City of Indolence
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10/26/2019 2:31 am  #1


Sons of Witches Campaign thread

OK, this thread will serve as a dumping ground for campaign details.  First up, here are copies of maps of the local region. You are all from a small farming town called Grensward, on the western edge of the Kingdom of Aerindryl. 





 

10/26/2019 2:32 am  #2


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

In my campaign I use a somewhat modified alignment system, described here:

Alignment under this system is divided into 22 different moral philosophies which overlay the traditional D&D alignment system.  These philosophies are paired into opposing forces, with the good aligned philosophies being called virtues and the evil aligned philosophies being called vices.
 
Lawful Neutral: Community
Lawful Neutral tending toward Good: Responsibility
Lawful Good: Peace
Neutral Good tending toward Lawful: Honesty
Neutral Good: Nurturing, Kindness
Neutral Good tending toward Chaos: Empathy, Inclusiveness
Chaotic Good: Empowerment
Chaotic Neutral tending towards Good: Fairness
Chaotic Neutral: Individuality
Chaotic Neutral tending towards Evil: Betrayal
Chaotic Evil: Violence
Neutral Evil tending toward Chaos: Deceit
Neutral Evil: Cruelty, Sadism
Neutral Evil tending toward Law: Hatred, Bigotry
Lawful Evil: Dominance
Lawful Neutral tending towards Evil: Greed, Callousness
Pure Elemental Chaos: Contrarian
Pure Elemental Law: Steadfastness
Pure Elemental Good: Sacrifice
Pure Elemental Evil: Self-Reliance/Self-Centeredness
True Neutrality (active): Conflicted
True Neutrality (passive): Amoral
 
Every mortal being has a moral ledger etched upon their soul. When someone commits an act associated with a particular moral philosophy, they receive a mark in their soul ledger in that column. The more the action affects other people or the world, the deeper the mark is etched on their soul. Although the virtues and vices are paired into opposing forces, committing a strong act of virtue does not cancel out any acts of the opposing vice that you have committed, or vice versa. The opposing philosophies are not a balanced scale; they are simply two different columns in your soul ledger, and you can receive marks in both columns. Saving someone’s life does not erase the mark created by a person that you murdered.
 
If someone shows true remorse over actions they have committed and do not continue to acquire marks in a particular column, over time those marks may fade and disappear, but the deeper they are etched the longer that process takes. Any additional marks in that column, no matter how lightly etched, will halt this fading process.
 
At the end of a person’s life, their soul ledger is tallied. Whichever column contains the most and the deepest marks will determine the alignment of the plane to which the soul will be draw after death.  Souls that contain high marks in both virtues and vices will be sent to the Plane of Conflict. Souls that contain exceptionally low marks in every category will be sent to the Middling (Amoral) Plane.
 

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10/26/2019 2:40 am  #3


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

At a high level, the universe of Ordun in which your world resides was originally created by 5 gods working together:


  • Aarontroph the god of Time
  • Kuroq the god of Space
  • Aurat the god of Energy
  • Ollo the god of Matter
  • Devoth the god of Interactions and Boundaries

These gods are known as the Founder Gods, and they tend to stay aloof from the events in the mortal world.  None of them except Devoth grant clerical powers to their mortal worshipers or have ever been known to manifest an avatar on the Prime Material Plane.  Most of the Founder gods dwell in realms that exist beyond the outer planes, but Devoth can normally be found either traveling in the spaces in-between the planes, or in The Middling Plane, which is one of the two outer planes representing True Neutrality.
 
Gods of the Outer Planes:
The founder gods gave birth to the second generation gods:

  • Aixia and her sister Nicoletta, Daughters of Ollo and Aarontroph
  • Sai, Son of Aurat and Ollo
  • Cisterosa, Daughter of Devoth and Aurat
  • Havari, Son of Aarontroph and Aurat
  • Ur Shabok, Son of Kuroq and Aarontroph
  • Lashdema, Daughter of Kuroq and Devoth
  • Granthallen, son of Kuroq and Ollo

 
The second generation of gods in turn begat the third generation of gods:

  • Rangella, Daughter of Aixia and Sai
  • Kavelin, Daughter of Sai and Cisterosa
  • Framinoc, Child of Havari and Cisterosa
  • Yod, Son of Havari and Nicoletta
  • Vangarun, Daughter of Nicoletta and Ur Shabok
  • Widge, Son of Lashdema and Ur Shabok
  • Maldin, Daughter of Lashdema and Granthallen
  • Iffur, Son of Granthallen and Aixia

 
The founder god Devoth by himself gave birth to the trickster twins who rule (fight over) the Plane of Conflict

  • Jendabnos, a son
  • Bogil, a daughter

 
Gods of the Inner Planes:

  • Karark, goddess of Fire
  • Blorp, god of Water
  • Ssha, goddess of Air
  • Hrrm, god of Earth
  • The Dead God, deity of the negative energy plane
  • The Unborn God, deity of the positive energy plane

Last edited by Erindor (10/26/2019 2:47 am)

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10/26/2019 2:44 am  #4


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

Here is a more detailed description of each god and the moral spheres they represent:

Aarontroph
Physical Sphere: Time, Change
Moral Sphere: Contrarian
Of all the Founder Gods, Aarontroph is the most like the roiling chaos from which the universe was carved.  He embodies time, and time is a process of constant change, so the way you exist in one moment is always different from the next. Morally, this is a philosophy of contrasts; always questioning your beliefs, changing them, and reversing your position. Those who gravitate to his realm are those who act in opposition to the forces around them, and in doing so enact change for the sake of change. They are the devil’s advocates in all things, believing that growth can come only through conflict. Since normal people usually don’t think of morality in these terms, normally the only beings who can hope to achieve this ideal are the insane, the chronically drugged, or members of races with alien, aberrant ways of looking at the world.
Traditional Alignment: Chaotic
Origin: Founder God
Home Plane: The Maelstrom of Time
Symbol: Multiple arrows radiating outward from a single point
 
Kuroq
Physical Sphere: Space, Darkness
Moral Sphere: Self-Reliance/Self-Centeredness
Kuroq exists alone in an infinite void of his own making, and his philosophy represents this. This ideal believes that every individual is essentially a lone island, who can depend only on themselves. It holds that by helping others you weaken yourself and also interfere with their ability to survive on their own. Charity risks making others dependent on you, which would weaken you both. Like the void itself, every person must only draw energy into themselves and give nothing back. In this way every individual maximizes their own power and potential. Any who showed pure selfishness and rejection of any sense of altruism during their lives are welcome after death to come and add their hunger to the void.
Traditional Alignment: Evil
Origin: Founder God
Home Plane: The Boundless Void
Symbol: Black Sphere
 
Aurat
Physical Sphere: Energy, Light
Moral Sphere: Sacrifice
Aurat is a constant explosion. This god is constantly radiating energy, giving it out freely to the universe to provide warmth, light, and motive force to everyone without discrimination. This existence is a constant giving of the self out into the universe, and it represents the moral ideal of self-sacrifice. Those who give of themselves for the benefit others without the expectation of thanks or reward are the true followers of this god. This moral ideal holds that the act of giving itself is the ultimate expression of morality.
Traditional Alignment: Good
Origin: Founder God
Home Plane: The Nova Heart
Symbol: Star
 
Ollo
Physical Sphere: Matter, Structure
Moral Sphere: Steadfastness
Ollo is the lord of all matter, and in the absence of the change brought about by time, all matter is perfect crystal perfection.  Morally, he embodies absolute devotion to a specific cause or code of conduct. Not just any cause satisfies this condition.  It has to be something that consumes the individual totally, so they devote their entire life to it to the exclusion of any other moral concerns. It doesn’t matter if the actions you take in the name of that cause would ordinarily constitute traditional vices or virtues; all that matters to Ollo is that once you have chosen your cause, you follow it with unwavering devotion. He considers ideals that can alter based on circumstance are chaotic and worthless. This philosophy is founded on the idea that only true morality is that which lies in beliefs that are held eternal. Examples of this sort of devotion to a cause are a ranger who devotes their life to defense of a forest, the last member of a destroyed civilization who commits to keeping the rituals and practices of their culture alive, or a couple who experience true love. Of all the gods, Ollo tends to stay the most aloof from the concerns of mortals, so he rarely accepts souls into his domain.  The level of Steadfastness shown by a person to their cause has to be rare indeed for them to gain entrance to the plane of matter as their eternal reward.
Traditional Alignment: Lawful
Origin: Founder God
Home Plane: The Frozen Crystal
Symbol: Cube
 
Devoth
Physical Sphere: Interactions, Boundaries, Magic
Moral Sphere: Amoral
Devoth is the balancing force between all the universal powers, and exists as the channel through which time, space, matter, and energy all interact. More than anything he is devoted to his fellow fonder gods, and acts as a peacekeeper between them. Out of his love for them, he also tries to act to keep the peace among the other gods who are their children. In order to accomplish this, he applies himself to balancing the gods powers to ensure that none among the squabbling second generation gains too much power over any other. Devoth cares nothing for morality beyond its role in influencing the balance between the divine powers, and so his actions can vary wildly between good, evil, lawful, or chaotic, depending on which side requires a hand to even the cosmic scales at any given time. Mortals who follow this philosophy tend to be either far-seeing mystics who have an unusually detached view of universal moral balance, or those who are too apathetic or simple-minded to commit in any meaningful way to a particular moral point of view.
Traditional Alignment: Neutral
Origin: Founder God
Home Plane: The Middling Plane
Symbol: Two overlapping circles forming an eye where they overlap
 
Aixia
Physical Sphere: Cities, Treaties, Laws, Soldiers, Guards, Smiths, Forges, Engineering, Construction
Moral Sphere: Community
Aixia represents devotion to the good of society as a whole. This philosophy recognizes that sometimes the welfare of individuals must be sacrificed to secure the needs of the many, and that sometimes evil acts are justified if they serve the greater good. In other words, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and the ends justify the means. Because the ultimate goal of this philosophy is to maximize goodness, but with a callous regard for the welfare of individuals, this moral ideal falls neutral on the axis between good and evil. This philosophy holds that revolution and civil strife are always more damaging to the members of a community than any oppressive government could be, so it is always best to work within existing societal structure to improve things rather than to seek change (even positive change) through unlawful means.
Traditional Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Origin: Daughter of Ollo and Aarontroph, Sister of Nicoletta
Home Plane: Nirvana
Symbol: Crossed gavel and blacksmith hammer
 
