Friday, April 15, 2016
Further thoughts
I've now commented at some length in my collection of notebooks on the intended aesthetic for the World of Arkon and it is now time to update this blog again. The basic idea here is to have, instead of the 'fantastic realism' of my other projects on hold, such as the intensively developed (c.2008-9) Nyvald campaign world, a surrealistic feel. This can be discerned in a number of ways. One of the most prominent would be the promiscuous mixing of technological settings. This was not so evident in the early days of Arkon which seemed to be more of a doctrinaire Medieval setting, but even then there were hints. It was much more evident later. This fits with the general theme of historical cycles and recurrent events. This last piece is also, in itself, surreal. But in a typical campaign in the Saen setting, which was the longest in play, there would be hints from all different ages of technology. For example, vehicles and aircraft, and perhaps cities a bit more along the lines of modern ones, but on the other hand, many aspects of life common in medieval times or in some cases even antiquity are also preserved. Aristocracies and kings, for example, who have real power, recall the medieval, while the monstrous beings that are found in some wild areas recall the times of myth and legend in antiquity. So there is a blend of elements. And the effect is one of wonder. Another thing that stands out is a bit more of the Abrahamic Apocalypticism coming through with the melodramatic 'dark lords' thing, coexisting with the earlier, more Pagan aesthetic of adventurism which was seen early in Verial's Saga. This adds another layer of ambiguity. Out of a continual spinning of the threads, I must remark that the setting has come to have its own character and atmosphere, and is something more or less truly original. That is not to say that it doesn't fall within a certain tradition of myth and legend, but rather that it also tries to cover new ground to whatever degree is possible, so that this is set apart from and not identical with the feel of earlier settings, even those I might have utmost respect for. It is also the case that there is a wider cosmos, the Simverse, which this world will fit into. That development will proceed alongside that of Arkon, time permitting of course. Still outstanding are some questions I want to further develop - sketches of history, geography, ethnography, religions and so on. But there will always be some gray areas here, due to lack of time, and also because I like there to be some. This does maintain a bit of a realism after all, since even in our own scientific and naturalistic inclined world, there are things that remain unknown beyond guesswork. In sum, there is plenty more to be written on this subject, including some things I've re-evaluated rather recently. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Another version of same
Further Arkon Notes
--These are presented out of any given order as they have been gleaned from several books where notes were recorded as remembered.--
###Green Portable Notebook###
-War in which Verial and Derus take part
-Derus 'final' confrontation with Verial at Manor (former goes away for a while)
-Side switching of Verial, assasination of Vellman and the loss of the Central Kingdom
-Verial later changes his loyalties again and gets put on trial
-Later mission in Eastern Lands (this was an odd mission, perhaps only a treasure-hunt during the Exile portion of the campaign)
###Red Notebook###
-Arkon is RPG world created in 1996. It came from an adaptation of the telnet based game REALMSMUD. By the time of the Spring '97 campaign it was much evolved from that. I have said elsewhere that it also has inputs from Palladium, Square and D and D, while not being wholly of any of those. The time has now come to update it. Considerable thought has now been put into this.
There follows a to-do list:
-World Map
-Major character list
-Local area of Verial Campaign and others
-Timelines
-Factions and Antagonists
-Define Political entities
-Work out religious structure
-Human and demihuman and humanoid homelands
[These have been approached by now to some extent -- ed.]
General notes:
-Magic can be legally practiced in JAdus and Saen both, however, it is regulated by guilds. Mages Guild is most common but there are others. These rules tend to be strictly enforced.
-Guild membership is required for freelance adventurers in most lawful lands. In Jadus, it is absolutely necessary. Because of the legalistic system that has developed there, it has flowed outwards and is compelled, but there are some hinterlands where it is hard to enforce, for example, the taiga. In more feudal and decentralized Saen, it is less enforced. In Jadus, it is possible to join more than one guild, but not more than 3. However, some guilds will not allowed concurrent memberships - Monks and Changelings.
-Jadus: There was once a state here known as the Great Northern Empire. It was ruled by a strange and secretive group of families with a secretive religious order underpinning the whole thing. However, the various heirs eventually came to feuding and the Empire collapsed. In its wake lawlessness and chaos ensued. This gave rise to the Heroic and Romantic Age of Aceries and other wandering heroes who tried their hands at building states in the wake. This was also a period of increased resurgence in nonhuman populations and intrusion of other forces on the lands of men and their close allies. But by the days of the Saen campaigns, Jadus has come under the rule of several absolute monarchies with strong legalistic structures.
-Saen: Always a more barbaric land than either the Empires of the South or the Northern Realms, this land has been feudal since the long-ago collapse of the Empire of Tescelin. There are Three Realms here, and various major families rule the politics of the days with the help of many smaller noble and gentry families. The Kriegsburg setting is a good case - it is a city formerly of lesser importance, but which was made into a major city by the decline of Koralden to the southwest. The Barony that rules it is nominally a vassal to the Anteras Cult lands and the Mayron family that claims descent from the Immortal Lord Anteras. But they are weakening and the Barony's star is rising - at the beginning of VC. In the Northern Realm, the House of Drakensburg under the influence of the Reformist Cults has claimed royalty and their kingdom is on the march. By the beginning of the VC there is a war brewing over the House of Vaison's Central Realm, while the House of Leneir hopes to expand the reach of the Southern Realm there for the Universal Cult. In the Southern Realm, the old faith and the monarchy are still strongly believed in, while in the Central Realm it is more of a toss-up, and in the Northern Realm it is largely under the sway of newer breakaways. These last are accused of being under the influence of dark powers by the UC.
-Religions of Jadus: There are six major gods that are most popular, War, Healing, Justice, Fire, Disease and Vengeance, but there are others who are venerated. The GNE still confers some interesting monotheistic esoteric cults.
-Timeline: The Age of Aceries precedes the Verial Campaign by a bit of time. On the other hand, the campaigns after Verial don't take place as long after. Vampyro campaign is in immediate aftermath of the wars, while the Jedon Campaign is not long after that.
