Good Gaming Blog

Had a pretty crazy week after Memorial Day… lots of good things have come up on various blogs. Right now I’m sort of running around like a chicken with his beautifully plumed head cut off, but here’s the roundup so far:

Growing on Me:

=Superhero Necromancer is really getting my attention with some Nice Posts on various topics. Actually was hipped to this blog through Noism’s Monsters and Manuals and after some digging through the thing… well, let’s say there’s a reason why I’m posting it here .

=A Hamsterish Hoard is actually making me want to go out and crack some books I haven’t used in awhile. Creatures like Ksshri here need to come back to D&D in general and with the quickness.

Joe the Lawyer from over at ENWorld has a blog full of enough snark that it is kinda scarring to read some times. His painfully blunt Response to an essay over at Grognardia should show you the flavor I’m pointing at.

Not Forgotten:

In the move I forgot to show a little love for some blogs which get reads on their respective sites, but deserve more eyes on them:

Jack7 should be writing treatises on gaming for the guys who bitch and moan about various and sundry issues. Sometimes veering into psuedointellectualism, Jack7’s poorly named (but increasingly incredible) Tome and Tomb brings the Hot Fire to ENWorld’s blogging community. Accepted but not well-liked amongst the ‘in-crowd’ on that site, Jack’s work is always thought-provoking and rarely at a level which does not scream fantastic.

Plans for the Month:

Hoping to post some regular good-old-fashioned info on that arc of adventures I’m hoping to work on. Also, there has been some discussion going about of a writer coming to the Good Gaming Blog either through posted guest spots or as a full member… and he’s bringing his ideas on some interesting topics with him. If it works out you’ll be kept up-to-date. Also: We’re going to be entering the RPG Blog Carnival early this round. From the New Site. And it will be glorious .

Until Then,

Good Gaming,

Slainte,
-Loonook.

Well, after tracking down the Blog Carnival at its current stop atRoleplaying Pro I found some really Interesting New writers, and of course the excellent work of Zachary over at RPGBlog2:Electric Boogaloo.

My Thoughts?

The Future of RPGs is in new blood, fresh ideas, and players who have a deep understanding of the past and present of the industry and the power of various forces. Technology (Especially the Web), and places like ENWorld and the Giant in the Playground forums both help and hinder our hobby. While they help bring together fascinating new ideas from both the crunch and fluff, they also bring about things which most roleplayers aren’t fond of (character optimization, cliched settings, and places where various shady dealings occur.

The future will mean the death of some types of things; just like Mortality.net was once a very entertaining source of podcasting and is now just a 403 message, we may lose some resources and others may come into being which are not exactly what we want.

As good gamers we need to foster community in the next generation of roleplayers. We have to toss away some of our old ideas and embrace some new ones. The five things to improve the future of roleplaying that YOU can do include the following:

1.) Try out new systems. Yes grognards, this is pointed at some of you . On the other side…

2.) Bring what you love about the game out for the new breed to read. Remember that old Crazy, Odd, or even COMPLETELY INSANE setting or game that you loved? Bet some newbie may love it too.

3.) Read! I’m posting an article soon on part of my Appendix N, and I think that adding new concepts to your gaming will improve it severely.

4.) Use the New to Support Your Habit. As listed above there are many forums, blogs, and even IRC networks that have a focus around gaming. Check them out… a lot of them are worth it. I’m usually found on #enworld @ Otherworlders if you want to chat some time .

5.) Support your Community. Buy products, get out and run games, go to conventions.

In short… these steps will give us a future to look forward to.

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

Loonook.

10.) Scottish Dwarves/Hippie Elves/Lazy Halflings.
09.) Harry Potter Wizards
08.) Woe is Me, I’m a Demon/Vampire/Outcast.
07.) I’m a Half-breed, so I am the Product of a Sad Background.
06.) Bards Sucking.
05.) Anthropomorphic Animals With No Real Reason Behind Them.
04.) Anything Inspired by Anime.
03.) Grimdark Everything.
02.) “I am the Greatest!” NPCs (Especially DMPCs.)