Rangella
Physical Sphere: Public Service, Honor, Dogs, Chivalry, Courage, Honor, The Hunt
Moral Sphere: Responsibility
Responsibility, in the moral sense, is the willingness to accept and faithfully carry out duties that serve the good of society. Exemplars of this philosophy include nobles and public servants who faithfully accept a mantle of leadership in order to protect and serve the people as a whole. Keeping oaths that you have given, fulfilling tasks that you have agree to undertake, and living a life of service for your community are core to this doctrine. This goes beyond simply obeying the laws of society and living up to what is expected of you as a citizen; it involves accepting additional burdens to serve the good of all. Outside of societal concerns, those who excel in this moral path are dependable and always keep their word to other people. They follow through on any promises and commitments they make.
Traditional Alignment: Lawful Neutral tending toward Good
Origin: Daughter of Aixia and Sai
Home Plane: Arcadia
Symbol: Sword and shield
 
Sai
Physical Sphere: Family, Protection, Shelter, Houses, The Hearth, Rest, Fertility, Cows
Moral Sphere: Peace
The ideal of peace is not simply an absence of violence, but an active devotion to avoiding and diffusing conflict in all its forms. Followers of this philosophy seek to foster understanding between disparate viewpoints and create common ground.  Establishing treaties, parlaying to avoid battle, and establishing dialogs between opposing sides are considered holy acts in the eyes of Sai. While he does understand that violence cannot always be avoided, and he does not expect his followers to lay down and allow themselves to be killed, he expects every effort to be made to resolve matters by non-violent means. In cases where violence does occur, followers of the ideal of peace will do what they can to protect the innocent from harm and minimize death and destruction as much as possible.
Traditional Alignment: Lawful Good
Origin: Son of Aurat and Ollo
Home Plane: Celestia
Symbol: Helm
 
Kavelin
Physical Sphere: Promises, Knowledge, Science, Discovery, Truth, The Sun
Moral Sphere: Honesty
This ideal is a search for ultimate truth. Its followers are encouraged to not only avoid telling falsehoods, but also to reveal secrets to the public, bring hidden truths to light, and to discover and share information freely. Kavelin believes that the only way an individual can find their way to goodness is by understanding the true nature of the world as completely as possible. The greatest tragedy in his eyes is for an individual to try to do good, but instead end up committing an evil act because they were tricked or because they had false or incomplete information.
Traditional Alignment: Neutral Good tending toward Lawful
Origin: Daughter of Sai and Cisterosa
Home Plane: Twin Paradises
Symbol: Lighted candle
 
 
Cisterosa
Physical Sphere: Healing, Agriculture, Industry, Endurance, Horses
Moral Sphere: Nurturing, Kindness
-This idea seeks to provide for the physical needs of everyone: feeding the hungry, sheltering the dispossessed, and easing pain and suffering whenever possible. Followers of Cisterosa tend to be healers or charity workers, but farmers or laborers who work to provide for the needs of others are also beloved by her. This moral ideal is closely related to Empathy, but while empathy is primarily concerned with providing for people’s emotional wellbeing, kindness involves seeing to the needs of the body and easing physical pain and discomfort
Traditional Alignment: Neutral Good
Origin: Daughter of Devoth and Aurat
Home Plane: Elysium
Symbol: Sheaf of wheat
 
 
Framinoc
Physical Sphere: Love, Beauty, Art, Games, Humor, Joy
Moral Sphere: Empathy, Inclusiveness
-The ideal if empathy is very similar to kindness, but while kindness deals with nurturing the needs of the body, empathy is about nurturing emotional needs. Quite simply, its practitioners seek to make people happy.  The goal of this virtue is maximizing joy and minimizing unhappiness.  Another of the primary goals of this moral philosophy involves making everyone feel included, welcomed and loved, breaking down artificial barriers and prejudices between groups so that everyone can get along and be happy. This philosophy tends toward chaos, because the separation of people into tribes or nations involves a natural separation into “Us” and “Them.” The nature of this virtue is to seek to include all people under the umbrella of “Us.”
Traditional Alignment: Neutral Good tending toward Chaos
Origin: Child of Havari and Cisterosa
Home Plane: Gladsheim
Symbol: Multi-colored bird
 
 
Havari
Physical Sphere: Growth, Nature, The Forest, Wild Creatures, The Moon
Moral Sphere: Empowerment
-Empowerment seeks to give all people freedom and the ability to control their own lives. It views slavery and bondage as the ultimate evils and seeks to free those suffering under such circumstances. In addition, it seeks to free people from being dominated, intimidated, or bullied in circumstances where an imbalance of power exists. Followers of this philosophy seek always to provide others with the knowledge and tools needed to support themselves and live their own life however they choose. Central to this philosophy is the ideal of encouraging self-confidence in others and providing them with a sense of pride and worthiness.
Traditional Alignment: Chaotic Good
Origin: Son of Aarontroph and Aurat
Home Plane: Arborea
Symbol: Evergreen tree
 
 
Yod
Physical Sphere: Generosity, Friendship, Luck, Adventure, Travelers, Ships, The Stars, Plenty
Moral Sphere: Fairness
-At its core, this virtue is best understood through the metaphor of cutting up a birthday cake. Those who subscribe to this virtue would cut the cake so that everyone at the party would get a piece that is the same size. Fairness is essentially about making sure that there is an even distribution of benefits to everyone, whether it be in equality of opportunity in society, or an even split of a treasure hoard among an adventuring group. This virtue does not hold that everyone within a society should have exactly the same assets in the sense of a constant, forced redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor, but rather that everyone should have an equal opportunity to earn their own wealth, and within any specific distribution of an earned profit that all the participants should receive the benefits that they have rightfully earned. This virtue believes all individuals have a right to their own property, and so it considers stealing, cheating, and any dishonest dealing as anathema. The world is naturally not a fair place, but proponents of this virtue do what they can to rectify that imbalance. Since the structure of most societies are built on an imbalance of power and resources across classes, fairness tends very strongly towards chaos, because it seeks to eliminate the unfair advantages of the nobility over the common people.
Traditional Alignment: Chaotic Neutral tending toward Good
Origin: Son of Havari and Nicoletta
Home Plane: Ysgard
Symbol: Leaping fish
 
