr (meaning “magic worm” in my made-up Southron language). Sarghyr burrows under Rûvek’s treasure hoard and eats him and much of his treasure whole, including the Emerald Ring. About 200 years later, two of the Nazgûl track down Sarghyr, slay him, and recover the Ring for Sauron. These southern dwarves call Sauron “the Mage of the Deserts” (aka Sar-Myrin), which is the name the Southrons applied to him in my headcanon.

Meanwhile up north in the Iron Mountains, the Stiffbeards get attacked by the Cold-drake Hrímil Frostheart. This is a dragon I borrowed from LOTRO (where he actually ate the Ring of the Ironfists, but I switched him to their sister-tribe instead to better fit the cold northern aesthetic I gave them). The first Stiffbeard Ring-bearer is Audun III (a Norse name meaning “wealth-friend”); Sauron gave him the Amethyst Ring. Their last Ring-bearer is Sindri VI (a name I borrowed from the LOTR RPG as one of the dwarf-fathers of the Stiffbeards and Ironfists; TG says just the Ironfists but my headcanons are slightly different), the sixth reincarnation of the dwarf-father Sindri (I think all seven dwarf-fathers are given seven reincarnations, like Durin is). This Sindri is attacked by Hrímil, who raids the Stiffbeard Halls and freezes the king and many of his court to death with his icy breath (another detail I borrowed from LOTRO, sort of; Tolkien’s cold-drakes are just fireless, not icy, but this is much cooler!), later consuming Sindri and his Ring. 50-ish years later, the Stiffbeards and Ironfists unite to drive Hrímil out of their halls, and though the dragon flees he takes the Ring with him in his belly. Hrímil survives for another 200-ish years on his own before the corrupting power of the Ring inside him kills him; 200-ish more years later, one of the Nazgûl picks through his corpse to recover the Amethyst Ring. I didn’t have a specific name for Sauron in this region, so since it was him who gave the Ring to them and not Celebrimbor I just had him use the canonical name Annatar Aulendil, whom it’s possible they could have heard of. I think he could still lay claim to the title “Lord of Gifts,” and referencing kinship with Aulë (Mahal) would certainly endear the dwarves to him.

Returning to the East: the first Blacklock Ring-bearer, who received the Opal Ring at the same time the Stonefoots received the Diamond Ring, was Halakhund II (meaning “noble axe” in my Easterling language). The last is Sûkhor (“black fire”), who faced down a dragon in battle to protect his people. This is the Fire-drake Lorekh (“wild ferocity”), who had been bred by Túvon to attack the Blacklocks and retrieve their Ring for him (since the scheme with the Diamond Ring didn’t pan out how he’d planned), but Lorekh escapes early and rampages through the dwarf-lands uncontrolled. Sûkhor fights her off and gives her a really gnarly facial scar, but in the end he is devoured along with his Ring. Túvon doesn’t get the Opal Ring, though, since Lorekh flies west to the Grey Mountains where she joins in Hrímil’s kin (and Smaug’s ancestors) in bothering the dwarves, though she develops a particular taste for elves. In the same year that the Longbeards are driven out of their halls in the Grey Mountains, Lorekh goes further south to harass the Wood-elves, who name her Thirristiel (Sindarin for “scar-face”). Queen Thúlivren of the Woodland Realm (my OC for Thranduil’s spouse) kills her, but not before Thirristiel delivers Thúlivren a mortal wound. The elves who stay behind the battlefield to dispose of the dragon’s corpse discover that Thirristiel had swallowed a Ring of Power and fish it out of her corpse, then hurry back to Mirkwood to tell their grieving King about it...except that oops, they get the attention of the Nazgûl Khamûl, lord of Dol Guldur, who captures and kills them before they get there, taking the Opal Ring back for Sauron. Thranduil never finds out about this event.

Back in the Blue Mountains, wayyy back when, Celebrimbor also gave the Firebeards a Ring. This was the Ruby Ring, whose first bearer was Hannar I (a name I stole from one of Bilbo’s dwarvish companions after his party; I don’t think the two are related, I just wanted a quick and easy name). After the murder of Sikhil III and the theft of the Topaz Ring, the Firebeards guarded the Ruby Ring all the more fiercely, and they held onto it longer than any other tribe save the Longbeards. That they lost it at all was mostly due to bad fortune: as Belegost expanded, they disturbed the lair of the dragon Lhamthanc, who killed and ate their King Fimli IV (a Norse name). Lhamthanc is a “serpent-name” only mentioned once, in the Etymologies, and I decided he is one of Glaurung’s brood who survived the War of Wrath and went into an extended coma/hibernation in the Blue Mountains. When he finally wakes up after nearly 6000 years, he’s pissed off and chomps down on the dwarves who disturbed him. He has a good 30-ish years of waking freedom before he feels the summons of Sauron, who is magically connected to all of Melkor’s original vassals (being one himself, and seeing himself as Melkor’s successor). Sauron is much stronger than Lhamthanc, and he can’t resist the call to Mordor, where he is captured, tortured, and killed by Sauron to retrieve the Ruby Ring in his stomach. (This storyline was very much inspired by the tale of the “Ring-drakes” appearing in LOTRO.)