And, the Number 1 Trope I am Tired Of . . .

The Dungeon. Why exactly are there immense dangerous locales shaped into the earth where creatures roam about… for no G-dly reason?

Slainte,

-Loonook.

EDIT: Got to post for my followers… Rob over at Groknard writes a great blog… check it out.

Oh, so many things which have started to be interesting when it comes to various pieces of gaming, or my interests… I’m going to put some links to interesting webcomics, blogs, books, and other information I’m reading which could bring you some entertaining reading…

Webcomics, General:

Penny Arcade… Always Good Times. Penny Arcade is one of those things which I would be amazed you haven’t heard of… but stranger things have happened.

Sordid City Blues. Interesting webcomic from a different perspective… has nothing to do with gaming, but it is enjoyable.

Templar, Arizona Another weird comic… but gods does it have great idea. Jakes, gas masks, urban protesters, and places that sell guns, liquor and… adult products. Worth a read.

Webcomics, RPG

Nodwick and Full Frontal Nerdity Great stuff, from far in the past into the future. Must reads.

Points of Light. A great comic which rips into 4e and survives based on raw determination. Definitely worth checking out.

ErfWorld doesn’t get the respect it deserves… and I’m going to change that with this. Check it out . Of course GITP hosts Order of the Stick, which is well, well known… but again worth the mention.

This is all I have off the top of my head.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

EDIT: For terms referenced in this article please pursue The Other Articles in the Series .

As discussed in the Previous Article there are many ways to make silly mistakes in your minion creation. However, if you follow that there are many ‘types’ of minions, you can easily develop a system of discussing these subtypes and provide possible examples.

Now, onto Minion subtypes. These subtypes are helpful for certain materials . . . here’s how we can adjust these subtypes into an easy cost-benefit system.

To be honest, I’ve been using ‘one-hit’ minions for quite some time in 3.X, and their existence is great for the 4e DM who needs something to go off of. I usually use the following as a 3.X construct for minions: Minions are effects, not creatures.

Yes, I know, this may sound odd… but hear me out. One of the major fallacies of DM thought is that every creature is a full stat block. 4e remedies a bit of this with minion stats and the various elite/solo/minion types.

But when it comes to monsters, we can do better. Let us make an example:

—

A sharp-faced demon stands tall above the Lord of Pembroke. Weaving two of its tendrils through the air as if creating a tapestry, the demon smirks when the party wizard casts his first spell.

As the spell fizzles in purple sparks, the demon bares its teeth and the battle is truly begun.

—

This demon must be some great threat! It is a powerful lord of the manor, the power behind the throne!

Perhaps . . . but it is a condition more than a creature. Kill the condition, remove the protection.

Such a “Demon” is applied Spell Resistance. The Lord of Pembroke has a demonic watchdog, and it raises itself off of its haunches. The “Demon” has several solutions; banish it, turn it, kill it.

It is nothing more than HP and an effect. As an Aiding minion (it is not using its body, but its magic to defend the Lord) it should have enough HP to be somewhat threatening, but if all it does is protect its master . . . it’s not engaged in combat. It’s a walking Amulet of Spell Resistance, and the best way to break it is to break the demon involved.

—

The scream of ecstasy, the swing of the blade, the cultist storms forward. Even as you strike him down the haze falls over you . . . the choking sensation of spirit takes over, and you drop to the ground.

—

This cultist is a Suicidal Minion with a Hold Person/Monster effect. It dies, you get Held (or have the chance to be Held).

Get the picture? I have faith in your . . . imagination. Let us see how many such effects we can generate! Anyone who posts a minion type below will be recognized in the next post, and given the chance to guide the next Lazy DMing guide.

Enjoy, and Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

EDIT: For terms referenced in this article please pursue The Other Articles in the Series .

In the last installment we discussed Bruiser, Abused, and Defender minions. Today we will discuss some of the more interesting minion types. However, ‘minion’ is a loaded term these days. Let us rather define Minion as ‘leverage units’. Really, an enemy is an enemy, but a minion provides leverage for the Big Bad. Each minion should provide this leverage, and nothing else… no need for 1 HP, just serve as your own little unit of HP, AC, and effect.

