Dawn War: The Dawn Isles

 

The Dawn Isles are the numerous islands that dot the northeastern coast of the continent, but the term also function more generally as the name for the lands to the northeast. That is, anything north of Fairyland and east of Erathus. They tend to be somewhat craggy and mountainous, and, though most maps don't show it, the wilderness in that land is dangerous indeed.

Humans and the Elven races (that is, Fauns, Eladrin, and Elves) make up most of the population, but many of the nobles are Dragonborn. Dwarves and Tieflings are more likely to travel to the more metropolitan Erathus than remain in the small and quite literally insular towns of the Isles. 

Unlike the Three Kingdoms and Erathus, the Dawn Isles take a more neutral approach to divinity: there is a time to call on every god in turn. Their nobles often follow the strict codes of Bhamat or Erathus, while the common people most often turn to Primal Spirits and, indirectly, Melor. However, shrines to all of the gods may be found commonly, as well as euphemistic shrines to "the Bright Ones", the collective Lords of Hell.

There are three towns of notable size in the Dawn Isles: Ethonay, Temokulos, and Iamatou. Ethonay lies on the western shore of the mainland, closest to Erathus and distinctly in its sphere; Temokulos lies on the eastern shore, a strait away from its twin and rival, Iamatou. Around these, on the mainland and on the isles themselves, there are one or two dozen villages eking out a living in the wet, warm valleys. The people of this place are known to be artistic, tolerant, lying, impious, and fond of spice and ferment. They tell tall tales:

1. The slimes found in the countryside have recently been driven to a frenzy by demonic forces
2. There is an island of wise monks that can teach you Disciplines of Breath
3. The isle of Yvoth lies half in dream
4. The Lady of Ethonay slept with Erathus, and went mad because of it.
5. Goblins are what happens to a child when a fairy steals it.
6. Among the isles, you may sometimes find a prideful city that sunk beneath the waves ages ago.
7. Pirates leave the captives they don't care to kill to a monster that ensnares their minds.
8. The town of Tolann owes its wealth to a diabolic pact.
9. There is a well of eternal youth hidden somewhere in the isles.
10. There is a water dragon dwelling in one of the caves near fairyland.
11. Sometimes fox-fey disguise themselves as Avandrite way-priests to trick (and perhaps eat) the unwary.
12. There's a kind of fairy called Halflings, or Gnomes, who are so good at hiding that they always manage to slip behind a tree or stone when you would see them, and are known for thieving. 

DM Information
The dawn isles are what I intend to be the starting location of the campaign. They are a mix of Greek and Japanese influences. Between the main towns and in the isles is Flux Space, determined by the results of encounter rolls. When the party travels, roll a d6:

1. Encounter (see encounter table)
2. Spoor of encounter
3. Dungeon
4. Settlement
5. Resource Depletion
6. Weather Change

When players find a spoor, they can choose to follow it. When players find a dungeon or settlement, they can find their way back to it later (unless it magically moves around or is concealed). Simple stuff. 

Ethonay 

Ethonay is a strongly mercantile town with easy sea routes to Erathus, Fairyland, and the Three Kingdoms. It trades the luxuries of the Dawn Isles with the necessities of the rest of the world. At its heart is an impressive, domed Pantheon, with grand chapels celebrating, principally, Avandros, Erathus, Melor, and Bhamat, the patrons of peace and prosperity in the town. A chapel of similar scale for Pelora stands across the street. 

Desdemona, the Lady of Ethonay, is currently falling into tyranny that would make Bane cringe. This is due, in fact, to her recent pilgrimage to the Amethyst Citadel, where she was refused the rite of the Dragonborn due to the many criminals that take refuge in Ethonay from Erathus and other more stringent realms. It has not been terribly effective so far, but the underworld of the town is becoming wary of her increasingly random searches and increasingly violent interrogations.

As part of these reforms, Desdemona has put in place the beginnings of a compulsory education system, the Garden of Wisdom, into which her officials are starting to herd children. The purpose is not to give commoners knowledge of the facts of the world, but to remove them from Wicked Influences, such as parents and friends, and make them strong enough to Resist Evil and serve the Common Good. Attendance is still low, especially since the children keep getting stolen by Fairies (which gives the appearance, from the outside, that Desdemona might be killing them).

