Four small Polities for Yrth. - Page 4

Mgellis · 12-12-2008, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

Interesting, and I could understand using the "Shiftrealm" explanation for a few Islands, but not for everything. There should be a few stable landmasses out in the oceans of Yrth. I think there are a lot of alternate explanations as to why little exploration has been done into the deeper oceans: Sea Monsters, Mana Shift Zones, the Maelstrom (and possibly others like it)...

For me, the fact that Yrth has been "stable" (or perhaps "static") for centuries in terms of oceanic exploration makes me think...

1) If anything is out there, it is either very far away (on the other side of the planet) or fairly small (maybe as big as Ireland, but probably not much larger than that). Otherwise, people from Ytarria would have found it by now. There are some pretty hideous storms, etc. on Earth, and people sailing in Viking longboats STILL made it to places like Greenland (and, possibly, the American Great Lakes). Heck, people in freaking canoes colonized the Pacific.

2) If anything is out there, it is either unpopulated or the local technology cannot be very high (which means the population probably does not consist of humans brought by a Banestorm, as the odds are there wouldn't be the same suppression of new knowledge, and you'd probably have at least TL 6 steamship technology and artillery.) Because if they had high technology, they would have discovered and conquered Ytarria by this time.

The only likely exception to this would be a VERY high technology (or uber-magical) civilization that enjoys WATCHING Ytarria. This would be actually be plausible...it would certainly explain all the storms, monsters, etc. And it would be a great seed for a campaign...SOMETHING is trying to keep the Ytarrians on or near their continent. Finding out who they are and what they want would truly be the stuff of epic adventure.

Mark

benz72 · 12-13-2008, 09:24 AM

Well of course there is something else out there.... It's a large island nation of dark elves with seabourne defences to their home. They sink non-elven ships on sight... and since there are no other seafaring elves, that means everybody. The Elves on Ytarria knew about the islands. It was a place of meditative reflection and culture. Unfortunately, when the Banestorm destroyed most of the elven civilizatoin on Ytarria most of them had other things to deal with. A few escaped and told the islanders what they knew, which caused a great panic in the population. They decided to enforce a blockade around their domain. It has been 1000 years since their isolation began and Yttaria has forgotten them. The elves who knew about it either escaped to the islands, have died off in the intervening millenium or have gone into deep isolation and are not talking about it. Ytarria holds nothing for the islanders... unless they have decided to reconquer the homeland and cleanse Yrth of their ancestor's errors...

~~combatmedic~~ · 12-13-2008, 11:43 AM

Another option is a retcon. Just say that Yttarians have been in contact with other lands across the sea for generations, and detail those overseas countries/island nations. Leave some areas undiscovered, or unexplored, of course. The planet is a big place.

LoneWolf23k · 12-13-2008, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by combatmedic

Another option is a retcon. Just say that Yttarians have been in contact with other lands across the sea for generations, and detail those overseas countries/island nations. Leave some areas undiscovered, or unexplored, of course. The planet is a big place.

Doesn't necessarily have to be a retcon. If those other lands are far enough, regular travel to them would've been very difficult until the Aralaise came around with their TL4 ships and navigation tools, allowing for a new Age of Exploration to come about on Yrth.

So the lands were there, just hard to reach for all but the most daring and lucky of explorers.

Astromancer · 12-15-2008, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoctorRomulus

How about some Shaolin monks and Kung Fu, kewlness.

If you like. I just assumed the mere mention of China implied that. If I was unclear, please do forgive me.

Astromancer · 12-17-2008, 02:57 PM

D) The Kingdom of Roses Triumphant

This is a small land in the Great Forest fairly near the northwestern end of the God's Fence mountains. The people here are elf-like (in fact except for the fact that they have butterfly wings and antentene [30 points for Flight:Wings and 35 points for Faz Sense, Empathy, and Danger Sense] use Yrth Elf stats) and call themselves the Faylin . Their culture seems to resemble a mixture of Elvish, Courtly Medieval, Welsh, Persian, and Hellenistic Greek. The unaging King of the realm is known to have strong sympathies with the Dark Elves (they count the Faylin as true Elves of an odd type) but he objects to murder and cruelty. The Dark Elves respect the King, and behave themselves in his realm, they use it as a safe haven/training camp.

A few years ago the Banestorm brought a great change to the kingdom. A spaceship crashed there. The Spaceship came from a world that could be called Mandrake-2. Basically the world of GURPS: Thaumatology: The Age of Gold in the year 1995.

The king, an avid alchemist, realised that fate have given him a wildcard. Being very polite, and skillfully useing half truths about both the Ministry of Serindipity and the Technophobia of Ytarria's human kingdoms the King got the astronauts to stay in his kingdom and slowly carefully pumped them for information.

