Of Iron and Steel

[Jabberwocky]

Is the current 'working title' for a BW campaign I'm going to be running for friends at the local uni in a month or so, and I'm currently going through the long process of hacking out a setting, pretty much from scratch. Just thought I'd post what I think of up here for both your perusal, and my brainstorming :-)

The basic world synopsis; HUGE apocalyptic battle at some point in the distant past. The Empire (generic high-fantasy civilisation) was shattered, and most of its gods ruined, corrupted or killed by the Stranger (darkness, fear, despair incarnate). Thing is, the Gods of the Empire were kind of the divine archetypes; the root powers from which most others flowed, meaning that the world as is is more than a little f**ked up.

Shift to current day, in the city of Tor Emain, built on the shattered ruin of what was one of the outposts of the empire, and preserved by the Dwer (more on them later). One of the key things is that when a god dies, or is corrupted, that affects his domain. So the corruption of the Builder means that in a way part of his portfolio had to be assumed by the Magus (as artifice), and it's really hard to build large constructions without relying on the Dwer (yes, yes... will get to them), or... unusual construction methods.

There's basically 3 'playable' races... tho I may be running a humanocentric game.

Men
The Men of Tor Emain are descended in particular from a mix of the shorter, swarthier Imperial citizens, and the taller, fairer Plainsmen, who were instrumental in turning back the Stranger. Also in existance are nomadic, animistic tribesmen, the dark, secretive Ironholders of the South, various sea-faring breeds of human, and the men of Kylar to th north, who share some common traits with the Alve.

Men are beings originally of Air, Animus and Heaven, once winged descendant of the Ethain, they forwent their wings and flight a long time ago, but are still quick and inventive, as befits their affinity with Air and Heaven - thought and light. The Alve are their cousins; also descended from the high Ethain, they took up the forces of Animus and Earth, giving up their links to Heaven - kind of in brief atm.

Generally, human technology is a kind of clockwork da-vinci... there's no gun-powder in use, and the emphasis is on hand-crafting and the artisan's skill - this is ensured by the fact that the Magus is Artifice, the Builder having been corrupted, so the technology tends towards the eccentric and personal rrather than mass-produced.

...next the Alve and Dwer

[Jabberwocky]

The Alve
First point... these aren't elves... they were going to be, but my imagintion got in the way.

The Alve life in the northern wilds of Kylar, away from the more civilized lands near Tor Emain. They are kin to men, and many people of Kylar have some degree of Alv blood, but they are still quite alien, quite strange. They are the fallen Ethain who embraced the ways of Animus, and Earth, the songs of tree and root and beast replacing those of light and sky and sun. They are twisted, the older the grow, the more bestial, plantlike and insectoid characteristics they take up, until those that survive become an immortal part of Life itself, unaging and inhuman.

The average Alv is a tall, spindly humanoid with pale skin, large, black eyes and dimished features. In their 'birth-form' they have no body hair, although the sexes are distinguished as are humans. VERY few Alve persist like this, as thier links to the natural magics warp their bodies, adding features of beasts, plants and insects. Most mix these features to a mild degree, but some devote themselves to the emulation of trees, or meditate upon the lives of insects. So tied are they to these things, that some have the Gift of sorcery, though this is limited to certain fields. (Anima, Earth (wood and dirt only), Water (natural streams and the like), Controlling, Transmuting, Influence, Creative).

[Jabberwocky]

Dwer
Just as the Alve aren't elves, these were going to be dwarves, but aren't.

The Dwer are a people unrelated to humankind and their Ethain forbears, instead springing from the very rock and earth of the world. They are associated with th spheres of Earth, and of course Animus, and onoccasion Fire and even Arcana, for their bodies are not entirely natural.

A Dwer will tend to grow throughout his or her life, from its birth-size (which may vary depending on its parents), and generally topping out about twice that, although its eventual size can depend greatly on its spiritual 'stature' - the greatest of them have been said to be over a hundre feet in height, with bones of solid stone.

The older (and larger) a Dwer gets, the more rock-like they get, slower, more deliberate, with skin muscles as strong as mountain roots. They never 'die' of old age - and are resistant to heat and cold, though extremes of temperature injure them, and some disease can still affect them. Some Dwer, in particular smaller specimens don't seem to show this slowing effect so much.