Now, onto the three minions to discuss here:

-Aiding: These minions are the healers and squealers. Defenders protect the Bad, Aides give some assistance to help the Bad protect itself. The negative-essenced undead which provide an aura of negative-energy healing for their lich? A mage who gives some buffs to the royal villain? Aides. Aides are usually ‘quiet targets’; they can be some distance away, and their skills usually lend to being less-than-stellar warriors.

-Arcane Threat: Magic Bruisers, Arcane Threats lay down a nice fat line of elemental (or other) damage. Not usually mages themselves, an Arcane Threat will break skull totems, UMD a wand, or just break open a sweet can of magic energy to cover. Arcane Threats are even weaker than Bruisers, big ol’ Glass Cannons.

-Suicidal: Kamikaze threats. Think of Bombs from Final Fantasy; while an Abused provides by being damaged by others, Suicidals are walking effects waiting to trigger themselves. Exploding poisonous constructs? Check. Suicidal creatures work well with manipulative masters, serving as fanatics which can be thrown about to do damage (or other negative effects) without PC targeting.

Completion of base types… next, we’ll give some hard examples.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

As discussed in the previous entry I really wanted to give the Ostari some ‘special’ style. Their magic would still follow many of the paradigm set by classic D&D, but be presented in a unique way. Thus, I wanted to come up with specific and different paths to solutions which I saw were not present in your average D&D game. Spellcasters, overall, get a lot of nifty little tweaks and talents because of their ability to cast spells . . . however, it is the rare setting where magic isn’t seen as something which is not above the average, a power which shouldn’t be trifled with. Even in this setup it is a rarity when magic ‘rises up’ above what is presented by your average crunch and fluff configuration. A lot of people want Merlins walking around their setting . . . I usually prefer more of a scientific approach. To me, magicians of all types (divine, arcane, what have you) are utilizing energy in a way which gives power through clever efficiency. In his series The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher asks which is more impressive (and I paraphrase): a large truck which steams and throws exhaust to move a load, or a small car which does the same with only a couple of AA batteries?

I think that creative and effective use of magic relies on getting the most ‘bang for your buck’, and understanding that because magic is an energy there will always be some sort of buffer, a resistance which can be fought against (and waste energy) or given into and went with to produce smaller but effective results.

It is through this reasoning that the Grey Ways, Councilor Birds, and magebanes became integral parts of the campaign setting in which the Ostari Imperial State is derived.

I’ve enjoyed the concept of each type of magic being different. I think that psi and arcane/divine spells should be treated as two separate entities, and that resistance should not necessarily apply retroactively to each other except for at a base level. Basic Spell Resistance applies to Psychic Resistance at half-rate; a psychic can penetrate a mage’s defenses and vice versa unless each takes measures to prevent the other from gaining the upper hand. On the other side, mages would split their resources and thus require outside assistance to boost their abilities to defend against their own kind. A clever ornithologist (a talented awakener) began working on a creature which could do just this. That creature is known as a councilor bird.

Councilors look like large Kingfishers (around the size of an owl or similar) with bright blue or purple plumage. Mages take on councilors as familiars and cohorts; though unable to speak in human tongues councilors have the ability to communicate in a piercing shrill and, as mages and others who obtain them as familiars will denote, they have a very intelligent and observant way of thinking and can understand common tongues. A councilor bird’s greatest talent, however, is its sweet song. In effect, councilor birds can perform countersong as a bard of half of their master’s level. Some councilors, who are usually known as Imperial councilors, gain rudimentary spellcasting abilities. These birds usually are trained as adepts, and serve as fine henchmen to mages or others who may need a boost up against those who would attempt to charm or cajole them through the use of sonic magic.

Councilors live as long as Grey parrots, but only Imperial councilors may gain class levels, and there are a handful of these birds who actually become talented mages or bards (though do to their size they rarely use material components unless they have an aid who can present them with the materials to use).