-The Wizard Question: The wizards in this sense are Immortals who are not Deified and live closer to the world's spheres and directly intervene more often than the Gods, who live farther away and are less directly involved. This is sort of a hierarchy of spirits and realms approach. This is inspired, perhaps, by the ancient cultures who would venerate heroes as intermediate between gods and men. There are instances, too, of this in Arkon, viz. the Cult of Anteras.
-Heym: The town where the Kyningas of GNE were buried, it became during the Aceries Campaign a town where heroes would meet and live and conspire. Today it is a local center of administration.
-Climate notes: Jadus varies from continental and oceanic to hemiboreal and taiga. Saen is farther south and its climate is mostly temperate , with some continental in upland regions and an area of subtropical forest at the southern end, where the Greywood is.
-There are homelands for the major racial groups, by which I mean macroraces (human, demihuman, humanoid) - this question hasn't really been approached yet. Though Oram is the land where the Elves originated and remain strong.
Verial:
-War in which Verial and Derus fight, this is the war for the Central Realm.
-Verial at refuge base, escapes from Derus and co, who burns it. There was valuable info he was gathering, but was forced to leave.
-Verial turns coat and assassinates Vellman at a decisive battle.
-Later mission from airship in eastern lands.
-Derus and alliance with dark elves - this is Verial's first sign that Derus is planning something different than he had thought ( i.e. not as tied to Arxam's agenda as thought)
-At the Manor Hall, Derus is 'defeated' and disappears for some time.
-Derus returns from his absence as the masked 'Clan Leader'
-Count Sevyle meets Verial in Kriesburg and they instantly come to hostility. This continues to build as it is discovered that there is old enmity there.
-There is a minor kingdom called Danyria which Sevyle ascends to power in, and he at this point makes clear his allegiance to the Darklords - which Derus did not do, despite his alliance with the Syndicate, and then later his connection with Sevyle and the dark elves.
-Dark Elves of House Kaeerus are the third party in this triple alliance. They want to regain some of their lands and begin an empire of their own once more.
-Arkadi and Sevyle also have alliance. Arkadi is strange Zheridian nobleman who has ties to the dark powers in Saen. It seems that the Zheridians may actually, secretly, have compromised some of the BS type crew. Sevyle is DarkLords allied, Derus seems to, in the future vision, become a living Triadic ideal despite his repudiation of them ...
-Verial and co at one point get dropped in the middle of tribal lands by one of Sevyle's spells (a modified whirlwind without the sapping power, just transporting).
Characters:
-Derus: The enigmatic, and likely, half-mad world wanderer and prince of duelists. He is presumably immortal due to the GodsBlood experiments. He was originally from an ancient and fallen civilization, and is likely between 5-10ky old if not older. He seems to be the only survivor of a group of Runic Knights, also, although this order was formed later when he was already an ancient. Since he knows now that he cannot die, he has a long term plan to transcend the world, believing that the ancient civilization he now knows he was born into did the very same thing. His doings form a major part of the Arkonian Mythos, and it seems to be his destiny to be a bloody future tyrant, though it is not known if that vision seen by Verial actually would come to pass or was merely a possibility. But there is a chance that, if it is true, it would only be so that he would be able to transcend - pursuing the farthest strands as a means to go into the farther realms.
After Verial:
-The DarkLords are located off world. These are Kieron, Vylus, and Exeten. In the Jedon Campaign, it is my intention that he will discover their plot and try to confront them. This will require him to find out about the Spelljammers, which were hinted at in the Verial and Vampyro campaigns.
-There grows to be unreconcilable tensions between the Dark Triad, and Derus and co - this will impact the Quadrarchy.
-Jedon wants to play major factions off one another once he gains some power.
-Jedon finds some immunities to dark powers that make it possible for him to confront some of the darklords.
-Arxam and Jedon have a showdown and the former is finally killed, but he returns later as a very powerful planar being bent on revenge.
-The question of the ApocLords v DarkLords I have just begun to answer.
###Later Green Notebook###
-Early on: Verial's rise in Kriegsburg due to resolution of the Port Varas situation
-First encounters with Arxam as 'power behind the seat' in Kriegsburg underworld
-Poisoning of the Count of Anteras. And the loss of his son while hunting. This spells the end of a lineage claiming descent from the Wizard of the same name. The House of Krieg takes center stage in the region thanks to this happening.
-Royals of the South have endless trouble with inter-familial feuds. This becomes more pronounced later and for a time, the line seems to be thrown into disarray, with the rightful heir being abducted in the mountains following the loss of the CK thanks to Verial's betrayal. As of the Vampyro campaign, the heir hasn't returned and to prevent any more royal strife, the powerful general Arthomer I has set himself up as Realms Guardian (cannot truly be King due to laws of lineage).
-The Black Dragons rise to be the Kings of the North involved the sidelining of the Sunburst line which was related to the Royals of the South more clearly than the former.
-The Dark Coalition early on was built from an alliance between the Triadic Cult and the Northern Kingdoms. This proves to be something of a temporary allegiance, since the TC has different goals and they are the ones who end up taking over portions of the Central Kingdom with permanent occupation, though their schemes in the South fail. The Quadrarchy, in the later Vampyro campaign, offers to help the Southern Kingdom liberate the Central Kingdom and put one of the White Lion heirs on the throne once more, but the plan falls thru as Arthomer will not recognize the legitimacy of the Quadrarchy unless they submit, which they won't do.
-Verial's first troubles with Baron Krieg happen after five years of service and many deeds. But when he uncovers the unsavory deals they are doing and goes public with it via the underground press, this triggers a severe confrontation. Verial personally battles Krieg and Arxam in a dramatic street standoff of factions, then is imprisoned. But thanks to the efforts of the old white mage, and the inimitable Strohb, he escapes and goes into exile.
-Velleman comes into the picture as a vain, aristocratic, but ultimately effective general. Verial doesn't care for him and sees him as a schemer, but also recognizes his abilities.
-This takes place around the time that Verial meets Derus and there are the first major battles between Northern and Central forces on the doorstep of the South, i.e. Kriegsburg.
-Verial during this time also finds information regarding the activities of Derus, the strange and mysterious fellow he first encountered on the battlefield in enmity. Derus and his mercenaries appear to be allied with the TC. Verial later investigates his doings, which seem to involve obsessive hunts for famed artifacts and documents, and this leads to his being tailed and nearly killed by Derus and his forces for a time. The dramatic height of this period is when Verial meets with some leaders of the resistance and their safehouse is abruptly raided and destroyed by Derus and his mercenaries.