 
Nicoletta
Physical Sphere: Revolution, Music, Poetry, Dance, Discovery, Creativity, Invention, Cats
Moral Sphere: Individuality, Struggle against Authority
-The core of individuality is the belief that the world can be a better place, but achieving that better world requires change. It is a rejection of the belief that the customs, traditions, and laws of a society are sacred in any way and calls for them to be constantly examined and changed or discarded as needed.  This is a liberal philosophy that encourages questioning all preconceptions.  As such, its adherents are frequently viewed by others in their society as troublemakers, heretics, or scoundrels.  This philosophy does not necessarily call for violent revolution (although neither does it condemn it, when needed), but it’s practitioners commonly practice outlaw behavior, civil disobedience, or acts of non-violent protest. Their way of thinking rejects the traditional tenants of their society which they deem to be shackles on personal freedom or roadblocks on the path to a better way of doing things. The activities of individualists can lead to societal upheavals, and this sort of rebellion can be a painful process that can result in the suffering of innocent people in the short term.  Those who adhere to this philosophy consider that collateral damage to be a necessary price for the better future they seek, and because of this Individuality is considered neutral on the axis between good and evil.
Traditional Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Origin: Daughter of Ollo and Aarontroph, Sister of Aixia
Home Plane: Limbo
Symbol: Dancing woman
 
 
Vangarun
Physical Sphere: Alcohol, Indulgence, Abandon, Pleasure, Madness
Moral Sphere: Betrayal
-The vice of betrayal is a philosophy of irresponsibility.  Its followers include oath-breakers, traitors, deserters, slackers and layabouts.  Simply refusing to accept responsibility is not sufficient to classify for this vice.  Those who commit this sin are those who willingly accept responsibilities which they subsequently fail to fulfill. It also includes those who fail to meet the minimum requirements expected of them as members of a group or community, which includes tax-evaders, draft-dodgers, soldiers who are derelict in their duties, and employees who avoid doing the work they were paid to perform.  This is the vice of undependable people who cannot be relied upon by others.
Traditional Alignment: Chaotic Neutral tending toward Evil
Origin: Daughter of Nicoletta and Ur Shabok
Home Plane: Pandemonium
Symbol: Spilled goblet
 
 
Ur Shabok
Physical Sphere: War, Murder, Anger, Blood
Moral Sphere: Violence
-This is a vice of destruction. Its is about inflicting physical damage against both other people and their property. Killers, violent muggers, street toughs, arsonists, and torturers are the most obvious followers of this philosophy.  On a lesser scale, it includes people who fight for fun, those who are cruel to animals, vandals, or anyone who finds joy in inflicting physical pain or destruction of property.  This vice is similar to Cruelty, but while cruelty is concerned with inflicting mental pain, Violence is about inflicting physical pain and damage.
Traditional Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Origin: Son of Kuroq and Aarontroph
Home Plane: The Abyss
Symbol: Fanged maw
 
 
Widge
Physical Sphere: Secrets, Deception, Lies, Masks, the Night, the Underground, Illusions, Spies, Thieves, Tricksters. Doppelgangers
Moral Sphere: Deceit
-Followers of this code recognize the power to be had from having knowledge to which others do not have access.  They revel in both the hoarding of secret information for themselves, and in spreading misinformation aimed at leading their rivals astray. Lying, gaslighting, and grifting are all hallmarks of this vice.  While usually there is some motive to distorting and hiding the truth, such as the desire for the power over others that can be gained from leading them astray or a monetary gain from tricking people out of their money or goods, some followers of this philosophy simply enjoy making fools of others or take pride in crafting and passing off a believable fiction.  
Traditional Alignment: Neutral Evil tending toward Chaos
Origin: Son of Lashdema and Ur Shabok
Home Plane: Tartarus
Symbol: Figure cloaked in black
 
 
Lashdema
Physical Sphere: Pain, Fear, Despair, Torture, Nightmares, Monsters
Moral Sphere: Cruelty, Sadism
-This vice is all about inflicting mental pain, fear, and suffering. All those who terrorize others, spread sadness, spoil good times, and inflict pain follow this path. There are many reasons people might take this road. Some people need to beat others down to feel better about themselves. Some people have been hurt so bad that they just want to blindly lash out and hurt others in return.  Some are just born mean. There are also some who don’t necessarily delight in suffering itself but are callous enough that they simply don’t care how much they hurt others as they selfishly pursue satisfaction of their own desires. Whatever the motive, however, the end result is the same. Those who follow this vice act to blot out the happiness in the world and spread misery. Cruelty is closely related to Violence, but while violence focuses on inflicting physical damage this vice is focused on spreading mental anguish.
Traditional Alignment: Neutral Evil
Origin: Daughter of Kuroq and Devoth
Home Plane: Hades
Symbol: Creature with red eyes
 
