Birthright Campaign Notes, Images, etc.

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ewancummins
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Re: Birthright Campaign Notes, Images, etc.

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CRANSTEL

Old apothecary in Haes

Sometimes works with the Priestess Idele of the WIT(NPC)

This character was introduced as an NPC but has become in effect a secondary PC for Adam.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright Campaign Notes, Images, etc.

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ewancummins wrote:TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURES NOTE

Gunpowder exists. It is called ''hellpowder.'' Common folk consider a kind of magic.
Hellpowder is a fairly recent invention. Some clever blacksmiths have made ''serpents'' and ''gyns'' that hurl stones or metal by force of powder. (Carilon Alam used such new fangled weapons in his attack on Haes, last campaign arc)
Think Medieval guns, not the later stuff that might otherwise be implied by some of the Late Medieval and Renaissance elements in the game-world.


Printing press.
Anuireans have had basic printing tech a long time. But in recent years a new technology has arrived from Brechtur-- moveable metallic type.
Pamphlets and books are becoming more common in cities like Haes.


SCIENCE-

Round world- One can no doubt find backwards peasants or barbarians who don't understand the idea, but otherwise it's common knowledge. And it has been so for hundreds of years.

Heliocentric model I held in higher favor than geocentric model in most lands, but it you aren't an astrologer/astronomer(there's no real difference) you probably don't know much about this.
This is only a politico-religious issue for followers of Avani in Khinasi. That's because the Khinasi believe that the Sun is the palace of Avani.

(I edited because leaving some doubt is fun).
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright Campaign Notes, Images, etc.

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Half-Elves

If it weren't for the established history of Devlin Flaertes, I'd have gone with all half-elves as actually being changelings: human children raised as elves and magically altered by their time in Elf Country. Interbreeding would be impossible without a wish spell or other very potent magic.

For this campaign, I have stayed with the standard BR set-up, which is pretty much the same as in the PHB. A half-elf is the child of an elf and a human. This lineage can never breed back to true elf. Anyone with human and elf ancestry is either a half elf or a human.

Most Sidehlien accept half-elves who have been raised in the elf culture as fellow elves, albeit ones who have been afflicted with short lifespans.
(Adapted from BR official notes).

Fanatical elf supremacists may see things differently, of course. Or not. Some of the Wild Hunt may actually be half-breeds.

Pretty much any other human/demihuman cross-species mix is going to either be impossible without a wish spell or else result in sterile offspring.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright Campaign Notes, Images, etc.

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Tidings from the Mierre Rhuann
Sea of Storms


A ship captain of Talinie has returned home with reports of a large archipelago in the Sea of Storms, a pair of islander natives, and a hold full of trade goods.
Certain Rjurik clans with unpopular religious ideas have been sailing to the islands for some time, and have established colonies.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright Campaign Notes, Images, etc.

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Gunderland & Tuern

Two island countries northwest of the big western chain, settled after the War of Shadow by clans of Rjuven. The scions Gunder the Bold and his half-sister Tuerny the Merciless led the original settlers, if the old legends are true.

Korinn Archipelago
west by southwest of Anuire, off the northeast coast of Aduria
This island chain is infested with goblins and a local race called 'yrch' (said to be seafaring monsters distantly related to orogs) as well as human reavers. The Korinn pirates once launched regular raids only on the shores of Aduria, but improvements in their navigation techniques have brought them as far east as the Straits of Aerele in the past few years.
In Old Imperial times, an Anuirean nobleman named Viledil led an expedition to pacify the islands.



(Yes, these are adapted from published sources)


Irollo Massif
a highland region in Aduria, far south of Mieres.
Very little is known about this distant region apart from the tales of the bard Tamerlan, and who knows if he is telling the truth? The stories describe city states ruled by sorcerers. Also reported to be home to roaming bands of 'cenocroca', a monster race.


Burning Coast
tropical coasts in the far southeast of Aduria. Called 'burning' not so much for the torrid climate as the horrible native fevers that attack explorers and shipwrecked sailors.
Masetians might have circumnavigated the southern continent in ancient times, but when the Straits of Aerele opened after Deismaar, such long voyages became unnecessary to travel between western and southeastern Cerilia by water.
The few adventurers who have penetrated past the coasts relate tales of jungles crawling with monsters, weird animals, parasites, and plagues worse even than the fevers of the coastal strip.

Giant Realms
Adventurers from Mieres report giants in the interior of Aduria and along the eastern shores. Farmers and workmen in Mieres have dug up giant bones often enough that many people in that country believe the stories of giant cities further from the colony.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: Birthright Campaign Notes, Images, etc.

Post by ewancummins »

Credit to Ed Greenwood, Douglas Niles, and Aaron Allston for some of the above.
And ro Gygax for the name Tuerny the Merciless ( or was that Tim Kask?)
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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