Domain of the month - Tepest

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Just take your favorite fairy tale and set it as a local noble in Tepest.

Hmm... your idea (while great) highlights a problem in using Tepest as written for the "fairy tale" domain. So many fairy tales rely on nobility. Princesses, kings, etc. And Tepest's treatment in the canon products makes it a bit of a backwater. There is no Tepestani nobility, really, is there? Unless I'm forgetting some. Maybe Tepest could benefit from a new neighbor with a little more aristocracy?

[Sareau]

A noble is just someone entrusted land by a ruler. If the hags are the darklord, then those they ensnare in whatever plot are by default Tepest's nobles.

I modelled my Tepest on 8th century England, giving me numerous kings with their own nobles and knights to fulfill the Fairy Tale aspect, and yet keep it a backwater. With so many rulers vying for power, all that unites Tepest is religeon and the Church itself isn't a unified whole, but depends on the strength of the local clergy to enforce it's edicts. Some areas have a strong king and weak bishop, others a weak king and strong bishop, and some are either both powerful in their own rights or in cahoots for mutual profit...

If you need traditional nobles, remember Puss in Boots was able to set up his master as the Marquis du Carrabas in such a way even the King accepted it.

[nothri]

Hmm... your idea (while great) highlights a problem in using Tepest as written for the "fairy tale" domain. So many fairy tales rely on nobility. Princesses, kings, etc. And Tepest's treatment in the canon products makes it a bit of a backwater. There is no Tepestani nobility, really, is there? Unless I'm forgetting some. Maybe Tepest could benefit from a new neighbor with a little more aristocracy?

::cough:: Nova Vaasa ::cough:: five major noble families ::cough:: lords knows how many subbranches ::cough:: Noble steeds. ::cough:: Medieval Castles ::cough:: Few dozen disenfranchised Princes thanks to Othmar 'stealing' the throne. ::cough::

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

::cough:: Nova Vaasa ::cough:: five major noble families ::cough:: lords knows how many subbranches ::cough:: Noble steeds. ::cough:: Medieval Castles ::cough:: Few dozen disenfranchised Princes thanks to Othmar 'stealing' the throne. ::cough::

Where's that "head-smacking" smiley when you need him? Excellent point. Though "fairy tale" isn't the first thing I think of when I think of Nova Vassa. But if you let the domain borders blur a bit in terms of flavor, it could certainly work.

[Grey Arcanist]

The Tepestani believe that the history of the world is divided into four parts, corresponding to the four seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. They think the world is currently in Autumn, and that the world will end at the end of Winter. Autumn is dominated by monsters like the Hags and Goblins, but Winter will be dominated by the Undead and Elementals. So do the Hags believe any of this is true? And if they do, do they want the world to end, or are they determined to preserve their lives and power for as long as possible, by keeping the world in Autumn? If they want to preserve the world, then they would oppose the Undead, who would presumably be looking forward to "their" season, and anyone else who wants the world to end. Keeping the world from turning from Autumn to Winter is also the goal of the Inquisition. Perhaps the Hags hope to use the Inquisition as more than a source of useful corpses?

[Sareau]

This presupposes that the Inquisition is right about this stuff. Of course, I simply justified the Inquisition in Tepest by making the native elves grugach who got their playbook from folklore instead of Tolkien, and behave abominably without explanation-kidnapping children to raise as pets (and my group is mature enough I was able to play up the BDSM pup-play, which is not suggested for all groups), raiding farms, stealing whatever they fancy, etc. Additionally, I placed Lovecraftian mountain communities of derro with duergar further down in Tepest's remoter mountain ranges, and replaced gnomes and halflings with Mistways in the deep woods to the Wildlands, allowing sentient speaking Animals to infest Tepest's woods. I also permitted players native to Tepest to play hengeyokai, provided their animal stock was of European origin.

This did separate the Inquisition from Elena Faithhold's, while retaining their basic nature-the players just understood that the foul natives were the bad apples who upset the cart.

However, such a cycle would upset the hags if there were any truth to it-perhaps contingencies to make themselves undead to continue to rule, with resurrections ready for Spring...

[Don Fernando]

I once considered running an adventure set in Tepest, with Goblyns as the main villain/ally. The fact that the three hags, use them as fodder or as a cheap midnight treat should be enough to produce some kind of hatred from the goblyns towards the Hags.

Sadly I just lost interest and the idea got archived... until now. Any suggestions? Perhaps we can even throw an evil treant or two in the mix...

[Sareau]

The hags are fairly individual in not being temporal rulers, which I took advantage of by having them act as the Fates in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. They appear, speak cryptically, and are taken seriously enough it's a big game of "Let's You and Him fight" no one catches onto. Even players fell for it...

If the goblyns are being advised in one direction, and a few others in another by the hags, you can easily sandwich the players in the middle.

[Hogan Van Monsterband]

I always read Tepest as being on the cusp of a change of darklord, from the Hags to Wyan. I'm not sure how that would look, though.

[herkles]

Personally I rather see the Hags as powerful monsters that are in the shadows but with Wyan as the darklord. Wyan's character is much better then the hags are IMO.

[Intrepid]

Personally I rather see the Hags as powerful monsters that are in the shadows but with Wyan as the darklord. Wyan's character is much better then the hags are IMO.

That actually could be quite interesting. Then the inquisition would be even worse than it already is, maybe even start to spread out into other domains, converting the populace etc....

Oh I think I might just have an idea to work on...

[Manofevil]

I don't know as the domain would necessarily be taken over by Wyan as it would be split in two and the Hags get part and Wyan gets the rest.

[Lost Heretic]

I don't have much experience with Tepest, but have any of you guys read the Dragonlance novel Weasel's Luck? The more I read about this domain, the more I think this novel would fit in Tepest than Krynn.

[Don Fernando]

I rather like the Hags than Wyan. They have a more mitycal feeling about them and IMO go with the atmosphere required by Tepest. I dunno, maybe it is beacuse I just saw "Clash of the Titans" (1981 version of course) and the three Hags there are superb.

I also agree with Maofevil, the domain would certainly split, if taken over by Wyan.

BTW, just a crazy idea, but I would really appreciate some feedback: What do you think is the relationship, if any (alliance, plain hatred), between the Goblyns and the Fey? Do the Goblyns fight these strange "humans", do they hunt them down?

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I won't repeat myself, but see the discussion here where I talked about why I don't think Wyan is a good fit for darklordship. (boils down to: he's actually Good, albeit misguided and overzealous).