Temokulos 

Temokulos is pretty well known for producing adventurer types. It is also well known for picking the King by Lottery every year. The standard joke at every tavern is to give maudlin laments for a new adventurer, since they must be the poor, exiled king of Temokulos, chosen by fate and discarded by fate! The irony is that this system works so well that most adventurers leave out of sheer boredom, and being king of Temokulos comes with pretty much no downsides.

Temokulos primarily worships Avandros, though they have no temple to him in the white-washed town, only shrines at the indigo gates (including the large, though mostly ceremonial, Sea Gate). As such, it is generally held to be an auspicious place to set off on a Voyage, and has an enormous industry of expeditions into the isles and beyond. Common belief holds that Avandros taught songs to the sailors of Temokulos which charm windspirits and sea-serpents.

Gambling is, oddly enough, illegal in Temokulos, with the only exception being bets on the next king, which is wildly popular. This includes not only who the next king will be, but what they will do. The azure tiled House of Fate maintains the ledgers of these wagers. Of course, if you could in some way Influence the next king, or their policies, you could make a fortune, but doing that without alerting the Spies of the Noble Houses is fiendishly difficult.

Iamatou 

Iamatou is an island town, the twin of Temokulos. It is most notable as the eastern seat of the church of Pelora, from which the Archangel Daybreak attempts to orchestrate the conversion of the region. Aesthetically, Iamatou strongly contrasts with Temokulos: sailing the strait between them and seeing Temokulos' white houses and sapphire domes piled on one side and Iamatou's golden stone and soaring red spires on the other is considered one of the wonders of the world. Iamatou sees this as emblematic of their Strong Rivalry. Temokulos, alas, does not care.

Against the church of Pelora's influence wars the startlingly popular Dragon-King, the charismatic and half-monstrous* demigod of Tiamut. He is held to be a mediator and guardian against the Bright Ones; better by far to placate him and them than to let Daybreak turn the island into another battlefield. And he only occasionally devours his consorts.

(* The lower half, specifically) 

Iamatou, due to the sea currents around it, has numerous Sea Monsters wash up dead on its shores. These are the raw material it uses for its lucrative industry of Bone-carving and Scalemail. Iamotou scalemail is sold all over the world, being almost as tough as steel, but the best quality is found on the island itself.

Tyrnanokos 

Unknown to all, far in the east, is the hidden isle of Tyrnanokos, the land of the Young. It is the domain and grand experiment of the Witch-Queen Wee Jas, and the homeland of the strange race (found nowhere else) known as Halflings. The isle has a strong Enchantment placed upon it by its queen, that no one outside the isle can remember more than the vaguest details about it. Even looking right at it, the focus of sailors seems to slide off it, and they dismiss it as useless to visit. Hence, it has entered local legend, and remains undiscovered, despite being seen thousands of times.

The Halflings that inhabit it are indeed Half the size of a normal human. They also live Half as long. In this small time and small frame are compressed Great excesses of adventure, sorrow, love, learning, and all Human Things. They were made such by Wee Jas, and maintained by her. This land is their Paradise, tailored to their every need, not only for pleasure but also for pain and excitement. Most (but not all) Halflings who leave are often driven mad by the world, both its bustle and its boredom, and become Goblins.

Halflings are outside the normal Cycle of death and life. The spell Wee Jas maintains is so strong that even the Raven Prince has forgotten this place. This is by design. Here, it is Wee Jas who harvests Spirits, disintegrates them, and seeds them in the bodies of new mothers. Her Skeletal servants pluck spirits out of the dead and bring them to the Well of Power, where she stores their spirit-stuff and uses it to maintain her immortality, as well as the enchantment over the isle.

She intends to become the new Goddess of Humanity by, eventually, dipping herself in the Well of Power. Avandros has abandoned his children for the fairies, and Lolth hates them both; Pelora exploits them to high heaven; all the gods end their lives and destroy their spirits. But Wee Jas would see them Immortal. She would argue it is worth breaking a few eggs (which would be broken anyways) in the process. She is, in fact, incredibly amiable and beloved by her people. They even know of the Well, but accept it as part of the cycle of life.

