A Yttarrian Campaign I'm Planning. Please Kiibitz.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Wait a minute; I thought all that came through the Banestorm was a single aerial city.

So where are they getting the land to offer as fiefs unless they've taken it from someone who already owned it? In a feudal society, that ain't being a friendly newcomer.

A city came through, the Hawkfolk have taken over certain mountains.

Look on page 109 of GURPS Banestorm. You'll see two groups of hills between the River Smoke and the Great Forest moderately near the ruins of Autheuli on the map. They took over those hills.

More on the city and its location later.

[Astromancer]

The name of the Hawkfolk city is Caer yr Enfys! The Fortress of the Rainbow. King Alerion's mother, and Hawkfolk kings rule by mother right, is held to be descended in the female line from a daughter of the West Wind and the Rainbow.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Caer yr Enfys! The Fortress of the Rainbow.

The Hawkfolk speak Welsh?

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

The Hawkfolk speak Welsh?

No, but Welsh, Irish, and Finnish, are goto languages when I need a fantasy world name or title. I'd like to add Arabic and Farsi but those come up in Alphabets I can't read. At least most of the time.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Their plan is a flawed panic plan.

OK, but this seems inconsistent with your note about their king:

Originally Posted by Astromancer

If the surface seems like a jolly Viking chief the interior man is a better match to Odin at his most cunning.

[RedMattis]

It feels like you want to tell some story with this hawk-kingdom, but I'm not quite grasping what you're aiming for.

The PCs were turned into hawk-people, and had their memory removed in the process. Is the idea that the PCs are working for someone set up as an antagonist in the beginning and then possibly switch sides when their memory returns, or what it the idea with the amnesia?

The whole turning-people-into hawkmen thing is a bit strange as well. And if so, why are they so picky about high IQ & DX? Do they have a manpower or talent issue, if it is both then they should find use for the less talented individuals. Also from a setting-building perspective why not just have them appear in a decent enough number and skip the large-scale hawk-transformation? It just seems like something set up to make their neighbors hate them; which for that purpose seems a bit unnecessary, as you pointed out there are enough reasons for others to be paranoid about them anyway, and handling/failing to handle that seems like a good enough hook if you want to deal with diplomatic hostilities or war.

How does the Hawkman-template look? I'm assuming it is not much like a Harpy, but more like a D&D Aarakocra or fantasy angel? Based on how they seem to be going for high-stat people I'm getting some homo-superior vibes from the concept. Is the intent for the hawkmen have a nazi-like mindset where they think they are better than everyone else and deserve to rule the masses or something like that?

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by RedMattis

It feels like you want to tell some story with this hawk-kingdom, but I'm not quite grasping what you're aiming for.

The PCs were turned into hawk-people, and had their memory removed in the process. Is the idea that the PCs are working for someone set up as an antagonist in the beginning and then possibly switch sides when their memory returns, or what it the idea with the amnesia?

Pretty much, I want the PCs (the players are a different matter) torn in their loyalties. Also, without powerful magics the change is irreversible. So even if they learn the truth, any place they go on Yrth (or if they get to go home) they'll be freaks. It's a complex problem.

The whole turning-people-into hawkmen thing is a bit strange as well. And if so, why are they so picky about high IQ & DX? Do they have a manpower or talent issue, if it is both then they should find use for the less talented individuals?

They were fighting a war on their homeworld (which is a lot like Mongo from the old Flash Gordon Comics) when Caer yr Enfys got caught in a banestorm generated by a combo of Weird Science and Weird Alchemy. King Valerian was in the city recovering from battle wounds. Most of the Hawkfolk armies, most of their high nobility, and a lot of other skilled folks weren't in the city. So yes they have a manpower shortage.

They do find uses for many people they don't turn into Hawkfolk. Some of these are as highly skilled labor. They aren't averse to slavery, at least not more than any other Yttarrians, but they see it as a luxury they can't afford now.

Also from a setting-building perspective why not just have them appear in a decent enough number and skip the large-scale hawk-transformation? It just seems like something set up to make their neighbors hate them; which for that purpose seems a bit unnecessary, as you pointed out there are enough reasons for others to be paranoid about them anyway, and handling/failing to handle that seems like a good enough hook if you want to deal with diplomatic hostilities or war.

They aren't transforming the locals into Hawkfolks, they're changing other people who've been brought to Yrth by the revived Banestorm.

How does the Hawkman-template look? I'm assuming it is not much like a Harpy, but more like a D&D Aarakocra or fantasy angel? Based on how they seem to be going for high-stat people I'm getting some homo-superior vibes from the concept. Is the intent for the hawkmen have a nazi-like mindset where they think they are better than everyone else and deserve to rule the masses or something like that?

Look at stills of the old Flash Gordon Serial or the 80s film. They look like a cross between Hawkman and Vikings. The world they are from is based on Mongo (the culture of which was a satirical slap at both Fascism and Monarchism). So, the Hawkfolk have some seriously reactionary vibes. But all of Yrth's governments (like most of the government in Fantasy Fiction or Planetary Romance) are reactionary.

Moving a Yrth government in a progressive direction would be an epic campaign.

[AlexanderHowl]

Honestly, it is a bit of a stretch, specially considering that the area is already inhabited. I think that a better idea would be to have a micocontinent around the size of Madagascar that would appear around 250 miles off the eastern coast of Megalos after a massive Banestorm at the beginning of 2020. The microcontinent would cover 500,000 square miles, 250,000 square miles of land and 250,000 square miles of water, making a rough diamond 500 miles north-to-south and 1,000 miles east-to-west.

The advantage of such a large location is that it would allow for a series of adventures, both on the surface and under the water. Imagine the conflicts that would occur between the native hawkmen (which would only be the westernmost species of beastfolk) and the younger sons of Megalos nobility who were trying to steal their land. You could have a wide diversity of confused beastfolk who would be horrified when they encountered humans, as humans would seem to be sort of abominations that had their animal half removed by magic.

Of course, the beastfolk would need to be magical, so it would make sense if the microcontinent was 90% high mana and 10% very high mana. The continental shelf and 80% of land would be high mana while the central 20% of the land would be very high mana. The beastfolk that lived in the very high mana regions could be horrific amalgamations of multiple races of beastfolk, like bear-owl folk or tiger-carp folk.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

You could have a wide diversity of confused beastfolk who would be horrified when they encountered humans, as humans would seem to be sort of abominations that had their animal half removed by magic...

The beastfolk that lived in the very high mana regions could be horrific amalgamations of multiple races of beastfolk, like bear-owl folk or tiger-carp folk.

Depends on whether the "beastfolk" consider themselves to be half-Human. What if they just see themselves as all-Hawkperson or whatever, and the Humans some kind of hairless talking ape bearing no resemblance? And would they even care if they have Owlbears and such running around too?

[AlexanderHowl]

It depends. They will likely recognize that they are similar to specific species and may see themselves as evolved (or blessed) version of their animal relatives. If they are normally incapable of interbreeding, the beastfolk may consider the inhabitants of the very high mana regions to be abominations of interbreeding. Since humans would be unfamiliar to them, they may consider them to be abominations as well, the results of animal natures being negated negated rather than combined. It is up to the GM though.

The key thing though is the appearance of such a microcontinent would offer a number of adventuring opportunities. The coastal people would notice disturbances in tides and weather first, as the new land would interfere with both, and there would be new species of fish appearing in the markets. Of course, the discovery of the microcontinent would likely be an accident, a sailing vessel getting blown off course by a storm, but the news of a previously undiscovered island would likely spread like wildfire. The first expeditions would likely leave within a month, with people from all over Yttarria coming to seek adventure and wealth.