And finally, the Longbeards: we actually have canon details on how they got their Ring, who gave it to them, who received it, and who finally lost and how. The only headcanon-y bit here is that theirs is called the Sapphire Ring!

#dwarves of middle earth #dwarves #seven rings #seven dwarf rings #headcanons #my meta #tefain nin

[ace-of-sspades]

World Map for Original Work

It’s been a long time coming, here is one of the maps I’ve drawn for my creative writing endeavors. I thought I’d start broad just get the general concept out there but I’ll definitely post more in-depth stuff as I warm up to sharing this whole thing.

This is a map of the known world. Just for a brief overview- It’s a medieval fantasy setting. The story takes place over 8 generations of a royal family’s rule so the kingdoms change a bit over time. Also I don’t have an actual name for the world yet, it’s been like ten years and I still haven’t named it.

Anyway, here’s a rundown of some of the kingdoms:

Ajm- (This is where the main story takes place) Ajm is a classic high medieval type kingdom with the McTroy family as the ruling family. They become very important after a fate meeting leaves the crowned prince with the magic he’s only heard about in legends. (That’s my pitch for the story, that’s basically it.)

Scranton- They are Ajm’s closest ally. They’re a nautical kingdom on the east coast of the Central Sea and they control much of the trade. (They have like a Greek/East Mediterranean vibes).

Elm- Elm is more mitral territory between Scranton and Ajm. It’s mostly used for strategic purposes. Such as keeping the Southern Barbarians away from the trade routes of the Central Sea.

Murim and the Wastelands- Murim is south east of Ajm and it is largely known as unclaimed territory more than a kingdom. There are several informal clans that are all largely identified as Southern Barbarians. They roam this region and have on and off trade relations with Ajm.

Jrmian- They’re to the west. They go through several wars with Ajm, they’re located in the desert. Later on they become allies with Ajm to take on Rosania, to the far north. (Jrmian has Egypt/Carthage vibes for reference).

Note: the above kingdoms/regions make up what is referred to as the Southern Kingdoms. They all share a similar religion/heritage despite their differences.

Rosania- The Rosanian people are half Orc. They start to pillage trade in the Central Sea and slowly take over farther south along the coast. (Basically they’re a Viking/Mongol combination of sorts).

Aivira and Atria- (Also known as the Ancient Cities). These are more lore than settings. They were the original Elven cities from the ancient times and were once utopias full of magic and prosperity. Now they’re massive corrupt metropolises with very rich emperors and they is almost no Elven heritage left. Despite that the emperors claim to be of pure Elven decent. They are more technologically advanced than the Southern Kingdoms. (More like at the start of the industrial revolution rather than early Renaissance).

Eclaite - Eclaite a prosperous kingdom along the west coast of the Central Sea. The population is mostly human with some clear Elven heritage but the people possess no magic. They are generally very elegant and spiritual people that try to uphold the old legends of how society worked under Elven rule. They do not like the people of the Ancient Cities and the people of the Ancient Cities do not like them, however, both know that a war would be too devastating. The Ancient Cities are much more technologically advanced but Eclaite is the religious capital of all of the Southern Kingdoms.

Yehwood- Another region rather than kingdom, this makes up the large expanse of forest east of the Central Sea. The forest is inhabited by many of the fabled and elusive druids, (people who can do lesser magic). Certain areas such as Justrua to the south and Eshil to the East seem to have a decent amount of inhabitants, mostly passive villages. However, for the most part, the depths of the Yehwood are feared and the forest seems to go on infinitely into the eastern horizon.

Stordor- This is the Dwarven Capital. The Dwarves existed back when the Elves ruled over the world but back then and in the present they remain isolated and neural. They do not take part in the human world, except for trade. They supply the Ancient Cities and subsequently most of the known world with stone and precious metals from their mines.

#there it is #original work #I came up with this world as a kid and it’s gone through many many renditions but this one seems to have stuck for the past few years #probably won’t get many notes but that’s all good #I’m just hype to finally get it out of my head and notebooks and into a medium where I can get feedback no matter how much #I’ll start a tag for this stuff #ajm #my world