Well, I have finished my preparations for my attempt to run a Dungeons and Dragons game using the HiBRiD rules. In the process, I wrote a quick Genre Description for the game for any interested in reading the backstory of the world. Many of you who played back in 1992 to 1998 will recognize much. To the new initiates, I hope it will provide some insight and background as your characters meet their demise, er, go about their adventure...
Setting
History
The First Age
At
first, there were two entities: Hujraad and Angstbrecht. Angstbrecht formed as
a manifestation of the conscious desire for collecting for one’s self. Hujraad
formed as a manifestation of the conscious desire for serving others. Through
their inadvertent interactions with the universe around them, they formed
Namenlos Welt and all its living creatures and gained consciousness. As the
creatures evolved and also gained consciousness, they came to refer to these
entities as gods.
The
gods came to watch their creations and realized that each sentient creature had
both the capacity for selfishness and selflessness and each sought to bring
their own natures out in the creatures that worshipped them. Each provided his
worshippers with conduits to the power of the universe-the power known as Ite’.
Hujraad brought into existence dragons to act as natural indirect conduits radiating
Ite’ between his followers and the world around them while Angstbrecht bestowed
the powers of directly upon his
worshippers through infernal pacts for which the petitioners would give their
souls to him. The worshippers of each god failed to see the point of view of
worshippers of the other god, and though many small fights, skirmishes, and
struggles within and among the various creatures and peoples of Namenlos World
went on for millennia, they were never in any real danger of elimination for
all was balanced. This First Age lasted until the day the two stars fell to the
north and the south.
The Second Age
To
the north, the first of these “stars” was in actuality the city-ship of a magical
star-faring folk known as the Tayfolk from a galaxy and plane far away. With
its crash landing, the resulting explosion smashed into the single continent of
the world into three, driving each apart away from one another, and polluting
the world with a new source of magic that settled across the planet like
nuclear fallout. As the magical and physical dust settled, this Tayling magic
manifested in several ways. Most dramatically, a metal referred to as “mithral
silver” appeared seemingly from out of thin air. Lighter and stronger than
steel, it was quickly horded by metalworkers who prized it for its properties.
It also enabled works made with it to have magical properties. The Tayfolk
fallout also integrated into the bodies of various creatures across the planet,
creating magical versions of normal creatures as well as strange combinations
of living creatures with all sorts of magical abilities. Finally, the fallout
gave certain humanoids the ability to use of scientific methods and faith instead
of the methods created by Hujraad or Angsbrecht to draw out their power.
To
the south, the second of these “stars” was a ship of over 50,000 troops in
stasis known as “Knights of Purity”, who had followed the Tayfolk ship across
the realities with a single purpose: to eliminate the Tayfolk, whom they
considered abominations. After their crash, they immediately began to search
and sweep northward across continent of Treh’dann to find their targets. As they
came across elves and ogres, they slaughtered such creatures whenever they were
encountered, as their DNA matched that of the Tayfolk so precisely. The Tayfolk,
knowing the Knights were searching for them, hid themselves in their city-ship
underneath a mountain and began to work feverishly in secret to research ways
to change themselves in such a way as to prevent their detection by magical
means and elimination by the Knights of Purity Control.
But
unlike science, in which any system falls into chaos if left alone, the magical
energy brought by the Tayfolk existed as a thermodynamic opposite, drawing
itself together and consolidating itself when left alone. Over the millennia, this
unique property eventually led to all the magical creatures and mithral silver items
infused with the “magical fallout” found themselves inexplicably drawn together
into a great battle, historically known as the Battle of Ty, that resulted in
the complete glassing, irradiation, shattering, and sinking of one of the three
continents through nuclear destruction, as well as the complete conversion of
the planet from a sphere to a donut shape. In terms of civilization, the
changes brought about the complete elimination of all formal magical education,
and the elimination of all mages save for two, all elven civilization, and all
the ogres on the planet. The Tayfolk magical energies once again were dispersed
by the great explosions, they once again slowly beginning their path towards
reconsolidation. This battle is when the Second Age is said to have ended.