The Well of Power is not yet sufficiently full. It might be in a Century, though there might be ways of speeding up the process. The well itself is pure crystal and must be kept carefully sterile. If even a bug got in, it would become a monster the size of a mountain. Those that do a great favor to the Witch-queen might be offered a single cup of Spirit (which would be a great deal of XP).

Dawn Isle Tables

Encounter table (2d6):
2. Storm dragon
3. Medusa guarding a bridge
4. Ogre Magi
5. 1d4 Avandrite way priests (might be foxes)
6. 1d6 Slimes
7. Recurring NPC
8. Goblins
9. Stymphalian Birds
10. Inevitable of Erathus pursuing fugitive
11. 1d4 Halfling questants
12. Divinity (1d4: 1. Pelora; 2. Avandros; 3. Sehanine; 4. Zehira)

Dawn isles villages (1d6):
1. Klerei, village with a prophetic serpent
2. Ra-ukki, ruled by a spider devil
3. Konkordia, half the year taken up by the Konkordian Games
4. Village with a master of the Discipline of River
5. Great Waytemple of Avandros
6. Tolann, Obscenely wealthy (but otherwise innocent) Hot springs village

Dawn isles islands (1d6):
1. Yvoth, of which half the island overlaps with the Gardens of Ynn
2. Time loop Atlantis, stuck on the day of destruction by Wee Jas as a divine distraction
3. Island of wise monkeys. Eating the food gives a permanent -1 INT, +1 STR or WIS. They know the Discipline of Breath
4. Island of the Lost, where things lost to the sea wash ashore
5. Island of lotus eaters
6. Big temple of Melor, run by giants

Dawn isles dungeons (1d6):
1. Hydra Den
2. Slime cave with rift to Shedakloh, the Pit of Slime, the abyssal domain of Jubilex
3. Minotaur labyrinth
4. Derelict shrine of the Bright Ones
5. Illusory dungeon, a trap by foxes
6. Horrible Goblin Drug Hole

An Awful Castle full of Terrible People

Castle Ingwoe

A recently rebuilt keep held by the terrible Lord Ingwoe and his Three Knights. From this keep, he has harrowed the people of the nearby villages for the past three years, extorting and terrorizing them on his mad whims. The Castle itself is said to be terribly haunted.

Exploring the Castle

The Castle has 7 rooms, 4 on the first floor and 3 on the second, along with 2 towers. In addition, it has a 5 foot wall (though it used to be larger) around itself, as well as an outhouse and what was once a garden. The whole inner courtyard has been choked with weeds and noxious plants.

The top floor of the castle was rebuilt recently, and the western tower is an entirely new addition. The lower floor has been plastered the same as the upper floor, but mold and moss visibly infest the former. The eastern tower, however, is the worst offender. It sags and weeps slime in humid weather, but cracks and crumbles when it is dry.

The lower floor contains a dining hall, kitchen, storage space, and servant quarters. The upper floor contains the bedroom, armory, and a spare room. There is a spiral stairwell from the storage space to the armory. The armory also connects to both towers, which have little interior space and are mostly stairs. The western tower has a battlement, while the eastern tower has an upper room. Both of the towers, as well as the upper floor, are outfitted with arrow slits.

Lord Ingwoe

He is an imposing man, but he is haggard and mad, with stringy, balding hair and a solid build. He wears gleaming white armor while about his claimed territory, and rides a white horse. His sword is dark and notched. His eyes are wide and bloodshot, with deep bags. He carries a banner with pelican displayed on a field sable.

He is tormented at all times by the ghost of his wife, murdered by him soon after he took control of the castle. She is hardly sentient, and can hardly be seen by any others. She normally acts docile and subtly malign. However, when he is in combat, she delights in giving him small, painful wounds on his ankles and scalp, causing blood to run over his face. If he is knocked to the ground, she will try to gouge out his eyes and cut off his ears.

Despite his haunting, he is filled with ambition and bloodlust. He wishes, above all, to increase his realm. He is highly paranoid. If PCs try to join him, he will accept them. They will be allowed to stay in his castle for 1d6 weeks. After this time, he will poison them unless they have shown complete supplication.