The Colossi of Tor Emain are, in fact, 'living' Dwer, their bodies rendered solid stone by the effort of growing and melding into the rock of the Bluff, in order to prevent the totla destruction of the city in the apocalypse. In theory, these Dwer are still alive, though in practice their souls have returned to the living rock, and the life of the world, as tends to happen when Dwer slow and stop.

Dwer tend towards the gangly, from smooth-skinned, 4-foot 'goblins' thru the crafts-minded, 6-foot breeds, through the towering trollish forms some great heroes possess. As they grow larger, their shapes become more human-like and bulkier, whilst the smaller Dwer can be very flexible and agile.

The Dwer are one reason why the city of Tor Emain can survive without the Aegis of the Builder - they possess the ability to, effectively, make construction possible, in fact a small city exists underneath and within the Bluff, and Dwer are a common sight in the streets, and make very good sewer-workers or artisans.

[Jabberwocky]

Gods
The Gods of the Empire are archetypical figures. Basically they're the wellspring of different bits of civilisation in a way, and in an earlier draft of the setting were 'artificial'. The central idea is that the Stranger came amongst them, corrupted one (The Builder), killed two (The Emporer, and the Walker (who may still exist)), nearly killed the Warrior and the Fool, leaving just the Mother and the Magus with any real power. This means that the latter two have had to spread themselves more thinly to cover for the dead and diminished - in this case it's pretty damn essential for any kind of civilisation. Of course, mankind has forgotten this, and worships by aspect... priestly miracles may be possible, as yet undecided.

The Magus is worshipped as Thought and Memory, Law (in place of the Emporer), and Artifice (in place of the Builder).

He's actually also still directly worshipped at the great Academy, where a chapel to the Magus himself still stands

This means that crafts and building are very much a result of individual skill and knowlege - mass production just doesn't gel with man's society, and in fact complex or advance machinery may just not work. Tor Emain is also built on law, and the rule of a council rather than that of a single person.

The Mother is worshipped as Life and Growth, as well as Death (taking the Warrior's burden).

Thus death is seen as more peaceful, a cessetion of the current state of life more than an ending. Generally priests of Life and Death co-exist, tending to the needs of the populus... Life-preists at least have healing powers.

The above two tend to mean that anything that happens tends to have an emphasis on natural order, and thing which are against that are seen as abominations.

The Warrior, though diminished is still followed in the form of Deed, his power sustained by the sacrifice ofa mortal warrior, who is cursed to provide a body for the god, sleeping in the Shrine of Deed in the god's armour as a statue... the one overtly supernatural sign of the gods' remaining presence.

The Fool is scattered, and only survives as Fortune.

[Jabberwocky]

Tor Emain
The city of Tor Emain is the crux of the setting as is... or at least the focus of the game I'm running. Picture a fantasy bastardisation of a rennaissance Italy city-state, filtered through my imagination... maps forthcoming once I get my hands on a scanner...

It's built on a half-ruined Imperial city - only some of the fortifications and the sorcerous Academy survived, as did the bulk of the Dwer settlement beneath it. The core of the city is on a high rocky bluff, sloping down into the main city to the west. At the top of the city is the keep of Emain's Rock, where Emain (whoever he was) first started to rebuild the settlement. Also up at the top are the Academy, with the huge troll colossi that stop it from falling off the cliff and a couple of noble houses and the city barracks, all walled up.

The bluff then curves round to the northwest then west, with a deep harbour in the curve of the cliffs formed by the confluence of two rivers. Along the northern, smaller flow are mills and workshops, whilst the southern river (currently the Sarradine) is naviagable by sea traffic. The city lives on trade, though it's self-sufficient to a small degree, having extensive farmland about it. There's a small settlement on the south side of the Sarridine river, but the bulk is to the north.

Generally it's comparatively clean, but the slummish areas both inside and outside the main walls (which are a bit labyrinthine due to the stages of growth) are dirtier, and it's fairly lawless really. Of note are the aforementioned Academy, and the Garden, home of the Shrine of Life, the city hospice, and the Alve enclave that exists within the walls. Other Shrines to each of the Aspects are scattered about the city.

As I said, maps forthcoming...[/b]