The Third Age
After
the Battle of Ty, the forces of the Knights of Purity were driven from the
battlefield, and left to their original purpose of searching out the Tayfolk,
who had avoided involvement in the battle as they continued to research their
salvation. The magical Tayfolk fallout, however, now was discovered sitting in
the bloody battlefield consolidated into two much more concentrated,
magically-dense forms scattered across the battlefield. The first form, a great
three-volume tome known as the Book of Ages, was discovered on the battlefield
by the two surviving mages and a disciple of a priest of Hujraad. The second form
was dispersed in slivers of mithral silver. The remaining forces of Hujraad
came together and on the battlefield forged in the Treaty of Ty a plan for
preventing the consolidation of the Tayfolk magical energies and such magic
destruction again. The two remaining mages, Farrn and the Green Mage of Oss
would research the energies to determine how to permanently remove them as a
menace of their world. Each took one of the two volumes of the Book of Ages to
their towers in this effort. A preist of Hujraad known as Kotras, was charged
with taking the third volume and hiding it where it could be referenced but far
away from other prying eyes that might covet its power. The dwarves and
remaining elves and their natural abilities with mithral silver were tasked
with gathering up by the mithral and squirreling it away deep within their homes
deep within the mountains to work on integrating it into the land itself so
that it would never be accessible by those who would use it for their own ends,
at least until a way to remove the Tayfolk magical energies could be eliminated
forever.
Millenia
passed, but again, the nature of the Tayfolk magical energies brought themselves
together, and again a great battle was fought. This battle, known as the Battle
of the Northern Cross, was fought between two forces. The first force was that
of Farrn, the mage wielding magic from the volume now known as the Book of Ages
Past, fielding an army of undead and the force of anti-life in the name of
Angstbrecht. Everywhere his army tread was turned black and dead. There was no
warmth as every bit of energy was sucked from the world in the places where
they occupied. The other force, led by The Green Mage of Oss wielding magic
from the volume now known as the Book of Ages to Come, fielded all living
creatures both normal and magical, as well as the few remaining elves and
stragglers who had independently studied magic to fight in the name of Hujraad.
Interestingly, the third volume now known as the Book of Now, was absent from
this battle, however, Kotras its protector, is said to have appeared just
before the battle began to consult with the Green Mage. Kotras is also noted to
have led a force of dwarves led by a group of orcs known as The Ascended into
that battle as an elite force that turned the tide of the battle and prevent
the fall of Hujraad’s forces that terrible day. This time, the Knights of
Purity stayed away from the battle and continued their search for the Tayfolk.
The
Battle of the Northern Cross, however, was significant for another reason. Previously,
the pacifistic people known as the Brih’ja’dunians who lived in the
southernmost tip of the continent not far from where the Knights of Purity had
landed, seemed unaffected by the events of leading up to and after the Battle
of Ty. Throughout the First and Second Ages they kept to themselves. During
this time, like Farrn and The Green Mage of Oss, they too noticed the way the
magic of the Tayfolk worked and figured out the reason for the horrible
devastation of their world and why it seemed to happen again and again. Somehow,
they managed to implement a different plan, stepping step outside the patterns
of normal men and magic and over centuries and infiltrating all major cities
across the continent and eventually into the society of the Tayfolk themselves.