-A bit later on, there is a major confrontation at a great manor house between Derus and Verial, and thanks to some strange occurences it seems that Derus is killed, run thru with his own sword.
-The white mage Orrele plays a role in turning Verial back around later on in the campaign.
-Blackgate District remains a seedy part of town, but a kind of fun jumpoff to adventure also, due to its relationship with the underworld.
-Verial's alliances go awry after his betrayal and killing of Velleman, and he gets attacked by Sevyl and loses his eldest son.
-Dream Palace is a place of discovery and a major turning point in the Verial campaign. This is where he finally starts to learn of his Kithamnos heritage and why he is hated by Sevyl, who belongs to the rival house.
-Violet Desert tower adventures and Airship fiasco make up another dramatic part of the campaign, since this happens during the height of his outlaw phase when he is taken to the faraway lands to see the Cultic sites of the ancient darkness.
-Verial makes alliances with Gnomes at one point after meeting them by chance.
-Jakrean serves as the base for the last part of the campaign when he is contemplating his moves into the Eastern areas.
-The situation in Arkon as of the later campaigns is a time of general strangeness. Men are wrapped up in feudal wars and struggles for power between religious factions. Elves have become more secretive and less influential, and those of them who lived in empires have seen a long decline into stasis of a kind. No spectacular falls of kingdoms as in the old days, just winding down. The Dwarves are behaving coldly and in an isolationist fashion, not happy when they do not have the upper hand (men have multiplied more than other groups). Hin are, on the other hand, doing well, making alliances with the kingdoms of Men and doing well compared with the ancient days of unending tribal strife. Humanoids are, as always, looking for opportunities since they remain despised and fallen creatures (it is also speculated that orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins, kobolds and so on, are twisted versions of humans and demihumans). Gnomes remain the least common, but also have a good thing going with their technical and physical wizardry that none can match,
###Other###
-Zheridians and the Apocalypse Lords are closer to CE, Abyssal or PrimalChaos type powers, while the Northern Cults and the Darklords are more NE, GrayWaste or Malevolent type powers, and the Triadic Cult is closest to the LE, Nine Hells or Tyrant Kings type of rule. This is just an idea for how they could relate. Then the goals might be different, the first wanting a wholescale remaking of the world in the image of darkness and cruelty, sinking it into the pit, while the DarkLords have a more dully cruel and sinister vision of the enslavement of mankind and subject to torments while living as arbitrary rulers, and the Triadic types want to set up an absolute earthly tyranny owing allegiance to older and harsher gods. But this is just a framework.
-Air travel is known. Airships are around, but rare. Space travel exists but is highly secret. It was once researched in the vicinity of Kriegsburg, and that is in fact how the city first started to grow, but it was covered up. The Underground Installation that Verial finds relatively early on is parrt of this.
-Verial also discovers but does not explore the cave where the darkness of the gap is coming from. He goes far enough to switch off the artifact but there is much more of this land to explore.
-Verial spent around 5 years in Kriegsburg. It was in this time he pacified the hills, resolved troubles in the vicinity, and became a lieutenant of the Baron. But his investigations of the BS factions lead to troubles, and his corruption investigation that implicates the Baron leads to his imprisonment and leaving the city for a long while.
-Verial's last adventures are a question of interest. He gets put on capital trial at one point, and seems to have been provisionally released afterwards to track down the major Triadic Temple in the Southern Realm.
-Disappearance of the Leneir heir in the mountains after the Vellman battle.
--These are presented out of any given order as they have been gleaned from several books where notes were recorded as remembered.--
###Green Portable Notebook###
-War in which Verial and Derus take part
-Derus 'final' confrontation with Verial at Manor (former goes away for a while)
-Side switching of Verial, assasination of Vellman and the loss of the Central Kingdom
-Verial later changes his loyalties again and gets put on trial
-Later mission in Eastern Lands (this was an odd mission, perhaps only a treasure-hunt during the Exile portion of the campaign)
###Red Notebook###
-Arkon is RPG world created in 1996. It came from an adaptation of the telnet based game REALMSMUD. By the time of the Spring '97 campaign it was much evolved from that. I have said elsewhere that it also has inputs from Palladium, Square and D and D, while not being wholly of any of those. The time has now come to update it. Considerable thought has now been put into this.
There follows a to-do list:
-World Map
-Major character list
-Local area of Verial Campaign and others
-Timelines
-Factions and Antagonists
-Define Political entities
-Work out religious structure
-Human and demihuman and humanoid homelands
[These have been approached by now to some extent -- ed.]
General notes:
-Magic can be legally practiced in JAdus and Saen both, however, it is regulated by guilds. Mages Guild is most common but there are others. These rules tend to be strictly enforced.
-Guild membership is required for freelance adventurers in most lawful lands. In Jadus, it is absolutely necessary. Because of the legalistic system that has developed there, it has flowed outwards and is compelled, but there are some hinterlands where it is hard to enforce, for example, the taiga. In more feudal and decentralized Saen, it is less enforced. In Jadus, it is possible to join more than one guild, but not more than 3. However, some guilds will not allowed concurrent memberships - Monks and Changelings.
-Jadus: There was once a state here known as the Great Northern Empire. It was ruled by a strange and secretive group of families with a secretive religious order underpinning the whole thing. However, the various heirs eventually came to feuding and the Empire collapsed. In its wake lawlessness and chaos ensued. This gave rise to the Heroic and Romantic Age of Aceries and other wandering heroes who tried their hands at building states in the wake. This was also a period of increased resurgence in nonhuman populations and intrusion of other forces on the lands of men and their close allies. But by the days of the Saen campaigns, Jadus has come under the rule of several absolute monarchies with strong legalistic structures.