 
Maldin
Physical Sphere: Vengeance, Punishment, Storms, Natural Disasters, Obstacles
Moral Sphere: Hatred, Bigotry
-Hatred the view that a specific person or group is not worthy of being treated with the same rights and courtesies that are extended to other people. In a sense, it’s followers see certain individuals as being less that human, which makes them exempt from any of the moral considerations that are extended to those who are viewed as actual people.  At the heart of this philosophy is the separation of people into two groups: “Us” and “Them”. To members of the “Us” group a hateful person can seem exceptionally kind, charitable, and friendly, but to “Them” they exhibit cruelty and even violence. The exact definition of “Them” can vary a great deal. For some, it may be just a certain individual or small group of people that the hateful person thinks wronged him in some way. For some, it might be citizens of a different nation or tribe who are viewed as the enemy. For racists and bigots, it is members of other ethnic groups, races, or religions. In some crime syndicates or adventuring groups, it might be anyone who isn’t a member of their group. 
Traditional Alignment: Neutral Evil tending toward Lawful
Origin: Daughter of Lashdema and Granthallen
Home Plane: Gehenna
Symbol: Humanoid on fire
 
 
Granthallen
Physical Sphere: Conquest, Slavery, Ambition, Power, Selfish Love, Wolves
Moral Sphere: Dominance
-Power over others is the goal of this philosophy. They seek to control people and force them to bend to their will. The scale of the domination can range from tyrannical emperors to dominating family patriarchs or overbearing employers. The method of domination can range from simply bullying others to act the way you want, manipulating them psychologically to act as your puppets, or even conquering nations through force of arms. In some cases, those who follow the path of dominance simply do not care about the desires of other people and just want to force them into servitude to serve their own selfish desires. Others who follow this path actually think that they are helping other people but have such a low opinion of others that they think people are not capable of making decisions in their own best interest without the superior guidance of the dominator.  No matter the scale, method, or motivation, the result is that the dominant individual strips others of their own agency and autonomy.
Traditional Alignment: Lawful Evil
Origin: Son of Kuroq and Ollo
Home Plane: Hell
Symbol: Spiked crown
 
 
Iffur
Physical Sphere: Trade, Commerce, Money, Precious Metals and Gems, Grifters, Contracts
Moral Sphere: Greed, Callousness
- Greed is not simply the love of gold, for everyone recognizes the value of wealth.  In the moral sense greed is the belief that you deserve an unfair share of resources, to the detriment of others. At its core, this vice is best understood through the metaphor of cutting up a birthday cake. Those who subscribe to this philosophy always seek to ensure that they get the biggest piece of cake. The greedy person desires there to be an unfair distribution of resources as long as they are on the side that receives more than everyone else. They will seek to use trickery, underhanded business practices, and sometimes outright theft to take what they want from others. Greed involves not only wanting more for yourself, but also in a callous indifference to the suffering inflicted upon others when they are forced to make due with less so that you may have more. While theft (an unlawful act) can be a method employed by a greedy person, the greedy don’t have to resort to breaking the law to get what they want, and unscrupulous businesspeople and members of the nobility working within the law tend to be just as if not more successful in amassing wealth than outlaws. Because of that, and because the very idea of society is normally built upon uneven distribution of power and wealth between rulers and the ruled, Greed tends toward lawful.
Traditional Alignment: Lawful Neutral tending toward Evil
Origin: Son of Granthallen and Aixia
Home Plane: Acheron
Symbol: Gold coin
 
Jendabnos and Bogil
Physical Sphere: Mischief, Tricks, Guile, Doubt, Practical Jokes, Confusion
Moral Sphere: Conflicted
Every individual contains a mixture of all the moral virtues and vices, but the final destination of a soul in the afterlife is determined by which moral philosophy most dominated their actions. In some cases, however, an individual can can commit powerful acts of both virtue and vice in almost equal measure. A great healer who saves many lives may be cruel and dominating to his colleagues.  A great scholar who advances the cause of truth for the benefit of all may also be a religious zealot who shows great hatred and violence toward people of different faiths.  In cases like this where a soul’s nature is in conflict, it passes in the afterlife to the plane of conflict, where all the celestial and infernal forces come to do battle. Eventually a conflicted soul like this may find a resolution and pass on to the realm of one particular moral philosophy, but until then it serves the forces of conflict.
Traditional Alignment: Neutral
Origin: Twin son and daughter of Devoth
Home Plane: Plane of Conflict
Symbol: Head with two faces in profile looking away from each other, one smiling and one scowling
 
The Dead God
Physical Sphere: Death, Undead, Decay, Shadows, Winter
Moral Sphere: None
Traditional Alignment: Neutral
Origin: Stillborn child of Aarontroph, Aurat, and Ollo
Home Plane:  Negative Material Plane
Symbol: Skull
 
The Unborn God
Physical Sphere: Life, Birth, Resurrection, Seeds, Flowers, Spring
Moral Sphere: None
Traditional Alignment: Neutral
Origin: Unborn child of Aarontroph, Kuroq, and Ollo
Home Plane: Positive Material Plane
Symbol: Rising sun
 
Elem the Sundered
Origin: Child of Aarontroph, Kuroq, Aurat and Ollo, who was carved into four pieces by Devoth. The god now exists as four different individuals who embody the four elements
 
                Karark
Physical Sphere: Fire, heat, deserts, drought
Moral Sphere: None
Traditional Alignment: Neutral
Home Plane: Elemental Plane of Fire
Symbol: Flame
 