As the threat that Farrn closed in on their city-state, they realized they must
activate their plan they had been quietly planning for millennia and had to
take an active role on the world stage. Though they elected to stay out of the
battle, they did commit to the role of supporting the forces of the Green Mage
of Oss logistically to an incredible extent in the face of the lifeless
territory occupied and controlled by Farrn’s advancing army. More activelt, on
the day of the battle of the Northern Cross, they made themselves known to the
Two Princes of the Tayfolk. This was coincidentally (or maybe not so
coincidentally) timed as the Tayfolk had just managed to discover the secret to
changing themselves forever into beings more powerful than any the world had
seen. As the battle began in the mountains between the Forces of Farrn and the
Green Mage of Oss, so a battle also raged within the mountain home of the
Tayfolk. The mountains were laid open through the help of the Brih’Ja’Dunian
sleeper agents within the Tayfolk mountain and the Knights of Purity stormed
in. After a heated battle, the two brother rulers of the Tayfolk, Ashran and
Desorak, realized they were about to lose everything and in a final act of
honor, they launched their city-ship from underneath the mountain, tearing it
asunder, and flying their home from the surface of the planet into the Red Sun,
vaporizing it, along with the
Brih’Ja’dunian agents, almost all of the Knights of Purity, as well as themselves
and all their people, content to die an honorable death rather than be dominated
by these lowly humans who had foiled over 10,000 years of research. This marked
the the end of the Third Age and the beginning of the Dark Age.
The Dark Age
Once
again, the planet was changed. The city-ship of the Tayfolk had been a lynch
pin holding the entire continent of Treh’dann together. As it ascended into
space, great tectonic shifts occurred. The fissures that had formed when the city-ship
had first landed fully cracked, breaking the continent into multiple islands.
The islands each were surrounded by cliffs over 100 meters high, though there
were several places on most of them close to sea level where port cities were
able to be once again established.
The
remaining sentient races, seeing what Tayfolk magic had brought, banned it in
an agreement known as the Accords of Kotras that was signed by the leaders of
every major city state on each of the now 13 continents. Any sentient creature
imbued with the ability to cast academic magic was hunted down and immediately
sent to the nearest city-state sanctioned conditioning camp, one on each
continent. In these camps, the mage was driven through torture to either hate
all wielders of academic magic (including themselves) or they simply died
resisting the torture. Those few that survived the camps were sent to be part
of a group that was formed to enforce the Accords recognized as the “Order of
the Accords”. Informally and to common folk they were more commonly known as
“The Mage Hunters”, and were tasked with the lifelong charter of hunting any escaped
and renegade mages down to be brought to a conditioning camp and conditioned.
To aid the Mage Hunters, the dwarves forged special shurikens hyper-dense with
Tayfolk magic that would automatically seek any out who also possessed such
magic when thrown in their general vicinity. Once a target’s flesh had been
penetrated by the shuriken, the target’s spirit and magic bound with the magic
within the shuriken instantly, and the target “bled” Tayfolk magical energy into
the shuriken until it was depleted from the target. This “bloodletting” is
extremely painful to the target and can last hours or even days and is referred
to by Mage Hunters as “field conditioning” of the target. Once the magical
energy was gone, the soul settled back into the creature’s body. If the
shuriken was removed while spirit and magic were intertwined, the creature would
die instantly. The more such shurikens were used, the denser with Tayfolk magic
they became. Possession or even handling of one of these mithral silver shuriken
is considered an act punishable by death by Mage Hunters and the shuriken have
now become such a strong symbol of the Order that they are referred to as “Mage
Killers” in the same manner as are the members of the Order.
Geography
The
great tectonic movements from the end of the Third Age some 60 years ago have
settled, resulting in the once great continent being shattered into thirteen
continents each with but 100 kilometers of ocean between one another. Each
continent contains a single great city-state that controls each continent and
each of which is thriving like the post-WW2 United States. Expanding out from
each city-state are several cities and out from them are several towns. Between each of these more urban areas are
vast areas of well-developed and productive fertile farmlands where the lakes
of blood and scorched earth once were.
The
lattitudes of Namnlos Welt are much different from those of our own world, in that
the northern most latitude of the planet is equivalent to that of our own world
65 degrees, as seen in northern Canada, Russia, Scandinavia and Alaska. As
latitudes progress southward, at the equator of Namenlos Welt, they progress in
temperature more slowly such that the equator is similar to at our own 30
degrees north latitude and at the south most pole, the temperatures are akin to
the equator in our own world. Climate changes resulting from elevation and
moisture patterns are otherwise similar to our own world.