-Saen: Always a more barbaric land than either the Empires of the South or the Northern Realms, this land has been feudal since the long-ago collapse of the Empire of Tescelin. There are Three Realms here, and various major families rule the politics of the days with the help of many smaller noble and gentry families. The Kriegsburg setting is a good case - it is a city formerly of lesser importance, but which was made into a major city by the decline of Koralden to the southwest. The Barony that rules it is nominally a vassal to the Anteras Cult lands and the Mayron family that claims descent from the Immortal Lord Anteras. But they are weakening and the Barony's star is rising - at the beginning of VC. In the Northern Realm, the House of Drakensburg under the influence of the Reformist Cults has claimed royalty and their kingdom is on the march. By the beginning of the VC there is a war brewing over the House of Vaison's Central Realm, while the House of Leneir hopes to expand the reach of the Southern Realm there for the Universal Cult. In the Southern Realm, the old faith and the monarchy are still strongly believed in, while in the Central Realm it is more of a toss-up, and in the Northern Realm it is largely under the sway of newer breakaways. These last are accused of being under the influence of dark powers by the UC.
-Religions of Jadus: There are six major gods that are most popular, War, Healing, Justice, Fire, Disease and Vengeance, but there are others who are venerated. The GNE still confers some interesting monotheistic esoteric cults.
-Timeline: The Age of Aceries precedes the Verial Campaign by a bit of time. On the other hand, the campaigns after Verial don't take place as long after. Vampyro campaign is in immediate aftermath of the wars, while the Jedon Campaign is not long after that.
-The Wizard Question: The wizards in this sense are Immortals who are not Deified and live closer to the world's spheres and directly intervene more often than the Gods, who live farther away and are less directly involved. This is sort of a hierarchy of spirits and realms approach. This is inspired, perhaps, by the ancient cultures who would venerate heroes as intermediate between gods and men. There are instances, too, of this in Arkon, viz. the Cult of Anteras.
-Heym: The town where the Kyningas of GNE were buried, it became during the Aceries Campaign a town where heroes would meet and live and conspire. Today it is a local center of administration.
-Climate notes: Jadus varies from continental and oceanic to hemiboreal and taiga. Saen is farther south and its climate is mostly temperate , with some continental in upland regions and an area of subtropical forest at the southern end, where the Greywood is.
-There are homelands for the major racial groups, by which I mean macroraces (human, demihuman, humanoid) - this question hasn't really been approached yet. Though Oram is the land where the Elves originated and remain strong.
Verial:
-War in which Verial and Derus fight, this is the war for the Central Realm.
-Verial at refuge base, escapes from Derus and co, who burns it. There was valuable info he was gathering, but was forced to leave.
-Verial turns coat and assassinates Vellman at a decisive battle.
-Later mission from airship in eastern lands.
-Derus and alliance with dark elves - this is Verial's first sign that Derus is planning something different than he had thought ( i.e. not as tied to Arxam's agenda as thought)
-At the Manor Hall, Derus is 'defeated' and disappears for some time.
-Derus returns from his absence as the masked 'Clan Leader'
-Count Sevyle meets Verial in Kriesburg and they instantly come to hostility. This continues to build as it is discovered that there is old enmity there.
-There is a minor kingdom called Danyria which Sevyle ascends to power in, and he at this point makes clear his allegiance to the Darklords - which Derus did not do, despite his alliance with the Syndicate, and then later his connection with Sevyle and the dark elves.
-Dark Elves of House Kaeerus are the third party in this triple alliance. They want to regain some of their lands and begin an empire of their own once more.
-Arkadi and Sevyle also have alliance. Arkadi is strange Zheridian nobleman who has ties to the dark powers in Saen. It seems that the Zheridians may actually, secretly, have compromised some of the BS type crew. Sevyle is DarkLords allied, Derus seems to, in the future vision, become a living Triadic ideal despite his repudiation of them ...
-Verial and co at one point get dropped in the middle of tribal lands by one of Sevyle's spells (a modified whirlwind without the sapping power, just transporting).
Characters:
-Derus: The enigmatic, and likely, half-mad world wanderer and prince of duelists. He is presumably immortal due to the GodsBlood experiments. He was originally from an ancient and fallen civilization, and is likely between 5-10ky old if not older. He seems to be the only survivor of a group of Runic Knights, also, although this order was formed later when he was already an ancient. Since he knows now that he cannot die, he has a long term plan to transcend the world, believing that the ancient civilization he now knows he was born into did the very same thing. His doings form a major part of the Arkonian Mythos, and it seems to be his destiny to be a bloody future tyrant, though it is not known if that vision seen by Verial actually would come to pass or was merely a possibility. But there is a chance that, if it is true, it would only be so that he would be able to transcend - pursuing the farthest strands as a means to go into the farther realms.
After Verial:
-The DarkLords are located off world. These are Kieron, Vylus, and Exeten. In the Jedon Campaign, it is my intention that he will discover their plot and try to confront them. This will require him to find out about the Spelljammers, which were hinted at in the Verial and Vampyro campaigns.
-There grows to be unreconcilable tensions between the Dark Triad, and Derus and co - this will impact the Quadrarchy.
-Jedon wants to play major factions off one another once he gains some power.
-Jedon finds some immunities to dark powers that make it possible for him to confront some of the darklords.
-Arxam and Jedon have a showdown and the former is finally killed, but he returns later as a very powerful planar being bent on revenge.
-The question of the ApocLords v DarkLords I have just begun to answer.
###Later Green Notebook###
-Early on: Verial's rise in Kriegsburg due to resolution of the Port Varas situation
-First encounters with Arxam as 'power behind the seat' in Kriegsburg underworld
-Poisoning of the Count of Anteras. And the loss of his son while hunting. This spells the end of a lineage claiming descent from the Wizard of the same name. The House of Krieg takes center stage in the region thanks to this happening.
-Royals of the South have endless trouble with inter-familial feuds. This becomes more pronounced later and for a time, the line seems to be thrown into disarray, with the rightful heir being abducted in the mountains following the loss of the CK thanks to Verial's betrayal. As of the Vampyro campaign, the heir hasn't returned and to prevent any more royal strife, the powerful general Arthomer I has set himself up as Realms Guardian (cannot truly be King due to laws of lineage).
-The Black Dragons rise to be the Kings of the North involved the sidelining of the Sunburst line which was related to the Royals of the South more clearly than the former.