Blorp
Physical Sphere: Water, cold, rain, snow, oceans, lakes, rivers
Moral Sphere: None
Traditional Alignment: Neutral
Home Plane: Elemental Plane of Water
Symbol: Wave
 
 
 
Ssha
Physical Sphere: Air, wind, flying creatures, lightning
Moral Sphere: None
Traditional Alignment: Neutral
Home Plane: Elemental Plane of Air
Symbol: Tornado
 
 
Hrrm
Physical Sphere: Earth, stone, metal, acid
Moral Sphere: None
Traditional Alignment: Neutral
Home Plane: Elemental Plane of Earth
Symbol: Mountain


 

     Thread Starter
 

10/26/2019 2:49 am  #5


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

Aerindryl local history:

The Founding and Early Expansion of Aerindryl
The Kingdom of Aerindryl was founded approximately 150 years ago by a group of escaped slaves from the evil kingdom of Frautheim to the far south. After staging a successful revolt, the slaves seized a large galleon named The Aerindryl and sailed across the Scalded Sea. On the northern shore, they discovered a fertile land where they founded a town named Aerindryl’s Landing. The first years were difficult, and many were lost in clearing the surrounding lands of indigenous monsters, but the land was good for farming, and the sea rich with fish, so once a foothold was established the town grew quickly into a city.
 
The population of the new kingdom was an eclectic mix of races, because people from many lands had been captured in forced into bondage by the slavers of Frautheim.  Since there had not been a single leader in their revolt, they decided that their new kingdom would be ruled by a council of three, so they chose their wisest religious leader, their strongest warrior, and their most cunning tactician to head their ruling council. Their religious leader, a high elf named Keavin, is from such a long-lived race that he continues to hold his position even today as the Councilor of Law. The other two council members have been replaced by popular vote several times in the intervening years. The current Councilor of Defense is a human fighter named Cisco Milner, and the current Councilor of Intelligence is a dragonborn wizard named Agarfel the Silver.
 
As the community grew, the town of with Turtlehead was founded to the east.  A large rocky island roughly in the shape of a turtle’s head lies just off the coast of that town, creating a breakwater that make it a good portage for fishing and trading vessels.  Aerindril soon became a port of call for trading ships from all along the north coast, including the elven kingdoms to the far west and the various human city states to the east. After the people of Aerindryl started building up their own trading fleet, they also established trade routes up the Murkwater river to the human city of Waldwallow on Tear lake, to the Gnomish city of Tinkerton, and to the Underground Dwarven stronghold of Deephold over which Tinkerton was built.
 
The Orc War
 
About 70 years ago the new farming community of Palisade was built upon the cliffs that rose from the sea on the far side of the Gold River. As the name implies, gold flakes were discovered in that river, which lead miners to start prospecting in the mountains further upstream. These miners were the first to come into conflict with the orcs who lived in the mountain range known as Ogg’s Teeth.
 
Around this time, an adventuring company out of Waldwallow came down and cleared out the large merrow colony that infested the natural bay to the east. With the merrow removed, the leader of that company founded a keep on the harbor which grew to become the city known as Port Arlin. The protection offered by the bay lead that city to rapidly grow into a major port and soon it became the center for all the trade in the region and greatly enriched the king of that city and his family.
 
Twenty years after the founding of Palisade, a group of adventurous farmers attempted to settle even farther west, among the ruins of an ancient Elven civilization located on the cliffs overlooking the sea. They named their new town Safe Haven. After 6 months those settlers were all wiped out by some mysterious force and disappeared completely. The only clue they left behind was a cryptic carving found in a tree that said “OH SHI”.
 
The disappearance of the farmers was blamed on orcs, because by then the miners along the gold river were clashing with the orc tribes with increasing frequency.  Aerindryl built several forts along the base of the mountain range to guard its borders against orcish incursion, but the orcs viewed this as a provocation and increased the frequency of their raids against the Aerindrylians. The skirmishes between the two sides escalated, until about 25 years ago it finally erupted into outright war. The war lasted 5 years and was very bloody on both sides. Eventually, the two sides managed to reach an accord for peace, which was brokered in no small part by a witch named Sofilla who was new to the region but showed a knack for getting both sides to see a path to compromise. Under the conditions of the peace treaty, the Orcs agreed to cease any raiding into the lowlands, and Aerindrylians agreed to cease all mining operations in the mountains and foothills.
 
Elger Graham was a common human soldier who distinguished himself in the Orc War, and as reward for his valor he was awarded the title of Lord and he and his wife Lysette (a half elf and former adventurer) were granted stewardship over the land on the western boundary of the kingdom, where the town of Safe Haven had been wiped out.  One of the people who migrated to this new town of Grensward with Lord and Lady Graham was the witch Sofilla, who showed great interest in both the elven ruins and in the Green Woods to the west
 
The Rise and Fall of Arlin
 
10 years ago, the old king of Port Arlin passed away, leaving command of his navy and his considerable wealth to his son, Grantadney.  Grantadney was an ambitious man, and so immediately upon assuming the throne he started seeking to expand his kingdom to an empire. As a first step, the annexed the town of Mire, which up until then had been a very small and independent community in the swamp at the mouth of the Murkwater River.  Arlin expanded this town into a large fort, and it wasn’t long before it became obvious to the Council of Aerindryl that the new king of Arlin was preparing to attack and conquer their own cities. In preparation, they abandoned most of their northern forts and constructed several new forts on their Eastern border.
 