Wildlife
Standard
wildlife similar to that of our own world coexists with a vast variety of all
types of magical creatures too numerous and varied to represent here. Anything
from plants to animals from earth’s past myths and legends to oozes to jellies
can express surprising traits and abilities.
Technology
For
the most part, technology is the equivalent of late middle ages in our own
world.
One
unique development in technology is that it has started to advance in just the
past few years due to the presence of the sixty-four Knights of Purity who
survived the Third Age and to this day suffer from post-traumatic stress
disorder as they are haunted by the sight of seeing the rest of their number perish
inside the Tayfolk city-ship as it vaporized in the sun. These few surviving Knights,
much older and with no Tayfolk to fight, have taken to introducing some of
their technologies to the peoples of Namenlos Welt, including rudimentary metallurgy
and the metric system. As none of them are scientists, however, little true progress
has yet been made. The relearning of everything that was once considered “alchemy”
in a systematic fashion and renaming the science “chemistry” has created a
strong foundation on which to systematically build and this is just now starting
to show some signs of promise, especially among the more innovative, forward
thinkers in the universities within the city-states and among the dwarves and
gnomes.
Supernatural Phenomena
Magic
exists in this campaign and it has shaped the world in ages past. In general
magic comes from one of three sources: Tayfolk, Hujraad, or Angstbrecht.
Tayfolk
derived magic is considered profane and the cause of all woes of humanity and
demihumanity by learned folks. Common folks generally perceive all magic as
suspicious and associated with either Hujraad or Angstbrecht; few know that
Tayfolk magic ever existed at all or if it even still exists. As the agents of
Hujraad tend to help humanity wherever they go, they are generally looked upon
more highly, however, still suspiciously. Even if Hujraad’s followers practice
magic in public many know that when magic is about, it is there for a reason and
it rarely a good one.
Tayfolk
Tayfolk-based
magic is derived from study and practice and originates in the contamination of
the surface of the planet from a long-dead race of aliens. With the loss of the
Tayfolk, the energies associated with their magic is decreasing in power and
frequency as the energies continue to once again consolidate. The Book of Ages
that manifested from Tayfolk magic was lost to the wizarding community and the
few rogue academic mages that manage to evade the Mage Hunters seek it to learn
its secrets and use it as a source of power. All the mithral silver that manifested
from Tayfolk magic during the first three Ages has been all collected, but as
the few remaining Tayfolk magical energies begun to consolidate, they are once
again manifesting as mithral silver. This substance is actively sought out by those
hunted mages who depend on them to cast their spells, and those who wish to use
it in the creation of magical items such as weapons, armor, or other inanimate objects.
Hujraad
Hujraad-based
magic is derived from the preternatural conscious entity, Hujraad. Hujraad generally
bestows magics gently and indirectly to all in the world through radiation out
from dragons that live on the planet. In the First Age, there were many dragons
that connected the followers of Hujraad with their god’s power. But after the
Battle of Ty and the Battle of the Northern Cross, they have been drastically
reduced in numbers. The elders remember stories of them but their presence
today is unseen and unfelt by all but the truly faithful who insist they still
live or they would not have their abilities but do not know how many of them or
where they might be. There are even talks of those who merged their human blood
with that of dragons to keep their lines alive. Despite any such efforts to
maintain the bloodlines, with the decrease in the number of dragons in the
world, the magical potential provided by Hujraad has also begun to decline in
power.
Angstbrecht
Angstbrecht-based
magic is bestowed by the infernal entity Angstbrecht upon directly its
practitioners who must petition it from him with some sort of pact or
corrupting ritual. Up until the Third Age, the followers of Angstbrecht were
many. After the fall of Farrn in the Third Age, however, his worshippers have
been driven away to places unknown. The followers of Hujraad, however, still
maintain that they are out there and struggle to work against his “evil” ways.