-The Dark Coalition early on was built from an alliance between the Triadic Cult and the Northern Kingdoms. This proves to be something of a temporary allegiance, since the TC has different goals and they are the ones who end up taking over portions of the Central Kingdom with permanent occupation, though their schemes in the South fail. The Quadrarchy, in the later Vampyro campaign, offers to help the Southern Kingdom liberate the Central Kingdom and put one of the White Lion heirs on the throne once more, but the plan falls thru as Arthomer will not recognize the legitimacy of the Quadrarchy unless they submit, which they won't do.
-Verial's first troubles with Baron Krieg happen after five years of service and many deeds. But when he uncovers the unsavory deals they are doing and goes public with it via the underground press, this triggers a severe confrontation. Verial personally battles Krieg and Arxam in a dramatic street standoff of factions, then is imprisoned. But thanks to the efforts of the old white mage, and the inimitable Strohb, he escapes and goes into exile.
-Velleman comes into the picture as a vain, aristocratic, but ultimately effective general. Verial doesn't care for him and sees him as a schemer, but also recognizes his abilities.
-This takes place around the time that Verial meets Derus and there are the first major battles between Northern and Central forces on the doorstep of the South, i.e. Kriegsburg.
-Verial during this time also finds information regarding the activities of Derus, the strange and mysterious fellow he first encountered on the battlefield in enmity. Derus and his mercenaries appear to be allied with the TC. Verial later investigates his doings, which seem to involve obsessive hunts for famed artifacts and documents, and this leads to his being tailed and nearly killed by Derus and his forces for a time. The dramatic height of this period is when Verial meets with some leaders of the resistance and their safehouse is abruptly raided and destroyed by Derus and his mercenaries.
-A bit later on, there is a major confrontation at a great manor house between Derus and Verial, and thanks to some strange occurences it seems that Derus is killed, run thru with his own sword.
-The white mage Orrele plays a role in turning Verial back around later on in the campaign.
-Blackgate District remains a seedy part of town, but a kind of fun jumpoff to adventure also, due to its relationship with the underworld.
-Verial's alliances go awry after his betrayal and killing of Velleman, and he gets attacked by Sevyl and loses his eldest son.
-Dream Palace is a place of discovery and a major turning point in the Verial campaign. This is where he finally starts to learn of his Kithamnos heritage and why he is hated by Sevyl, who belongs to the rival house.
-Violet Desert tower adventures and Airship fiasco make up another dramatic part of the campaign, since this happens during the height of his outlaw phase when he is taken to the faraway lands to see the Cultic sites of the ancient darkness.
-Verial makes alliances with Gnomes at one point after meeting them by chance.
-Jakrean serves as the base for the last part of the campaign when he is contemplating his moves into the Eastern areas.
-The situation in Arkon as of the later campaigns is a time of general strangeness. Men are wrapped up in feudal wars and struggles for power between religious factions. Elves have become more secretive and less influential, and those of them who lived in empires have seen a long decline into stasis of a kind. No spectacular falls of kingdoms as in the old days, just winding down. The Dwarves are behaving coldly and in an isolationist fashion, not happy when they do not have the upper hand (men have multiplied more than other groups). Hin are, on the other hand, doing well, making alliances with the kingdoms of Men and doing well compared with the ancient days of unending tribal strife. Humanoids are, as always, looking for opportunities since they remain despised and fallen creatures (it is also speculated that orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins, kobolds and so on, are twisted versions of humans and demihumans). Gnomes remain the least common, but also have a good thing going with their technical and physical wizardry that none can match,
###Other###
-Zheridians and the Apocalypse Lords are closer to CE, Abyssal or PrimalChaos type powers, while the Northern Cults and the Darklords are more NE, GrayWaste or Malevolent type powers, and the Triadic Cult is closest to the LE, Nine Hells or Tyrant Kings type of rule. This is just an idea for how they could relate. Then the goals might be different, the first wanting a wholescale remaking of the world in the image of darkness and cruelty, sinking it into the pit, while the DarkLords have a more dully cruel and sinister vision of the enslavement of mankind and subject to torments while living as arbitrary rulers, and the Triadic types want to set up an absolute earthly tyranny owing allegiance to older and harsher gods. But this is just a framework.
-Air travel is known. Airships are around, but rare. Space travel exists but is highly secret. It was once researched in the vicinity of Kriegsburg, and that is in fact how the city first started to grow, but it was covered up. The Underground Installation that Verial finds relatively early on is parrt of this.
-Verial also discovers but does not explore the cave where the darkness of the gap is coming from. He goes far enough to switch off the artifact but there is much more of this land to explore.
-Verial spent around 5 years in Kriegsburg. It was in this time he pacified the hills, resolved troubles in the vicinity, and became a lieutenant of the Baron. But his investigations of the BS factions lead to troubles, and his corruption investigation that implicates the Baron leads to his imprisonment and leaving the city for a long while.
-Verial's last adventures are a question of interest. He gets put on capital trial at one point, and seems to have been provisionally released afterwards to track down the major Triadic Temple in the Southern Realm.
-Disappearance of the Leneir heir in the mountains after the Vellman battle.
Further Notes Released
Further Arkon Notes
--These are presented out of any given
order as they have been gleaned from several books where notes were
recorded as remembered.--
###Green Portable Notebook###
-War in which Verial and Derus take
part
-Derus 'final' confrontation with
Verial at Manor (former goes away for a while)
-Side switching of Verial, assasination
of Vellman and the loss of the Central Kingdom
-Verial later changes his loyalties
again and gets put on trial
-Later mission in Eastern Lands (this
was an odd mission, perhaps only a treasure-hunt during the Exile
portion of the campaign)
###Red Notebook###
-Arkon is RPG world created in 1996.
It came from an adaptation of the telnet based game REALMSMUD. By
the time of the Spring '97 campaign it was much evolved from that. I
have said elsewhere that it also has inputs from Palladium, Square
and D and D, while not being wholly of any of those. The time has
now come to update it. Considerable thought has now been put into
this.
There follows a to-do list:
-World Map
-Major character list
-Local area of Verial Campaign and
others
-Timelines
-Factions and Antagonists
-Define Political entities
-Work out religious structure
-Human and demihuman and humanoid
homelands
[These have been approached by now to
some extent -- ed.]