The expected attack form Arlin came 6 years ago, however rather than attacking overland toward Turtlehead, The Arlin Navy did an end-run around the fortified border in an attempt to land their troops to the west of Aerindryl’s Landing and strike from their undefended side. The attack could have been devastating, however it was thwarted when the inbound Arlin Fleet was attacked and all but destroyed by some manner of monstrous creature that rose up out of the sea and started tearing their ships apart.  To celebrate this event, the people of Aerindryl declared a holiday called the Festival of the Sea’s Fury which they celebrate on the day of the last full moon every October.
 
Grantadney was with his fleet during the attack, however he and a small portion of his fleet managed to escape the destruction and retreat back to Port Arlin.  His desire for conquest was unabated by this setback, however with the losses he suffered to both his army and navy he no longer had sufficient forces for a direct attack on Aerindryl. He consulted with a prophetess, and she advised him to turn his attention from Aerindryl to the twin cities of Tinkerton and Deephold. She told him that the dwarves of Deephold had a great hoard of wealth and weapons under their mountain, and with those resources Grantadney could hire and equip a new army of mercenaries.  On this advice, Grantadney mustered his remaining army, along with a new force of lizardmen recruited from the swamps around Fort Mire, and he personally lead this force up the Murkwater to the gnomish and dwarven cities.  With him were his daughter, the half-drow enchantress Meleen, and his son, the human berserker Shevin.
 
Upon reaching Tinkerton, the prophetess’ advice seemed sound, because the gnomes abandoned their defenses after showing only a token defense and fled into the tunnels beneath their city that lead toward Deephold.  Grantadney was confident and eager for what he saw as the first victory on his path to becoming an emperor, so without pausing to sack Tinkerton he lead his forces charging into the tunnels after the fleeing gnomes.
 
What few survivors from Arlin who eventually made it out of those tunnels described a nightmare of death and terror. The fleeing defenders lead the attackers deeper and deeper into a maze of tunnels, stringing out the attacking forces and turning them around. Before they knew it the human and lizardmen forces were hopelessly lost in the dark, and when they tried to backtrack and regroup it seemed like the tunnels shifted and changed.  Where once there had been doorways they now found nothing but smooth, solid stone.
 
Traps were everywhere. Groups of men chased the defenders into tunnels where the floor opened beneath them to drop them hundreds of feet, or blocks dropped down from the ceiling to crush them., Sprays of steam and re-directed lava flows started pouring from the walls and burning men alive. As bad as the traps were, however, the worst came with the dwarven counterattack, crashing into their lines  and sweeping them away in a tide of crazed, steel-clad foes.
 
 
At the fore of the dwarven attack was their King Cizak, who had woven smoldering brands in his beard and was wielding a magical, flaming battleaxe. Cizak personally took the head of King Grantadney. With the king’s death his children fled, teleported away by the magic of Meleen and leaving their remaining men to perish or find their own way out of the tunnels.
 
In the years that have followed since, there was a very brief power struggle where Meleen and Shevin both claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne of Arlin, but there were not sufficient forces remaining after their defeats to stage any sort of real civil war. Eventually Meleen simply claimed Fort Mire as her own kingdom, seceding from Arlin and leaving the port city to her half-brother.
 
With the collapse of Arlin’s fledgling empire, peace has once again returned to Aerindryl.
 
 

Last edited by Erindor (2/23/2020 11:55 pm)

     Thread Starter
 

10/28/2019 8:05 am  #6


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

Everything you posted is severely at odds with Gob's version of events.

 

10/28/2019 2:45 pm  #7


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

Gob’s local history:

A bunch of assholes did some boring stuff that didn’t matter. Then Gob was born and he fucking ruled.

*guitar solo*

     Thread Starter
 

3/21/2020 11:27 pm  #8


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

Greensward NPCs
 
Your Family:
 
Mother Sofilla: The local witch and protector of the town of Greensward. Your mom
 
Melchior: Your cat. Growing up he was your tutor, protector, housekeeper, cook, and babysitter. He is exceedingly fluffy.
 
Clarissa: Your sister. A budding witch in her own right, and an apprentice level sorceress. The scaled and plated appearance on her back is the result of her draconic parentage. She is currently 16.
 
Aunt Viv: Your Aunt on your mother’s side. She has 4 arms and blue skin, and lives in a pocket dimension in the outer planes, somewhere near limbo.Time flows faster in her home dimension, so time spent with her while you were growing up resulted in you appearing to age much faster in the Prime Material Plane.
 
Hsssssssss<POP>: A small fire elemental who lives in your stove. In the primordial language his name means “Ashmaker”. He was dropped into Padion’s care by the efreeti Ashok as a hostage left in exchange for his free passage into the prime material plane.  At the time when Ashok returns to the elemental plane of fire, it is expected that Ashmaker will be returned to him.
 
Reaper of Sorrows: Gob’s intelligent axe. She thinks he is her grandson Toby, who originally created the weapon.
 