The Grey Ways is more difficult, and derives from good ol’ fashioned spell resistance. Remember the types of spell resistance when even good effects were stopped? Yeah . . . good times. The Grey Ways and their practitioners have culled these abilities in new and frightening ways. The first skill that Grey Walkers master is the ability to protect their charges; like shield guardians (or d20 Modern Bodyguards) Grey Walkers can absorb some of the damage that their superiors would normally take (we kept with the Shield Other level of half damage). The greater talent lies in the Grey Walkers ability to manipulate its spell resistance.

Grey Walkers are required to have some form of spell resistance. Most take it through a basic route (they are treated as Hagborn) but they can impart their resistance towards a target. At first they learn to shield their master; then they learn to channel that resistance through their weapons, actually reducing a rival’s spell resistance. Next, they learn to ‘disrupt’ spells (similar to the mage slayer feat against magical concealment and AC) with focused dispelling abilities. Their greatest ability, however, is suppression of the magic items which are carried by their enemies. In all, Grey Walkers are an excellent NPC Class for the guardian of a mage, which by level 13-15 should be able to cause major problems for someone who enjoys using their Staff of Power and Robes of Awesomeness.

At some point I will present the effects presented by different Grey Walkers, and give a Level appropriate ‘replacement’ slot for the ability. Grey Walkers are never mages; rather, they serve as warriors (or, in the very rare case of a failed Sucuran initiate, psychic warriors or Book of Nine Swords styled warriors).
These are just here as concepts . . . mix and match as you will. I’m going to step away from the Ostari in the next few posts, and focus on more advice blogs and shorter posts. If you have any comments please leave those . . . I always enjoy hearing good feedback.

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Good Gaming Gazetteer: Parlinian NPCs.

After some discussions with individuals on the #enworld chatroom on the Otherworlders network, I decided to do a basic rundown of NPCs in the area, which could be used for your games (if you decide to use any of this information). I will put up ’suggested’ stats and classes for the NPCs; these are up to your discretion of course. I believe that truly good NPCs have nothing to do with the stats, and thus I use some choices which would be considered odd to represent certain characters.

…

The setting itself has very small amounts of creatures prowling around; so, like many of my games I use the creatures in various MMs and other sources more as ‘kits’ than as anything else. These are suggestions for your own game, and I hope they work out smashingly for you . Servants in the setting take on the dai-(house) name in cases of noble patronage, a sign of their belonging to the House without truly being a member.

Servants of the Lords of Kinda -

Wusta dai-Calful, Talented Black Hander.

Wusta uses his powers to infiltrate and eliminate threats to the family. Talented in the arts of deception and the specific traits of the Black Handers, Wusta dai-Calful was raised from a tender age in the hands of Artin dai-Calful, leader of the house’s Black Hands Guard. A child born to the Orphan’s Guard and plucked from its carriage, he still exhibits some of the traits of his upbringing in the depths.

Wusta is a dark-skinned man of Zajahran descent. He was born with a talent known as Shadowshaping, and can use it to his advantage at will. Those around Wusta gain benefits from his Shadowshaping if they are attuned to his specific talents. Many suspect that this servant will replace Artin as leader within the next few years.

–

Wusta dai-Calful – Wusta is a special type of (monstrous) humanoid possessing 4 HD, +4 to Str, +4 to Dexterity, and +2 to Intelligence. and the abilities of a Displacer Beast. Wusta uses his skill points as appropriate to have the following progression: Rogue 2/Assassin 3/Nightsong Infiltrator X.

Wusta has the special ability Aura of Shadow or, if he has Nightsong Infiltrator 7, Improved Aura of Shadow.

Aura of Shadow (Su) – A creature with this ability ability grants a +5 competence bonus to Hide and Move Silently Checks to allies within 20′. This ability ends when the creature is struck by another creature, attacks another creature, knocked unconscious, or would have to make a Concentration check.

Improved Aura of Shadow (Su): As Aura of Shadow, but grants a +10 competence bonus and the ability only ends when the creature is knocked unconscious.

Wusta should be treated as a CR of (3 + Class Levels) and carries items which improve his ability to infiltrate and silently dispatch targets.