General notes:
-Magic can be legally practiced in
JAdus and Saen both, however, it is regulated by guilds. Mages Guild
is most common but there are others. These rules tend to be strictly
enforced.
-Guild membership is required for
freelance adventurers in most lawful lands. In Jadus, it is
absolutely necessary. Because of the legalistic system that has
developed there, it has flowed outwards and is compelled, but there
are some hinterlands where it is hard to enforce, for example, the
taiga. In more feudal and decentralized Saen, it is less enforced.
In Jadus, it is possible to join more than one guild, but not more
than 3. However, some guilds will not allowed concurrent memberships
- Monks and Changelings.
-Jadus: There was once a state here
known as the Great Northern Empire. It was ruled by a strange and
secretive group of families with a secretive religious order
underpinning the whole thing. However, the various heirs eventually
came to feuding and the Empire collapsed. In its wake lawlessness
and chaos ensued. This gave rise to the Heroic and Romantic Age of
Aceries and other wandering heroes who tried their hands at building
states in the wake. This was also a period of increased resurgence
in nonhuman populations and intrusion of other forces on the lands of
men and their close allies. But by the days of the Saen campaigns,
Jadus has come under the rule of several absolute monarchies with
strong legalistic structures.
-Saen: Always a more barbaric land
than either the Empires of the South or the Northern Realms, this
land has been feudal since the long-ago collapse of the Empire of
Tescelin. There are Three Realms here, and various major families
rule the politics of the days with the help of many smaller noble and
gentry families. The Kriegsburg setting is a good case - it is a
city formerly of lesser importance, but which was made into a major
city by the decline of Koralden to the southwest. The Barony that
rules it is nominally a vassal to the Anteras Cult lands and the
Mayron family that claims descent from the Immortal Lord Anteras.
But they are weakening and the Barony's star is rising - at the
beginning of VC. In the Northern Realm, the House of Drakensburg
under the influence of the Reformist Cults has claimed royalty and
their kingdom is on the march. By the beginning of the VC there is a
war brewing over the House of Vaison's Central Realm, while the House
of Leneir hopes to expand the reach of the Southern Realm there for
the Universal Cult. In the Southern Realm, the old faith and the
monarchy are still strongly believed in, while in the Central Realm
it is more of a toss-up, and in the Northern Realm it is largely
under the sway of newer breakaways. These last are accused of being
under the influence of dark powers by the UC.
-Religions of Jadus: There are six
major gods that are most popular, War, Healing, Justice, Fire,
Disease and Vengeance, but there are others who are venerated. The
GNE still confers some interesting monotheistic esoteric cults.
-Timeline: The Age of Aceries precedes
the Verial Campaign by a bit of time. On the other hand, the
campaigns after Verial don't take place as long after. Vampyro
campaign is in immediate aftermath of the wars, while the Jedon
Campaign is not long after that.
-The Wizard Question: The wizards in
this sense are Immortals who are not Deified and live closer to the
world's spheres and directly intervene more often than the Gods, who
live farther away and are less directly involved. This is sort of a
hierarchy of spirits and realms approach. This is inspired, perhaps,
by the ancient cultures who would venerate heroes as intermediate
between gods and men. There are instances, too, of this in Arkon,
viz. the Cult of Anteras.
-Heym: The town where the Kyningas of
GNE were buried, it became during the Aceries Campaign a town where
heroes would meet and live and conspire. Today it is a local center
of administration.
-Climate notes: Jadus varies from
continental and oceanic to hemiboreal and taiga. Saen is farther
south and its climate is mostly temperate , with some continental in
upland regions and an area of subtropical forest at the southern end,
where the Greywood is.
-There are homelands for the major
racial groups, by which I mean macroraces (human, demihuman,
humanoid) - this question hasn't really been approached yet. Though
Oram is the land where the Elves originated and remain strong.
Verial:
-War in which Verial and Derus fight,
this is the war for the Central Realm.
-Verial at refuge base, escapes from
Derus and co, who burns it. There was valuable info he was
gathering, but was forced to leave.
-Verial turns coat and assassinates
Vellman at a decisive battle.
-Later mission from airship in eastern
lands.
-Derus and alliance with dark elves -
this is Verial's first sign that Derus is planning something
different than he had thought ( i.e. not as tied to Arxam's agenda as
thought)
-At the Manor Hall, Derus is 'defeated'
and disappears for some time.
-Derus returns from his absence as the
masked 'Clan Leader'
-Count Sevyle meets Verial in Kriesburg
and they instantly come to hostility. This continues to build as it
is discovered that there is old enmity there.
-There is a minor kingdom called
Danyria which Sevyle ascends to power in, and he at this point makes
clear his allegiance to the Darklords - which Derus did not do,
despite his alliance with the Syndicate, and then later his
connection with Sevyle and the dark elves.
-Dark Elves of House Kaeerus are the
third party in this triple alliance. They want to regain some of
their lands and begin an empire of their own once more.
-Arkadi and Sevyle also have alliance.
Arkadi is strange Zheridian nobleman who has ties to the dark powers
in Saen. It seems that the Zheridians may actually, secretly, have
compromised some of the BS type crew. Sevyle is DarkLords allied,
Derus seems to, in the future vision, become a living Triadic ideal
despite his repudiation of them ...
-Verial and co at one point get dropped
in the middle of tribal lands by one of Sevyle's spells (a modified
whirlwind without the sapping power, just transporting).
Characters:
-Derus: The enigmatic, and likely,
half-mad world wanderer and prince of duelists. He is presumably
immortal due to the GodsBlood experiments. He was originally from an
ancient and fallen civilization, and is likely between 5-10ky old if
not older. He seems to be the only survivor of a group of Runic
Knights, also, although this order was formed later when he was
already an ancient. Since he knows now that he cannot die, he has a
long term plan to transcend the world, believing that the ancient
civilization he now knows he was born into did the very same thing.
His doings form a major part of the Arkonian Mythos, and it seems to
be his destiny to be a bloody future tyrant, though it is not known
if that vision seen by Verial actually would come to pass or was
merely a possibility. But there is a chance that, if it is true, it
would only be so that he would be able to transcend - pursuing the
farthest strands as a means to go into the farther realms.