 
Local Nobility:
Lord Elger Graham: The lord of the local manor and leader of Greensward. He is human, and a former officer in the army of Aerindryl.
Lady Lysette Graham:  Lord Elger’s wife.  She is a half elf and known to be a former adventurer. She keeps bees and makes mead.
Bethany Graham:  Oldest child of the local lord and lady. She is your childhood friend. Bethany served for several years in the town guard in Aerindryl’s Landing learning to be a fighter before returning home to assume the position of guard captain of the Greensward town guard. She is 18.
Elger Graham the Younger: Youngest child of the local lord and lady. He is training to become a mage. He is currently age 15.
Redmund Plotz:  the lord’s secretary.  He is an elderly human who served in the war with Lord Graham.
Dee Plotz: Redmund’s wife, and the cook and housekeeper of the manor. She is an elderly human.  
Princess: Bethany’s dog. Princess appears to have some elven hound heritage in her bloodline, as she ages much more slowly than a normal dog.
Ramac the Fantastic: A human mage, who is currently Elger the Younger’s teacher.  In this role, he is frequently at the manor.
 
Local Law:
 
There are 6 town guards under Bethany’s command:Mitney, Roban, Lerdner, Eggbern, and Spaff, all humans and Lefty, a half orc. While on duty guards will wear leather armor and are armed with shortswords and crossbows.
 
Local Religion:
 
Brother Groadin: Local town priest in Greensward. He is a young Tabaxi with brown fur and yellow eyes. He normally wears a black robe with gray trim, and a multicolored holy symbol of Devoth. He also acts as local schoolteacher to the children of Greensward.
 
 
Local Tradesmen:
 
 
The shopkeeper Sten Quip, a gnome, his wife Heloise Quip, a halfling own the local general store. They have recently adopted a human daughter, Joanie Quip, age 5.
 
The local innkeeper is Arl Dunnup, a human, his wife is Winnie, also human. Their daughter is Polly, age 12, who considers herself a junior paranormal investigator.Their son Molk Dunnup moved away from home after coming of age and is living in Aeryndryls landing and working at the zoo there. Greensward is so small that the Inn does not have a name, and everyone just calls it “the Inn”.
 
Danno Malbean: Local blacksmith and stablemaster. He is a dwarf
 
Freely Wren: Apprentice blacksmith to Danno. He is a human, age 19, and is the son of the farmer who lives closest to town. His brother is Doog Wren.
 
Local Fishermen: Webber and his wife Tera, and Bachi (an elderly bachelor), all human.

The local mills are owned by Jebbah Hursh and his wife Ellish (human). Their daughter Molly Hursh (age 18) lives with them.
The two main employees in the mill are Yawer Blan, who is in charge of the grain mill, and Haw “Dusty” Ribber, who is in charge of the lumber mill.



                Other Notable Local Figures:
 
Thed Grebman is a mail carrier out of Aerindryl’s Landing.While in town he normally stays at the inn.
 
Seff: A woman who the group rescued from imprisonment in the dungeon behind the falls. She can appear and disappear and change appearance seemingly at will.
 
                Some Notable Local Farmers:
               
The farm closest to town is owned by Arnie Wren and his wife Beth, (both human).  Their sons are Doog age 11, who is Polly Dunnup’s reluctant “research assistant” and Freely (the blacksmiths apprentice).
 
The North-Eastern most farm in the town is owned by the Grolvin family.  It is divided into two groups of buildings, one inhabited by the Elder Farmer Earl Grolvin and his wife Emmie, who was recently attacked by cockatrices and turned to stone). A newer home on the other side of the fields was formerly the abode of Grolvin’s son Telman (age 20) along with his wife Carolyn (age 20) and their baby son (age 6 months).  Telman recently skipped out on his wife and left town.
 
The farm closest to the Witch’s house is owned by the Widow Elmager along with her three sons Abbus, Beef, and Cobb. She has a very mean and fat pet goat named Tulip.
 
The farm most outlying in the Badger Wood is owned by the town drunk Ferd Neeman.  Ferd was robbed by Dytadious while passed out in front of the inn during the group’s first adventure.  He is notorious in the town for being lazy and a poor worker, yet he always seems to have money to spend on liquor.  Ferd has 2 children: Kurtis Neeman, the bully who once almost beat up Padion, and Brunhilda Neeman, the much larger and uglier sister of Kurtis.
 
The farm second-closest to the fall along the southern road is owned by Phineas Oakes and his wife Wynna (human), their children are the twin brother and sister Mattun and Rosette Oakes (age 17).
 
The farm closest to the falls is owned by the wood elf Tryp and his wife Neen. Their daughter is Killu (age 80, about equivalent to human 16) and son Reehan (age 20, equivalent to about human age 6). Killu was a good friend of Bethany before Bethany out-matured her.  She is currently good friends with your sister Clarissa.
 

Last edited by Erindor (5/16/2020 11:42 pm)

     Thread Starter
 

4/26/2020 7:45 pm  #9


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

Letter found in the hag's hut:

“Sister Begonia,
It was so lovely to receive your package of wolf teeth.  You just know how I love crunchy snacks!

Regarding your kind offer, I’m afraid I must decline to visit you at this time.  Things are just too busy right now here on Sharkfin Rock, what with all the local children then need to be lured to their doom.  I’m sure you are more than capable of dealing with that local herb gatherer who you say has been threatening you. If you can prove to me that you are capable of standing on your own against a threat like that, then I would be more than happy to speak to you about this pact that you are interested in forming.

Enclosed please find some hobbit toes. I know how you love gummy treats.

Yours,
Mommy Kelpbottom”
 

     Thread Starter
 

5/17/2020 4:04 pm  #10


Re: Sons of Witches Campaign thread

Here is a copy of Dupre's map of the Green Wood.

     Thread Starter
 

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