The Three Knights

Sir Alken, Sir Corten, and Sir Lied are the sadistic, cowardly knights of Ingvoe. Sir Alken is known for being fair of face. He once flayed the family of an innocent farmer. Sir Corten is known as a sorcerer, wielding small trinkets which bedevil and beguile. Sir Lied is actually noble and kind, and despises the other knights. All of them hate lord Ingvoe, but all of them are under a Geas to serve him as long as he lives, lest they be taken by the hungry dead and tortured for eternity. In addition, they are all terribly afraid of whatever dwells in the eastern tower.

Alken and Lied can both be cowed by displays of magical prowess, but Corten will take it as a challenge and an insult. Alken can also be distracted by petty insults, but will repay them with torture in quick order. If Lied is alone, he will help the PCs and can be convinced to turn his blade against his master. However, none of the others are willing to sacrifice themselves to kill him, and Lied won't perform any acts of good when they are around. All three of them are likely to relate the sob story of their Geas to the adventurers, but only Lied is sincere. If the PCs can play on Lord Ingvoe's Paranoia, he will order the knights to kill each other or kill them himself. Lied may already be doing this.

Alken and Corten are sure to escape if Lord Ingvoe is killed, and will try to loot the place. They will continue their evil in the surrounding countryside and may accrue some additional power. Lied will give chase and battle them, regardless of the presence of the PCs. 50% chance he can't catch them, 50% chance he loses.

If Lied or one of they others turned against Lord Ingvoe, he will be spirited away horrifically after the fatal attack.

The Secrets of the Castle

As mentioned in the previous section, something terrible dwells in the eastern tower. This is the dread ghost of the castle's previous lord. It cannot be seen by light, but glows with fleshy, greenish pallor in darkness. It's eyes bulge, and it grabs at the adventurers with withered, skeletal hands. These can be felt even when it cannot be seen. If the PCs learn of its existence, then they can hear its nightly wails, which prevents them from sleeping in the castle unless they have several points of exhaustion. 

 

[Pulling this one out of my drafts, probably unfinished but useful enough as is]

Domain-Play options for low-level Characters

 

Pictured: The party's base

Cheaper Strongholds

I never got why stronghold building was so expensive. OSE says that a small tower (presumably two floors) costs 15,000 GP to build. That's 1,500 pounds of pure gold. I am no historian, but I find it hard to believe there was that much gold in all of England at the time. That's enough to feed and house 10 labourers for Three and a Half years. I cannot believe it takes so long to build what amounts to a fortified stone hut (even if it was built by the DoT). Even supposing half of it went to material costs (which, there are almost none if you are building a wood keep, which was common) and permission from the lord, that's still 10 labourers for more than a year and a half for something which (according to OSE) takes 30 days to build. Unless making cobble walls (which are all over peasant farms) is much harder than I think, such that those labourers are being paid 50 gp per day (that is, five pounds of gold), this is utterly unreasonable.

 

Firstly, Silver Standard. Secondly, laborers are payed 10 sp per day. It takes 10 labourers a week to build fourty square feet of stone wall on the ground, two weeks if that wall is more than 20 feet above the ground. Half this time and double the height at which it is considered above the ground if you are building in wood. Double the time, the height, and cost if you are building with cut stone. If there is not material available on the worksite (i.e. your wooden tower isn't in a forest, your stone tower isn't on a shale cliff, your cut stone tower isn't in a quarry), you must pay an additional five labourers (per ten labourers) to collect and transport it. Less than this and construction slows. 

 

Players should draw the floorplan of their stronghold. This may then be used (by adding up the surface area of the walls) to calculate costs and time. DM's should put a limit on how many labourers they can hire, based on how many are available and how many would cause overcrowding (i.e. no peasant railgun). Normally 7 can be found in a 1 mile hex on the frontier, and 15 in civilized lands, 30 in populous places. There is a 1 in 20 chance per week of an accident, which may kill 1d4-1 workers and destroy (1d3-1)*40 square feet of wall, but at the least delays the construction another week.

 

Pictured: a 600 sp, 6 week investment.