The alchemetic gold the king sought came to him in the form of an Idea: Genetic Engineering. The king realised that with the right mix of Weird Science, Alchemy, Thaumatology, and Bio-Tech, he could turn all the Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Goblins, Orcs, ect into Elves and/or Faylin.

The king arranged, once he knew he could pull it off, to turn the crew of the spaceship into Faylin. (Please picture actors like Robert Wagner circa 1965, Bruce Willis circa 1990, or Aldo Ray circa 1959, with butterfly wings and anttennea) The King is looking for Banestorm victems before the MoS gets them. As many groups of Dark Elves see the king's plan as their only hope, they are all over Ytarria fighting to get the Banestorm victims first, AT ANY COST! Underground engineers and other rebels are hearing of a great new power that would liberate the people. (The King has informed the Dark Elves that stirring up everybody in Yatarria will aide his plans.)

More later, time limit.

LoneWolf23k · 12-17-2008, 05:50 PM

I like the "Small kingdom of winged faerie-like creature" idea, although I'd just update 3rd edition's Ellylon to 4th edition, since they were already elf-like little butterfly winged folk with a strong chivalry-focused society.

...I'd skip the rest, though.

Astromancer · 12-23-2008, 01:03 PM

The point of my faylin kingdom is that it is an different kind of threat and a ticking bomb.

Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2 · 12-23-2008, 04:17 PM

The Faylin one might work if you strip out the "secret Superpower" stuff. Why do the majority of these "small polities" seem to be rich sources of munchkinite?

LoneWolf23k · 12-23-2008, 05:12 PM

Here's one I came up with... Not so much a "Small" Polity per say, but still something fun...

Sadartha (placeholder name: I'm open to suggestions)
An Island continent southeast of Araterre, with a warm climate, which has been colonized by descendants of Indian and Indonesian Banestorm immigrants.

Dominant Culture: The Kingdom of Sadartha, which gives the continent it's name, was founded by Indians and even has a fully-functional Caste System. Beyond the kingdom's borders are many more, smaller kingdoms with more varied cultures founded by folks of more Indonesian descent.

Religions: Hinduism and Buddhism are dominant, with some Spirit-worshipping Animism which occasionally overlaps with Hinduism in some regions. There is also a substantial Muslim population.

Nonhumans: Mainly Halflings, Reptile Folk, Kobolds, Goblins and Hobgoblins, along with isolated communities of elves which seem to have reverted to a more primitive culture then Ytarria's elves. There are legends suggesting that the local mountains contain a hidden Dwarven kingdom, but details are sketchy at best. More troubling, however, is the proven existance of a kingdom of Snake-Men with agressive intent against outsiders.

Magic: Sadartha is mostly normal-mana, with pockets of lower and higher mana scattered across the island. In Sadartha, Magery is seen as a Divine blessing, and Mages, no matter their origin, are elevated to the Brahmin Caste. There are also numerous Mystics, known to the Sadarthans as Yogis, who develop distinct abilties after following various ascetic disciplines. All the colleges of Magic are openly studied in Sadartha, with the exception of Necromancy, which is percieved as Tainted lore, and as a result is only mostly practiced by Untouchables.

...That's all I got for this so far. Mostly some vague notes. I could really use some more information on medieval Indian culture...

12-13-2008, 09:24 AM	#32
benz72 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Chagrin Falls	Re: Four small Polities for Yrth. Well of course there is something else out there.... It's a large island nation of dark elves with seabourne defences to their home. They sink non-elven ships on sight... and since there are no other seafaring elves, that means everybody. The Elves on Ytarria knew about the islands. It was a place of meditative reflection and culture. Unfortunately, when the Banestorm destroyed most of the elven civilizatoin on Ytarria most of them had other things to deal with. A few escaped and told the islanders what they knew, which caused a great panic in the population. They decided to enforce a blockade around their domain. It has been 1000 years since their isolation began and Yttaria has forgotten them. The elves who knew about it either escaped to the islands, have died off in the intervening millenium or have gone into deep isolation and are not talking about it. Ytarria holds nothing for the islanders... unless they have decided to reconquer the homeland and cleanse Yrth of their ancestor's errors... __________________ Benundefined Life has a funny way of making sure you decide to leave the party just a few minutes too late to avoid trouble.

12-13-2008, 11:43 AM	#33
~~combatmedic~~ Banned Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: a crooked, creaky manse built on a blasted heath	Re: Four small Polities for Yrth. Another option is a retcon. Just say that Yttarians have been in contact with other lands across the sea for generations, and detail those overseas countries/island nations. Leave some areas undiscovered, or unexplored, of course. The planet is a big place.

