Apr 29, 2014
Back on the post "New Look and New Game Planning" I showed what our journal was, up to that point. Since then it has only expanded with more twists turns and villainous actions, conducted by my players, to make the world that much more against them, in the long run of things. One thing we tried to avoid, while playing The Quite Yea,r was naming things. I enforced this because I felt that attaching a name might limit creativity. In this post, I am going to reveal to my readers and players the names of the locations they invented, plus a bit about what they have created. Again, I will link my Google Drive with my Journal notes. This time, I have not cleaned up my notes, so please don't mind the grammar and spelling issues.
Setting Info
Key:
What we called it in The Quite Year (name on map/in game) - Influence for names and culture
The City (Magador) - Roman
Magador is the major city on the map. It is home to the Eight-Fold Cult, that worships the divine representation of the gods on earth (the rainbow that appears often over the city thanks to a naturally forming prism in the mountains). The Cult worships eight different gods, who are viewed as neutral and mostly detached from mortal affairs, meaning constructs like good/evil/law/chaos are below them, as an invention of mankind. So, their worshipers can take many forms, but always seem to bring their faith in line with their actions, rather than letting the faith and teachings guide their actions. The cult teaches strength and fear.
Some time, in early spring, a young girl ran off ,with many of the city's youth and began a witch coven. This news was startling. Since the time before Chaos' death, no one had been able to cast magic. The church investigated, for some time, before finally being forced into action, when the children sabotaged the school in Magador and stole away the remaining children, from the city. Since then, the Eight-Fold Cult has created an inquisition, to hunt down these witches and purge the land of their evil magics. The inquisition was founded originally to save the children, but since the death of St. Cassius they have changed to eradication of all magics. This is further complicated by the fact that the High Priest Pater has recently began to perform miracles, leading to a divide in the church.
Also, Since St. Cassius passed, the city has become a city state under the rule of the church. They have also begun pushing borders and becoming aggressive to heretics of their faith, adopting a convert or die approach to outsiders. This has lead to a division among the people of Magador, but those that do not agree with the church openly seem to disappear regularly, so many remain silent. Neighbors are turned against neighbors, as it has become unsafe to trust anyone with anti-church opinions, even if they do share your beliefs. Many have been captured and tortured into giving the names of other "heretics." To cover their actions, the church does not acknowledge any of this, and instead offer the protection of the church to any who welcome their teachings. Some people have become fanatical, and have even invited in an extremely large talking moose into the cult. This moose is chaos touched to be larger and talk, he is also extremely devout, to such an extent that he has become a zealot for the church.
The city is formed from the remains of an older ruined city, that has frozen over. Little work has been done, to excavate, but one of the children, Nero, found an underground crypt full of dead children neatly laid out. Since then he has not spoken, and more recently he has gone missing entirely. Ghosts walk the streets of Magador, according to the children, though no adult until Pater has been able to see them. Pater claims that they are the spirits of the savage Yeti's, that wonder the snow fields and wield occult magics. The city has had many run-ins with these creatures, who have even attempted to destroy the city with an avalanche. Since then, a group of guards got together, to form the Elite Yeti Hunters. They use wolves to track them and wipe the land clean of their presence. The church believes that the yeti's are actually humans, that have consumed the flesh of chaos tainted humans. This act of cannibalism has transformed them into monsters and caused the church to be somewhat fearful of the Tainted.
The Fishing Village (Griloz) - English/Anglo
A simple fishing village where nothing special really happens. Their neighbors to the north, in Magador, have been exceptionally nice to them, bringing trade and their faith. Magador has also built the Ever Reaching Route, a road for trade between the two cities. Griloz does have run-ins with the yeti's but not nearly as much as Magador. No one knows really why. The people mainly know peace and prosperity. Many of the citizens have actually moved north, to aid Magador in its efforts.
The people of Griloz tend to be driven by superstitions and see omens in everything. They believe that these traditions keep them safe. It has also kept them from sailing into the deep waters of the ocean. They mainly stick to the waters of Shimmering Basin, a lake formed in a crater near the village, and the Soundless Channel, the river that leads to the ocean.
Ruins in the Mountians (Unnamed) - Japanese
This is where the witch cult has taken up residence. Here they make their final stand against Magador. The people of Magador do not know why they act the way they do but they know that the children in the ziggurat are hostile to Magador, and by decree of the Eight-fold Cult they must be destroyed for their actions. Strange pygmies have been found native, to this secluded mountain range, and many have began worshiping the witches.
Whaling City (Sandgil) - Viking
Established near the Forbidden Expanse, Sandgil is a prosperous port. They specialize in hunting narwhal and fishing. They are far enough away from Magador, that they have not received an invitation of trade formally from the city. Its people are hearty folk, with ice water in their veins. They believe in nothing except what they can be shown. The have no time for "magics," only for work,family and tradition. They live in the harshest lands and their winter is the longest. Their people are prognostic and seem to always be preparing for the future. Their faith is different than that of the Eight-fold. They are ancestor worshipers, offering gifts and prayer to their ancestors, even accrediting good fortune to their ancestors.
The Wasting Sickness
Dwarves have been driven from the depths of the earth, by the death of Chaos. His blood and fluids were adsorbed, by the earth twisting and misshaping their kingdoms and the creatures of the underdark. The other creatures that inhabit the world, under the world, have gotten out of control and forced them to the surface. Dwarves who have been in contact with Chaos' blood have developed a wasting sickness. It is believed that the dwarves are the only ones who can contract the disease, but humans can carry the disease unknowingly. (The disease is passed like AIDS)
Because of this, dwarves have become more cautious of human contact, fearing that simple touch from a human or affected dwarf could cause the transmission of the disease. The disease, in it's earliest stages, make his hair start thinning. As time progresses, his condition worsens. His skin loosens and sags, his hair and teeth fallout, and lastly he begins coughing blood. Eventually, the dwarf dies from the condition, it has no known cure, and any attempt to cure it have been met with difficulty, as it changes rapidly and develops ways around cures. It is seen as a death sentence, and dwarfs often excommunicate those who carry it.