As with dragons, there are whispers of those who still worship at the altar of Angstbrecht,
make pacts with the infernal being, or have even corrupted themselves by mating
with him to gain his graces and gifts. Unlike the power of the Tayfolk and
Hujraad, however, Angstbrecht’s power remains strong and his influence has
begun grow as it has filled the power void once held by these competing sources
of power. It is only the will of good people that prevents darkness from
consuming the world of Namenlos Welt once again.
Races
Elves
Elves,
once prevalent throughout Namenlos Welt’s First Age, have been all but eliminated
and those that remain are now sterile and doomed to live their lives unable to
produce any more offspring. The few elves remaining are now hunted down by the few
remaining Knights of Purity as sport when they are feeling particularly
restless, and this is tolerated by most folks as many of them are grateful for
the assistance they have received from the Knights in reestablishing the cities
and the elves are generally associated with the evils of magic. Any time there
is a wandering monster check, there is a chance one of these sorts of
encounters will occur, depending on the proximity to a city-state (30%), town
(20%), farm (10%), or in the remote wilderness (5%).
Mountain Folk
Of
the standard Dungeons and Dragons “races”, only dwarves, gnomes, and half-orcs
play roles remain as dominant races of the world. All humans refer to them as
“Mountain Folk” as that is generally where they dwell. The Mountain Folk play as significant a role in the Accords of
Kotras as humans because of Kotras himself being a half-orc who reunited all
these other races under the mountain. They currently work to obtain mithral and
will support Mage Hunters and their cause, however two generations out, some
humans are beginning to wonder what the dwarves are doing with all the mithral
they have amassed.
Dwarves
Dwarves
rule the mountains and trade with humans living within their cities and
citadels as equals. The dwarves covet mithral silver above all other metals and
will trade or do anything to obtain it as per their charter in the Accords of
Kotras, but have been known to use it for defenses, weapons, and other more
useful things. Generally, dwarves tend to enjoy staying in the mountains and if
they vacation, do so in the foothills close to home. There are two clans: One
wears kilts and speaks with an accent like those from Scotland in our own world
while the other tends to exhibit a culture like that of medieval Germany and
speaks with an accent similar to Germany in our own world.
Gnomes
Gnomes
live within dwarven-built cities and share a strong sense of cultural
community. They have become fascinated with tinkering with the mithral and
always seem to be looking for magical creatures, people, or items to do
experiments with just for the joy of doing so. They tend to be travelers
looking for something to catch their fancies, new things to tinker with, new
peoples to learn about and news gatherers for the rest of the mountain folk.
Gnomes tend to speak rather quickly and act very decisively.
Half
Orcs
Half-orcs
are honorable warriors that live in the foothills and have given themselves
fully to hunting down mages on their own outside of the Accords of Kotras. They
look upon the safety of all humans, dwarves and gnomes as their responsibility,
as they have no people of their own and take this honor as the meaning of their
lives. The Order of the Accords was initially their idea and though they do not
use mithral silver shurikens and are not officially members of the Order of the
Accords, they are looked upon as samurai or knights by humand and demihumans
alike wherever they go and are revered by even the self-loathing Mage Hunters.
Humans
A
number of cultural groups have appeared among the humans of Namenlos Welt.
Brih’Ja’Dunians
The
Brih’Ja’Dunians still live in their own City-state and are rarely encountered
outside the walls of the city-state. They are known to have a pacifistic and
advanced society though no one seems to have any precise examples of such great
advancements. It is also known they are
not a magical people as has been borne out by countless Mage-Hunter accounts.
Most often, they will be encountered as an occasional scholar out of their
homelands, traveling with anyone of any sort of race for some sort of academic
pursuit. They have dark skin, with women shaving their heads and men wearing
beaded braids pulled back to designate their family and personal identities and
accomplishments. Their society is completely egalitarian and progressive.
Tallahassii
These
rope warriors of the norther archipelago of Racsagadan are a fierce matriarchal
society of warriors and traders. They are known for their acrobatic rope-based
fighting styles, inhuman speed, and contempt for almost all men, especially any
who look down on women.