12-17-2008, 02:57 PM	#36
Astromancer Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Virginia	Re: Four small Polities for Yrth. D) *The Kingdom of Roses Triumphant* This is a small land in the Great Forest fairly near the northwestern end of the God's Fence mountains. The people here are elf-like (in fact except for the fact that they have butterfly wings and antentene [30 points for Flight:Wings and 35 points for Faz Sense, Empathy, and Danger Sense] use Yrth Elf stats) and call themselves the Faylin . Their culture seems to resemble a mixture of Elvish, Courtly Medieval, Welsh, Persian, and Hellenistic Greek. The unaging King of the realm is known to have strong sympathies with the Dark Elves (they count the Faylin as true Elves of an odd type) but he objects to murder and cruelty. The Dark Elves respect the King, and behave themselves in his realm, they use it as a safe haven/training camp. A few years ago the Banestorm brought a great change to the kingdom. A spaceship crashed there. The Spaceship came from a world that could be called Mandrake-2. Basically the world of GURPS: Thaumatology: The Age of Gold in the year 1995. The king, an avid alchemist, realised that fate have given him a wildcard. Being very polite, and skillfully useing half truths about both the Ministry of Serindipity and the Technophobia of Ytarria's human kingdoms the King got the astronauts to stay in his kingdom and slowly carefully pumped them for information. The alchemetic gold the king sought came to him in the form of an Idea: Genetic Engineering. The king realised that with the right mix of Weird Science, Alchemy, Thaumatology, and Bio-Tech, he could turn all the Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Goblins, Orcs, ect into Elves and/or Faylin. The king arranged, once he knew he could pull it off, to turn the crew of the spaceship into Faylin. (Please picture actors like Robert Wagner circa 1965, Bruce Willis circa 1990, or Aldo Ray circa 1959, with butterfly wings and anttennea) The King is looking for Banestorm victems before the MoS gets them. As many groups of Dark Elves see the king's plan as their only hope, they are all over Ytarria fighting to get the Banestorm victims first, AT ANY COST! Underground engineers and other rebels are hearing of a great new power that would liberate the people. (The King has informed the Dark Elves that stirring up everybody in Yatarria will aide his plans.) More later, time limit. Last edited by Astromancer; 12-18-2008 at 02:33 PM.

12-17-2008, 05:50 PM	#37
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Re: Four small Polities for Yrth. I like the "Small kingdom of winged faerie-like creature" idea, although I'd just update 3rd edition's Ellylon to 4th edition, since they were already elf-like little butterfly winged folk with a strong chivalry-focused society. ...I'd skip the rest, though.

12-23-2008, 01:03 PM	#38
Astromancer Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: West Virginia	Re: Four small Polities for Yrth. The point of my faylin kingdom is that it is an different kind of threat and a ticking bomb.

12-23-2008, 04:17 PM	#39
Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: The deep dark haunted woods	Re: Four small Polities for Yrth. The Faylin one might work if you strip out the "secret Superpower" stuff. Why do the majority of these "small polities" seem to be rich sources of munchkinite?

12-23-2008, 05:12 PM	#40
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Re: Four small Polities for Yrth. Here's one I came up with... Not so much a "Small" Polity per say, but still something fun... Sadartha (placeholder name: I'm open to suggestions) An Island continent southeast of Araterre, with a warm climate, which has been colonized by descendants of Indian and Indonesian Banestorm immigrants. Dominant Culture: The Kingdom of Sadartha, which gives the continent it's name, was founded by Indians and even has a fully-functional Caste System. Beyond the kingdom's borders are many more, smaller kingdoms with more varied cultures founded by folks of more Indonesian descent. Religions: Hinduism and Buddhism are dominant, with some Spirit-worshipping Animism which occasionally overlaps with Hinduism in some regions. There is also a substantial Muslim population. Nonhumans: Mainly Halflings, Reptile Folk, Kobolds, Goblins and Hobgoblins, along with isolated communities of elves which seem to have reverted to a more primitive culture then Ytarria's elves. There are legends suggesting that the local mountains contain a hidden Dwarven kingdom, but details are sketchy at best. More troubling, however, is the proven existance of a kingdom of Snake-Men with agressive intent against outsiders. Magic: Sadartha is mostly normal-mana, with pockets of lower and higher mana scattered across the island. In Sadartha, Magery is seen as a Divine blessing, and Mages, no matter their origin, are elevated to the Brahmin Caste. There are also numerous Mystics, known to the Sadarthans as Yogis, who develop distinct abilties after following various ascetic disciplines. All the colleges of Magic are openly studied in Sadartha, with the exception of Necromancy, which is percieved as Tainted lore, and as a result is only mostly practiced by Untouchables. ...That's all I got for this so far. Mostly some vague notes. I could really use some more information on medieval Indian culture...