The Ruins Homestead Act

 

The king and his nobles have become tired of the mismanagement of the land, tired of bandits and goblins hiding out in keeps and waylaying travelers, tired of paying amoral mercenaries large sums and finders-keepers rights just to have the damn ruins fill up again next year. Thus they have approved the Ruins Homestead Act. 

 

If a group of freemen clear out a dungeon with an above ground section, and present half the treasure to the Lord whose land the dungeon is on, give him or his representative a tour of the dungeon to ensure its safety, and swear fealty to him, that group shall be given the land the dungeon occupies and one hide of land around it per fully enclosed room above ground, up to a total of 10 hides, as well as any serfs who live on that land. If this gives one more than 3 hides, one of the company becomes a Gentleman and is a noble. More than 6 hides, one becomes a Knight. Both are expected to render military and other services.

Pictured: guaranteed knighthood

Exploring the Elfin Kingdoms

Who's winning the King's War today?

1.  A powerful and ancient second generation elf, hoping to win the war so he can die and pass the kingdom on to his children (and do it right this time)
2. A powerful and ancient second generation elf, hoping to win the war so he can achieve true immortality and reign forever with grace and terror
3. An eminent third generation elf whose father cleverly won land with political marriage and intrigue
4. An eminent third generation elf whose father won land by attacking his neighbors in dishonorable raids in during the great crusade
5. An eminent third generation elf who won lands for himself during his youth and has his eyes set on a beautiful princess in a neighboring kingdom
6. An eminent third generation elf who won lands for himself during his youth and has his eyes set on an plain princess in a neighboring kingdom for political purposes
7. An eminent third generation elf who won lands for himself during his youth and has his eyes set on a dirt poor and gorgeous human peasant in his own kingdom
8. A half-elf bastard knight who became a major player through the favor of his king
9. A half-elf bastard knight who became a major player through sneaky stabby tactics
10. A Human? What?

No, but seriously, who's actually winning the War?

Witch-Queen Pim is, though none of the other elves will admit it. From her city in the sea, she reigns over all the elves warring upon the land. Her magical power is unmatched anywhere in the world. In the dreamlands, she is next to a god and has deals with the most powerful among the dreamland's sedentary deities. When she steps upon the mainland, the war stops so the elf-kings can lay their coats at her feet.

Average out the above pictures to see what Witch-Queen Pim looks like

[Her kingdom in the sea is pretty cool so I'll write about that sometime]

What is this kingdom like?

1. Lots of domes and spires. Light pink stone and dark wood. Shepherd peasants live in bright tents. Heath dominates the land.
2. Sloped Roofs and green-painted wood. Kites affixed to every surface. Peasants work ripe vineyards. Knights wear hand-stitched scarves detailing funeral rites.
3. Arcades below support gardens above. Streams run in every direction, starting rivers in other kingdoms. Most peasants are grain farmers and are often raided by the neighboring kingdoms.
4. Buttresses and spines decorate the palaces. Peasants practice forestry and live in cottages. Knights wear the chitin of large spiders.
5. Crystals adorn turrets and crenellenations. Peasants live below ground and are often miners. Shells are used as currency where gold is common.
6. Fortified mansions replace palaces here. Peasants most often hunt, so meat is plentiful and eaten undercooked by the nobles. Horns and antlers replace weapons when steel is scarce.
7. Almost the entire population dwells in decrepit and beautiful ruins. Peasants farm glowing fungus for ethereal elf-bread. Armor still bears groves where runes were writ in the last age.
8. Roll again, but it's entirely underground. If this result is rolled again, it's further underground.

What menaces this kingdom?

1. Non-violent heredity squabbles
2. Violent heredity squabbles
3. Famine
4. The elves are killing their human peasants
5. Big bad monster
6. Roll twice more. This result can be rolled again. Elf kingdoms suck for humans.

How big?

1. Literally just a hamlet
2. 1d4 hamlets, 1 town
3. 1d4 towns, 1 city
4. 1d4 cities, 1 capital

As a rule of thumb, they fit in a 6-mile hex. They can be larger, though.

This one is ruled over by King Locrantz. He's kind of a jerk.

Why isn't the witch queen smiting them all now?

No one knows.