After Verial:
-The DarkLords are located off world.
These are Kieron, Vylus, and Exeten. In the Jedon Campaign, it is my
intention that he will discover their plot and try to confront them.
This will require him to find out about the Spelljammers, which were
hinted at in the Verial and Vampyro campaigns.
-There grows to be unreconcilable
tensions between the Dark Triad, and Derus and co - this will impact
the Quadrarchy.
-Jedon wants to play major factions off
one another once he gains some power.
-Jedon finds some immunities to dark
powers that make it possible for him to confront some of the
darklords.
-Arxam and Jedon have a showdown and
the former is finally killed, but he returns later as a very powerful
planar being bent on revenge.
-The question of the ApocLords v
DarkLords I have just begun to answer.
###Other###
-Zheridians and the Apocalypse Lords
are closer to CE, Abyssal or PrimalChaos type powers, while the
Northern Cults and the Darklords are more NE, GrayWaste or Malevolent
type powers, and the Triadic Cult is closest to the LE, Nine Hells or
Tyrant Kings type of rule. This is just an idea for how they could
relate. Then the goals might be different, the first wanting a
wholescale remaking of the world in the image of darkness and
cruelty, sinking it into the pit, while the DarkLords have a more
dully cruel and sinister vision of the enslavement of mankind and
subject to torments while living as arbitrary rulers, and the Triadic
types want to set up an absolute earthly tyranny owing allegiance to
older and harsher gods. But this is just a framework.
-Air travel is known. Airships are
around, but rare. Space travel exists but is highly secret. It was
once researched in the vicinity of Kriegsburg, and that is in fact
how the city first started to grow, but it was covered up. The
Underground Installation that Verial finds relatively early on is
parrt of this.
-Verial also discovers but does not
explore the cave where the darkness of the gap is coming from. He
goes far enough to switch off the artifact but there is much more of
this land to explore.
-Verial spent around 5 years in
Kriegsburg. It was in this time he pacified the hills, resolved
troubles in the vicinity, and became a lieutenant of the Baron. But
his investigations of the BS factions lead to troubles, and his
corruption investigation that implicates the Baron leads to his
imprisonment and leaving the city for a long while.
-Verial's last adventures are a
question of interest. He gets put on capital trial at one point, and
seems to have been provisionally released afterwards to track down
the major Triadic Temple in the Southern Realm.
-Disappearance of the Leneir heir in
the mountains after the Vellman battle.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Update Notice
The most recent three posts are foundational posts on the subject and are going to be expanded with time.
Miscellaneous Notes About Arkon
- New Year is celebrated in the Springtime, with the Vernal Equinox. The year is 360 days long.
- The Saenish Calendar is somewhat similar to the French Republican Calendar.
- Espers, Eidolons, Guardian Spirits are used by the Conjurer type. These races are of another type, not either Immortal or God, but something important. And then there are even lesser natural spirits and so forth.
- Heroes tend to be semi-divine and revered.
- Immortals vs Gods. Immortals live closer to the Terrestrial sphere and intervene in it regularly. The Gods are farther out and live on the Planes, and they do not directly involve themselves in the affairs of Men except in extraordinary circumstances - like in the founding of nations, or destruction of them, for instance. But Gods will intervene indirectly, while Immortals won't answer mortals prayers or anything of the sort but may intervene directly in some mortal affairs. The Immortals are one of the reasons the history of Arkon isn't like real history, because they take more of an active role in managing the world. This is partly because many were Men or Demihumans, etc, themselves.
- Things to think about: Centers of learning in Jadus and Saen. The Town of Hame in Jadus is certainly one, while the City of Kriegsburg certainly has some (though perhaps for specifically martial concerns - while more refined concerns are elsewhere). The Town of Port Varas has the University of Astrology.
- The Saenish Calendar is somewhat similar to the French Republican Calendar.
- Espers, Eidolons, Guardian Spirits are used by the Conjurer type. These races are of another type, not either Immortal or God, but something important. And then there are even lesser natural spirits and so forth.
- Heroes tend to be semi-divine and revered.
- Immortals vs Gods. Immortals live closer to the Terrestrial sphere and intervene in it regularly. The Gods are farther out and live on the Planes, and they do not directly involve themselves in the affairs of Men except in extraordinary circumstances - like in the founding of nations, or destruction of them, for instance. But Gods will intervene indirectly, while Immortals won't answer mortals prayers or anything of the sort but may intervene directly in some mortal affairs. The Immortals are one of the reasons the history of Arkon isn't like real history, because they take more of an active role in managing the world. This is partly because many were Men or Demihumans, etc, themselves.
- Things to think about: Centers of learning in Jadus and Saen. The Town of Hame in Jadus is certainly one, while the City of Kriegsburg certainly has some (though perhaps for specifically martial concerns - while more refined concerns are elsewhere). The Town of Port Varas has the University of Astrology.
Races in Arkon
There are many different races of Men. Saen itself was settled by at least 5 tribes. These were the Corynites, the Harusites, the Velanites, the Shoakites, and the Noarites. The first also populated Jadus, the second the Southern Empires, and the third Daruk, while the fourth originated perhaps in Zheridus or beyond. Noarites are a strange and insular group who tend to live in the hills and keep to themselves, being very suspicious of outsiders, while the other Saenish groups are a bit more familiar. Rural areas still tend to be more superstitious and closed than urban ones, though. Subtribes of these five groups are the common people of Saen, each with their own tongues. Old Harusite is the tongue of the priesthood, while the aristocracies usually speak the tongue of their native tribe. Similarily, Jadus is also populated by more than one group. There are some groups of Men on Arkon that don't closely correspond with any known, RW groups. But there are a few things to note.
Eberites are a wandering race who have come to Saen from another land, perhaps faraway Firanth, and they tend to be mistrusted where they go.
OstJadites: The original race of this land tended to be tall and often blond. However during its Imperial days it incorporated other peoples. The average male is probably 6' tall and the most common hair color is blond or brown, with red or black not unseen. Eye color is often blue or gray, with green or brown not unseen. Complexion can be from fair to tan.