—
Khom Yurndi, Kingpin.

Khom is an oddity; a leader amongst the families focused on battle. Khom is an imposing man, large of stature and brutal to anyone he considers ‘less’ than himself. He is an enormous man, and there are those who call him Giantsseed from his days as a mercenary for hire amongst the lords of Central Naschia. Few know the story behind his immense stature and the pain it caused his family.

Khom’s family was cursed by the Witch of Cowl Mountain to bear a child who would tear the family apart every generation until they left their homeland in shame. Khom was the last of such children, and has searched the Ostari empire for a cure to his curse. Each of his attempts have failed, but his curse has not passed on to those in his line; his son Durmi has no signs of the curse.

Khom stands at nine feet tall and is broad-shouldered. A runeflesh mercenary (which will be covered in the later articles on the history of Central Naschia), Khom was ‘blessed’ by the Priests of Kuartani with the ability to cast devestating magics. He is slow-witted compared to many of the Kinda lords, but his efficient and brutal methods of keeping the family together make him worthwhile to many.

–

Khom is built using an Ogre Magi as the base, but using the Barbarian skill list for assigning skills from that base and takes the Thug fighter variant class shown in Unearthed Arcana. He loses the Change Shape ability, and replaces Flight with the ability Airwalk, and his Cone of Cold ability is treated as a 10′ radius effect.

Khom chooses items which enhance his natural ability to deal damage, and has many items which allow him to spy on rival family agents.

Airwalk (Su) – As flight, but the creature must end its turn on solid ground or suffer falling damage based on the distance from ground and forfeit a move action in the next round.

—

Vilindos Perdin – A fat, affable bastard son of the Perdin patriarch, Vilindosi lives in opulent accomodations in a city in the New Imperial State, far from his family. Though he claims to work as an ‘agent’ in the family’s lucrative slaving business he snubs the family as much as possible, and chooses those who he grants the privilege to purchase his wares. Few if any of his charges are kept for long, and Vilindos cycles out his ‘children’ as minor clerks and shopboys to local businesses, getting papers and material through contacts he developed while an adventurer.

Ebony skinned and enormous, the corpulent Vilindos has a lover in the form of the popular orator Kalindu. Those who know of this ‘indiscretion’ make it a point to jab the thorn into the Perdin family’s side, but Vilindos also keeps a stable of talented eyes and ears as a ‘harem’ to satisfy custom. He is best known for his gaudy clothes and the enormous fan which he carries around, adorned in strange patterns and bright filigree and said to have come from the far reaches of Zajara.

–

Vilindos is a Rogue, and his fan serves to create a wind effect which can bull-rush an opponent. The fan is treated as a non-damaging attack with an Attack bonus equal to Vilindos HD + 10 (+4 from Vilindos taking Improved Bull Rush). Vilindos may also use the fan as a normal warfan if necessary, or cause a Gust of Wind effect 1/day. Vilindos may sustain this effect by spending a standard action for a number of rounds equal to his Charisma Modifier.

—

Ladies Cindyl, Carlyl, and Cydyl Golbel

Triplets of the Golbel line, the ‘ladies’ are the Golbel’s connection to their ancient ancestry. Kept out of the light and promised to the trivian spirit the Golbel matriarch has taken on, the girls (aged 17) are the matriarch’s one hope for change in the family.

–

Each ‘Lady’ has 3 Bard levels and has begun along their own path. Cindyl, the vainglorious one, has continued on the path of the Bard and is seeking to control and command her own fiefdom. Carlyl, dumb but domineering, has chosen the path of blood and has begun to learn to rage and become barbarous. Cydyl, the most corrupt of them, has begun to dig into ancient tomes and learn secrets of magic best left out of the waking mind.

The girls each have a suitor who was given to them upon their birth, and who serves as their ‘protector’. These demons provide the girls with corrupting influences and drive the girls down their road to ruin. Each of the Ladies have taken Vile feats associated with this worship, and each has taken on a path which most suits their Protector. Cydyl’s protector is an Imp Sorcerer, Cindyl’s is an Erinyes (male), while Carlyl has been granted a handsome Bearded Devil as her beau. Each of these Protectors appears to be a handsome human male who fits personality with the girls perfectly and encourages their corruption fully.