The Elfin War

Optional History: The Nephim

The earliest era known to historians of the Great Sea is the pre-marine era, when the earthly sphere was entirely desert, ruled by the goddess Cthon. The nephim were the humanoids designed by the three goddesses to survive the harsh desert and house the most powerful souls. The lesser souls that would become humans solely dwelt in the spheres above and below at this point.

The immortal nephim built the great black pyramids that dot the known lands, and enjoyed prosperity until the fall of Cthon and the creation of the Lords of Pain. After the fall of Cthon, Selene, who had previously ruled the underworld, caused an global ocean to form, far larger than the Great Sea. The nephim who survived on the sparse islands, though their population was less than a thousand, were given human souls from both above and below to rule over. When they ruled justly, they would ascend to the lunar sphere. When they were cruel, they were thrown to the underworld. When Gaia began her era and made the Great Sea, the nephim numbered less than five members.

The Great King Gu

Gu was a good man. Gu was a good warrior. Gu was a good strategist. Gu was, however, a terrible king. 

Gu was the first king after the nephim. He was what people today would call an elf, but there wasn't any distinction back then. Some people just lived longer than others. In fact, Gu is the ancestor to all modern elfs. He conquered, ruled, and seduced half the known world in his 200 years of life. 

At the height of his reign, he ruled over what is now all the human and elfin kingdoms. "Ruled," however, is a tentative term. The extent of his sovereignty was the taxes levied on the various city-states who governed themselves (mostly on the laws of the nephim). The provinces under his control warred constantly, though none dared approach the capital. After his death, his, "empire," shattered.

The root of the problem was this: the kings before him were nephim. No precedent was set for succession, because they were immortal. No precedent was set for enforcement, because they were divinely appointed. So the empire of Gu fell. 

The scholar priests of Selene posit that Gu was born of the unlikely (possibly miraculous) union of a nephim and a human. Thus, they say, he inherited the right of rulership, and passed it on to his children, the elves. It should come as no surprise that Selene is worshiped near exclusively in the elfin kingdoms.

The Thousand Heirs of Creation

Every elf is a bastard. Bastard blood from father to son, grandfather to father (though the length of an elfin generation makes about only 4-5 generations since Gu was alive). But Gu never bore a true heir, one that held the same strength of dominion as he did. So all elves fight for a throne given to no one.

When Gu died, all of his children made a bid for the crown. They seized control of whatever towns they could and went to war. The First Kings War never truly stopped. However, by the second generation, most of the full blooded humans rose up, under the banner of Patriarch Mortimer I, coincidentally the first patriarch, and conquered the holy city of Cerulemen (which was, of course, not holy then) as refugees.

To keep a strong claim, all elves seek to keep their bloodline as pure as possible. To make a half-elf is to waste a child. The first generation was when most of the families lost their claim: while most intermarried with humans, the more cunning/willful/insane pressured the Fatefire Mages. Within a few decades, a spell was devised to entwine an elf soul with chaotic magic, making elves fateless, magical, and unable to produce children with birth defects. Thus were born the True elves, born with fire in their heart from two children of Gu. The incest of the True elves was one of the factors leading to the Crusade of Cerulemen.

After the Crusade, the elf kings (of which there were 40-60)  were left with a few hundred human farmers and a few dozen half-elf bastard knights each. They couldn't levy farmers, especially not anymore, and they couldn't risk their knights. In addition, the human war-machine had begun in the east, conquering the previously elf-held southern plains and killing almost half of the elves there. For a few generations, all the elves could collectively manage was a rather poor defense and a great deal of intrigue.

The Second Kings War

After 400 years, or 3-4 elfin generations, The Kings War slowly restarted. The population of both humans and half-elves under the control of the Elf kings has returned to historic levels, and the Great Crusade has slowed to a crawl due to public disinterest and the fact that it has lasted for 400 years (though, again, technically never finished). Thus, without real outside threat, and now with actual armies, the elves reaffirmed to themselves that, yes, this land belongs to me and hey that guy's land should also belong to me.

Pretty much any elf or half-elf can make a claim and enter the war as a new belligerent. I'll detail mechanics for players making a claim a bit later.

One of the Elf Kings probably turned into this.

[Gotta cite this post for the True Elves and probably some other bits]