Saenites: A quite varied people but related to the OstJadites. They have all colors of hair and eyes, with light and dark shades in roughly equal proportion. The Northern Saenites are somewhat closer to OstJadites, while the Southern Saenites closer to the men from the Southern Empires. The average male is about 5'10" and of medium build. Complexions range from fair to tan or olive.
The Kingdom of Markor exists to the east of Saen across the mountains, past Ironforge, and this is a strange East-West overlapping land that has nevertheless been influenced by Saen's culture to a degree, being somewhere between Saen and Zheridus.
Zheridus is a land that is heavily identified with darkness, though it is not well understood in Saen. It is thought to be run by evil magicians.
Demihuman races also have considerable internal diversity, as do the Humanoids. Humanoid races are generally thought to be corrupted cousins of Men or Demihumans, and are included as such in racial genealogies. Then there are some Archaic Men still found around.
There are other sentient, bipedal people as well on other parts of Arkon - chief among them are types of lizardfolk, catfolk, dog and wolffolk, and birdfolk. These are generally not found in the vicinity of Saen except perhaps in small pockets.
Saen's population is first and foremost Men, with Halflings second most common, then Elves and Dwarves who are not as active as they once were, and Gnomes are very rare. Humanoids are here too but tend to be pushed to the places that Men won't inhabit. Some of the Dark aligned powers want this to change, including Arxam's Black Syndicate (Arxam is himself a Tiefling, or Demiplanar, and part of the Darklords Conspiracy).
Saen has occasional outbreaks of Lycanthropy and related diseases. These usually lead to Church-led exterminations or quarantines but some communities have evaded notice for long periods. As for Vampirism, it is also a disease, albeit rare, in Saen. Vampires tend to form very secretive sects and brotherhoods.
---
It should be noted that in this history, Elves and Dwarves had epic histories that predate the rise of Men. And Man's history itself moves in strange cycles, with the period of the Verial campaign marking a noted movement into a sinister paradigm.
Eberites are a wandering race who have come to Saen from another land, perhaps faraway Firanth, and they tend to be mistrusted where they go.
OstJadites: The original race of this land tended to be tall and often blond. However during its Imperial days it incorporated other peoples. The average male is probably 6' tall and the most common hair color is blond or brown, with red or black not unseen. Eye color is often blue or gray, with green or brown not unseen. Complexion can be from fair to tan.
Saenites: A quite varied people but related to the OstJadites. They have all colors of hair and eyes, with light and dark shades in roughly equal proportion. The Northern Saenites are somewhat closer to OstJadites, while the Southern Saenites closer to the men from the Southern Empires. The average male is about 5'10" and of medium build. Complexions range from fair to tan or olive.
The Kingdom of Markor exists to the east of Saen across the mountains, past Ironforge, and this is a strange East-West overlapping land that has nevertheless been influenced by Saen's culture to a degree, being somewhere between Saen and Zheridus.
Zheridus is a land that is heavily identified with darkness, though it is not well understood in Saen. It is thought to be run by evil magicians.
Demihuman races also have considerable internal diversity, as do the Humanoids. Humanoid races are generally thought to be corrupted cousins of Men or Demihumans, and are included as such in racial genealogies. Then there are some Archaic Men still found around.
There are other sentient, bipedal people as well on other parts of Arkon - chief among them are types of lizardfolk, catfolk, dog and wolffolk, and birdfolk. These are generally not found in the vicinity of Saen except perhaps in small pockets.
Saen's population is first and foremost Men, with Halflings second most common, then Elves and Dwarves who are not as active as they once were, and Gnomes are very rare. Humanoids are here too but tend to be pushed to the places that Men won't inhabit. Some of the Dark aligned powers want this to change, including Arxam's Black Syndicate (Arxam is himself a Tiefling, or Demiplanar, and part of the Darklords Conspiracy).
Saen has occasional outbreaks of Lycanthropy and related diseases. These usually lead to Church-led exterminations or quarantines but some communities have evaded notice for long periods. As for Vampirism, it is also a disease, albeit rare, in Saen. Vampires tend to form very secretive sects and brotherhoods.
---
It should be noted that in this history, Elves and Dwarves had epic histories that predate the rise of Men. And Man's history itself moves in strange cycles, with the period of the Verial campaign marking a noted movement into a sinister paradigm.
Classes in Arkon
Classes in Arkon
The basic class system was based on the D&D model, with a few changes.
There are envisaged what I call superclasses: That is, the major domain which the class is in. The examples of these are: Arms, Stealth, Essence, Channeling, Psion, and so on, as well as Toil or Trade for common professions as opposed to the adventurers.
Then there are the major classes. These are as follows:
Fighter
Mage
Thief
Cleric
Monk
Changeling
Bard
Monks and Changelings are generally exclusive classes. It should be noted that the Changelings were one of the Early Races, but mostly exterminated. However, the esoteric tradition allows one to make use of their methods for a temporary period. This is closely guarded and that is why it cannot coexist with other classes. Monks are exclusive for similar reasons.
Also there are other classes less commonly subscribed to, as well as subclasses. For instance, other classes might be Geomancer or Necromancer, but these aren't as common. They may be included in supplements. As for subclasses, for example, Fighters will sometimes be able to move into specializations like Knight or Paladin or Sportfighter.
In Saen, the locations of the guilds are various:
(TBC)
The basic class system was based on the D&D model, with a few changes.
There are envisaged what I call superclasses: That is, the major domain which the class is in. The examples of these are: Arms, Stealth, Essence, Channeling, Psion, and so on, as well as Toil or Trade for common professions as opposed to the adventurers.
Then there are the major classes. These are as follows:
Fighter
Mage
Thief
Cleric
Monk
Changeling
Bard
Monks and Changelings are generally exclusive classes. It should be noted that the Changelings were one of the Early Races, but mostly exterminated. However, the esoteric tradition allows one to make use of their methods for a temporary period. This is closely guarded and that is why it cannot coexist with other classes. Monks are exclusive for similar reasons.
Also there are other classes less commonly subscribed to, as well as subclasses. For instance, other classes might be Geomancer or Necromancer, but these aren't as common. They may be included in supplements. As for subclasses, for example, Fighters will sometimes be able to move into specializations like Knight or Paladin or Sportfighter.
In Saen, the locations of the guilds are various:
(TBC)
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