—

A few rough-hewn NPC ideas to use at your leisure. I hope you enjoy them and as always…

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Good Gaming Gazetteer: The Orphan’s Guard, the Children of Sucur, and the Mysteries of the Sucuran.

Embrace the Grey and Rise towards the Sun Motto, The Orphan’s Guard.

Cast Away the Chains of Birth and Battle for the Lord of Dreaming – Motto, Children of Sucur.

There are many who look down on the institution of the Orphan’s Guard as an abomination. There are some who believe that this organization, made up of the children of refugees cast away by the Parlinian government, is an affront to human decency and must be cleansed from the earth. Those who march under the banner of the Orphan Son know only of the eternal battle to which they have been pledged, and the great responsibility they harbor as leaders in the battle against the very decay of the Empire.

The Guard, founded under the name of Tyrus IV the Orphan Son and Pretender to the Throne of the kingdom of Aurelia, was founded as another route to citizenship. Those refugees unable or unwilling to become Servitors could pay a terrible scutage; two children given over to the Great Orphanage and raised to become soldiers of the Imperial State for every man, woman, or child raised to full citizenship. These children were to be born in a place known as the Deep Silences, a large necropolis created during the period of the Imperial Seal’s reign over the city, and their mothers immediately removed from the location. Ostari custom regards the cycle of life as one of resurgence; only recently were the children of the Emperor not born and raised in similar circumstances in the Quiet Tombs of their ancestors until such a day when they could undertake the Test of Passage and be granted the Mark of the Imperial Seal on their chest as a sign of true Imperial birth.

Children in the Deep Silences are well-fed and cared for; they are given lessons from an early age in warcraft and any specific talents which are witnessed by their instructors are encouraged. The Guards are given daily indoctrination in the teachings of the Orphan, as seen in the Oath of Service:

We learn from the dead to remain alive. We learn from our lessers to be great. We gain strength from our weakness. We gain faith in our disbelief. We seek honor in the taint of our father’s gaze. We seek hope in the darkest reaches.

Those raised in these deep, dark reaches are paler than most ruddy Ostari, and turn sickly when exposed to normal healing draughts and magic from clerics who channel positive energy. This strange nature imparts another advantage; most Orphans are trained in the arts of the Grey Ways.

The Grey Way, a talent found amongst certain Zajahran mystics and the occasional rogue talent, is a discipline which teaches the powers of defense. Those who begin to ‘walk the Grey’ become talented in focusing their minds and bodies into a denial of the energies of magic. In effect, a Grey Walker learns a way to disrupt magic protections, effects, and even items around them through a focusing of will. Though not all Orphans become Grey Walkers, those that do are highly revered by their fellows, and many find themselves amongst the highest guardians of the Emperor or as guardians of members of the Sorcerers Imperial. Members of the Orphan’s Guard are granted full citizenship along with a small parcel of land after thirty years of service except for in the case of the Children of Sucur.

Though Grey Walkers are rare, the most rare of all Orphan Guards gain access into the Children of Sucur. Sucur, a mortal manifestation of the creator’s will, gave name to the order due to the traits which Sucuran guards take on. Those martial members of the Orphan’s Guard who have shown merit in the service to the Imperial State are granted the gift of Sucur the Preserver’s embrace through the Ritual of Steel.

An Orphan, uniquely attuned through discipline to the essence of the world beyond human perception, is given a fortnight of feast. Eight Sucuran are created at a time, each representing one of the pillars of Sucur’s Eight Teachings (Loyalty, Faith, Community, Discipline, Mind, Prowess, Courage, and Charity). After the young men have been bonded in flesh to a woman who has been assured of bearing their child the Sucuran are gathered in the Teaching Place, where spheres representing the Eight Teachings sit along with eight Sucuran honor-suits. Sucur’s priests come and willingly sacrifice the eight youths, and their spirits are separated; the ‘impure’ urges and desires are cast away, while the ‘purified’ soul is placed within the honor-suit. Each Sucuran warrior is assigned to his specific Corps, and there are currently around sixteen hundred Sucuran warriors, separated into the eight Corps around each Teaching. These groups of Sucuran warriors lead a group of similarly soulbound known as the Alfini Teyri (discussions of the Alfini Teyri will appear in the gazetteer for the former capital of Central Naschia).

The Bearers of the Teachings (as the women who carry children of the Sucuran are known) are looked after in a beguinage setting. The children of the Sucuran are strange creatures, and many wonder whether these children are truly human at all. However, the Imperial Seat takes these true Children of Sucur away from their mothers shortly after their fifth birthdays, and few could guess at the secrets which hide within a small island off the western coast of Ostar known only as Hospice.

Good Gaming Gazetteer: A Brief History of the City of Parlinia, the Order of Service, and the Servitors

Parlinia, the Asylum City of the Old Empire, sits on a wide plateau atop the Orphan’s Table, a great mesa in the middle of the region known as the Old Empire. The city’s agriculture is tended in fields below the mesa known as the Parlis, and the city’s water needs are handled by drawing upon the deep wells placed centuries ago when Parlinia was the seat of the Imperial Seal, the predecessor to the Imperial Library. These wells support the ‘upper’ region of the city, while the lower region is criss-crossed with irrigation canals which draw from the two Rivers of Kinda (the Lesser and Greater Kinda). Parlinia’s primary imports are refugees and materials from the southern nations of the continent, while its main exports are magical items, grain, Qishi and other medicines/narcotics, and the services provided by those known as Servitors.

Parlinian politics are controlled by a localized hegemony created by the Order of Service. The Order was created due to necessity and through Imperial policy. During a crisis in the former state of Central Naschia an influx of refugees in the tens of thousands entered into the Old Empire. Parlinia, then a bustling metropolis focused on the production of armaments, was militarily decommissioned by the Emperor and converted through funds into a ‘collective camp for tramps and others who lack a loyal country’. The influx of Imperial gems and work groups helped to create the great buildings known as the Dens, dug into the northern side of the mesa, and the Stacks, a series of high-rise buildings (6-8 stories) which concentrated refugees under livable but uncomfortable conditions.

After Central Naschia’s fall an Order was granted by the Sorcerers Imperial (a senatorial body In the capital of the Empire) to grant conditional citizenship to any mystics or trained military officers who were currently in Parlinian care, and the right to earn conditional citizenship ‘In a way seen fit by an Organization to be Formed under the Auspices of Service to the Empire’ to any untrained or mundane individuals. Argen Carlindas, a scout in the Imperial Reserve and current arbiter and master for the Central Naschian refugee camps put into place the system of Servitors and the Order of Service.

A Servitor is one who signs up to train in a military, agricultural, or other service field somewhere in the Imperial State of Ostar. Service terms vary depending on the task; 5 years of military service, 10 years of agricultural service, and 15 in any other field will earn citizenship. Children over the age of 13 may be placed into the agricultural or service corps, but only those who are considered adults by their culture may place themselves into military service.

Groups of refugees come and go; currently Parlinia has 35,000 inactive refugees, 5,000 ‘citizen refugees’, and 10,000 active Servitors. These Servitors are mostly focused in Agriculture, and are spread out across the wide expanse of the Parlis repairing irrigation canals, bringing in crops, and fertilizing the lands which they tend. Parlinian guards demographics are 80% Servitor, and most of those who live in Parlinia have contact with refugees on a daily basis.

However, those refugees who are without Servitor status do have reduced rights. Those who refuse the Order of Service are not allowed to own or manage property; these individuals are actively encouraged to return immediately to their given locations as soon as is possible. Inactive refugees who give birth to children within the confines of Parlinian control are required to give over their children to the service of another organization known as the Orphan’s Guard.

The secrets of the Orphan’s Guard, and other Parlinian organizations will be discussed in the next entry.

Until then…
Good Gaming,
-Loonook.